Shinning tor cats tor errwood hall
Peak District
The circular 6 miles route starts from Pym Chair car park on Buxton Road.
Shining Tor is the highest point in Cheshire at 559m, and lies on the border with Derbyshire with extensive views as far as North Wales and The Wrekin. ‘‘Tor‘‘ is an Old English word for a high, rocky hill.
We did this route in the autumn and we wanted to go back so we did. It was a sunny cold day of April very steady day. The unexpected surprise was when we got close to Goyt Valley the roads were covered in snow.
We started to walk towards Shining Tor but before we got there our first stop was Cats Tor.
The open gritstone moorlands of the Upper Goyt Valley (Wild Moor, Goyt's Moss, Burbage Edge, Shining Tor to Cats Tor ridge and Hop Moor) are a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Heather is the main plant but the heathland is habitat for a variety of native grasses, rushes, sedges and shrubs including bilberry, crowberry, cowberry and cross-leaved heath. The paved path was covered with snow in some areas 30cm deep.
There are only few miles from the car park to Shinning Tor but walking in the snow definitely made the route more difficult and we stopped for a cuppa.
The views from Shinning Tor trig are spectacular no matter what the weather. However, the snow made the scenery look more dramatical.
After a good cup of coffee and a snack we continued our walk.
The Shinning Tor is the highest point of the route and from there we descended towards Errwood woodland.
The trees covered by snow were magical. Just be aware if you are stopping underneath the trees the wind might blow the snow over you.
After crossing the river which sometimes gets hard to cross when it’s raining, we heading to see the ruin of Errwood Hall.
Errwood Hall, the Grimshawe family’s grand country house was built in the early 1840s and demolished less than 100 years later. The house looks amazing in some of the picture on Goyt Valley website and I was thinking what a shame it was demolished.
We picked a room inside the ruins and had our lunch thinking how was to live in a house like this one with such a wonderful view, in the middle of the nature.
Near the Errwood Hall, we visited the hilltop graveyard where Grimshawe is buried.
The Foxlow Edge route is right above the shrine, which can be wet or windy depends on the weather. There are some wonderfully panoramic views over the surrounding Peak District countryside.
From St Joseph’s shrine, there is a slight ascent back to Pym Chair car park. There are so many routes in Goyt Valley as you will never get bored of this area.
The route is a combination of paved, tarmac and muddy paths through the woodland or open field but this variety makes it more interesting.
Hike and Travel have done few walks in this area but it is never tedious and it will be different with every season change.
Mam Tor →