This was a dry-ish day after a sopping wet Christmas where news bulletins had been taken over by horror stories about floods all over Lancashire and North and West Yorkshire. At least it wasn't raining, though the ground underfoot was far from dry. Starting from the car park at Gradback, I walked west up the road to where a turn off right is bloked by a big barrier with a "no entry" sign. Despite its unwelcoming appearance, this is the approach to the youth hostel where the right of way down the Dean Valley goes. From the youth hostel you keep to the south bank of the river to a point where the main track swings sharply round left and heads back east uphill. Here you leave it to continue west, crossing a footbridge and following signs to Lud's Church and Swythamley. I climbed up through the woods here to where a big rock formation onj the right marks the left turn-off to Lud's Church, a small detour in this walk. I paid a quick visit to Lud who was especially wet and slimy today. Reputedly, before the Reformation, this was once a meeting place for religious dissenters and to that extent a church for real. Lud duly visited, I regained the Swythamley path and followed it west to where it meets the path along the Back Forest ridge. That ridge was the next stage of my walk so up and along it I went with wonderful views over eastern Cheshire taking in Shutlingsloe, Cloud, Gun and of course the Roaches. At Roach End I left the ridge and headed down the track leading to Lower Roach End Farm which is now a school. I must have met 50 or so people since leaving the car park up to this, roughly halfway, point.
For the rest of my walk I met nobody. It is easy in the Peak District to get away from the crowds most of whom stick religiously to the same few paths.The path from the farm/school leads delightlfully downhill and crosses the Black Brook at a bridge where those who may be mounted are politely advised to dismount. Soon afterwards there is a three way forking. A track goes off left towards Moss End Farm, another carries on following the river towards Goldsitch House. I wanted the path one between these heading up onto Godlsitch Moss. I say "path" but it is all pretty vestigial and I just followed the borken wall then fence over boggy ground where it was supposed to be. I wanted the left turn that heads off north from halfway to the next road but missed it, arriving at the road soooner than I expected and had to double back a short way. There's no signage for the path north but I just swung left just before the river that splits the moor hereabouts. Still no sign of any path on the ground but I followed where it was supposed to be and ended up where it was supposed to end up, at a 356m. spot height where the road turns sharply northwards. Here I followed the road north for half a kilometer and then turned down the access road for Sniddles Head Farm. For the right of way here you cross a stile about halfway down the access track and then look optimistically for a path heading roughly NW. Again everything is very vestigial, I'm guessing not many people come this way. but following on the map where the path at least should go, I ended up joining the dots supplied by a series of three ruined buildings. A small herd of Belted Galloway cows grazed close by the last of these, ignoring me. From this last ruin, there is an access track still apparent which I followed down to Greensitch Farm. Here access gets tricky. The signage suggests they are keen to keep walkers away from the farm grounds by dovertinging them downhill a bit over a small footbridge and on down to the car park. But I wasn't going to cross this bridge today. The waterlogged wooden slats that constituted its walking surface were fabulously slipperly, the handrails on each side uselessly decayed. So I boldly strayed through the farm as quickly and discretely as I could. Someone waved and shouted at me but by then I was on my way off the premises so waved hopefully back and pressed on. No one shot me and released a huge dog to eat me. A short steep path from here leads straight back to the car park coimpleting a saitisfying short walk.
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