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Peak District Walks

Pots & Pans

Pots and Pans

Date: 13th November 2010
Distance: 4.7 miles
Ascent: 974 feet
Time: 2 hours 55 mins
With: Lisa
Start Grid Ref: SE007063

Walk Summary:
A wonderful short walk exploring some of the modest gritstone outcrops above Saddleworth including the Pots and Pans.

Route Summary: Pobgreen - Running Hill Lane - Broadstone Clough - Broadstone Hill - Slades Rocks - Shaw Rocks - Upper Wood Edge - Alderman's Hill - Pots and Pans - Pobgreen

Pictures:

1. Looking towards Diggle and Harrop Edge from Running Hill Lane

Looking towards Diggle and Harrop Edge from Running Hill Lane

2. Looking north to Millstones Edge

Looking north to Millstones Edge

3. Approaching the trig point on Broadstone Hill

Approaching the trig point on Broadstone Hill

4. Pule Hill

Pule Hill

5. The trig point on Broadstone Hill

The trig point on Broadstone Hill

6. Lisa on Slades Rocks

Lisa on Slades Rocks

7. Looking towards Diggle on Slades Rocks

Looking towards Diggle on Slades Rocks

8. Saddleworth from Slades Rocks

Looking down into Saddleworth from Slades Rocks

9. Pots and Pans from Shaw Rocks

Pots and Pans from Shaw Rocks

10. Yeoman Hey Reservoir and Ashway from Alderman's Hill

Yeoman Hey Reservoir and Ashway from Alderman's Hill

11. On Alderman's Hill

On Alderman's Hill

12. Looking towards Pots & Pans and the war memorial

Looking towards Pots & Pans and the war memorial

13. Lisa by the huge war memorial

Lisa by the huge war memorial

14. The Pots and Pans stones

The Pots and Pans stones

15. Greenfield from the Pots and Pans stones

Greenfield from the Pots and Pans stones

16. Looking back up to the Pots and Pans stones

Looking back up to the Pots and Pans stones

Walk Detail: Starting from St Chad's Church in Pobgreen this proved to be a delightful little walk in the far north west of the Peak District National Park.

The first objective was the trig point on Broadstone Hill. It is one of those trig points that does not mark a particular summit but which has been placed for more practical purposes. In this case it marked an excellent viewpoint of the region where the Peak District National Park merges into the South Pennines. On view were Millstones Edge, Pule Hill, Shooters Nab and West Nab.

Heading south from the trig point we visited a number of modest gritstone outcrops, the first two of which Slades Rocks and Shaw Rocks provided superb views down to the small villages that collectively make up that 'lost' corner of Yorkshire known as Saddleworth. Apart from brief glimpses on the Trans-Pennine train route from Leeds - Manchester I had never really seen much of this area and I have to say that on the whole I thought it quite lovely.

From Shaw Rocks we crossed over Dick Hill to the outcrop of Upper Wood Edge where the main focus of the views are the chain of Greenfield reservoirs backed by the impressive edges of Ashway, Dean Rocks, Dove Stones and the somber moorland of Black Chew Head.

Continuing south we visited the neat top of Alderman's Hill which features a fantastic straight down to Yeoman Hey and Dovestones reservoirs. From Alderman's Hill it was then an easy stroll north west to the Saddleworth war memorial, sometimes known as the 'Pots and Pans Memorial' after the nearby rock formation. There are a number of memorials on the Pennine hills and I would rate this as one of the finest. Once again the views down into Saddleworth were excellent.

The Pots and Pans stones seem to be the best known of the gritstone formations in the area and stand just a short distance from the war memorial. The name presumably comes from circular hollows on the top of the largest stone, similar to the Fryingpan Stone I had visited a few weeks before many miles away in the north east of the Yorkshire Dales.

From Pots and Pans it was an easy descent to a nice little path that contoured just above the valley and took us back to Pobgreen. Of the shorter walks I've done in the Pennines this certainly ranks among the finest. There are a fine selection of views, interesting natural and man made features and no real difficulties underfoot. Strongly recommended.


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