Tuesday 15 September 2026 - The Steel Cotton Rail Trail Stage 3 - Hope to Edale

Six of us met at Piccadilly for the 9:48 to Hope, with Sue W returning after her successful trip to Anglesey. This relatively short walk with no time constraints was an absolute delight.

Field paths took us away from and then back to the railway. Sue found some very healthy looking field mushrooms and Cary provided a bag in which to transport them.

It took a while to escape the environs of Hope.

Soon we were rewarded with views to Lose Hill and the Edale skyline.

Foliage is currently abundent and bright green, but most of the wild flowers are in decline, with \herb Robert, Ragwort and a variety of thistles hanging on in the verges and the fields.

We passed under the railway at Killhill Bridge.

A secret doorway had us wondering ...

Still in the environs of Hope, a welcoming watering hole, but too close to our start today.

Near Normans Farm, we came across a display of 'Norman's Farm Raw Honey' - delicious looking golden honey - £11 a jar, paid into their bank account, so no cash lying around and plenty of honest hikers on the Steel Cotton Trail. We bought three jars. Granddaughter Isabella will love it.

After going under the railway for the last time today, at Bagshaw Bridge, we continued on a narrow road to reach the National Trust Dark Peak Area Office and the Edale End Welcome Barn.

It rather looked as if Paul had beaten us to it, as his latest acquisition was parked outside the Welcome Barn.

Anyway, we carried on past the buildings and were soon confronted with a stone marker that pointed us decisively left, to Jaggers Clough.

The sky darkened as we followed the excellent path into Backside Wood.

A suitable spot for lunch was found, at which point some large, juicy, raindrops decided to join us. They didn't last long.

Backside Wood was home to numerous fungi, a couple of which are shown below.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)  - pretty poisonous

Suillus grevillei (a Boletus variety, edible but this one is past that stage)

Once through the delightful wood, we joined the old packhorse track that runs up Jaggers Clough. A 'Jagger' was a leader of packhorses. This route may have been used to transport lead from the Castleton mines in the 16th century.

The Edale skyline and the fertile valley provided a scenic backdrop as we made progress on a contouring path towards Edale Youth Hostel.

Some Parasol Mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera) were added to our goodie bag.

Just outside the hostel - some striking dahlias.

A straightforward walk down the driveway and across some fields saw us eventually emerging at the church in Edale, where we drained our flasks on a convenient bench before heading for the station and a 3:47 train back to Piccadilly. .

Here's our route - just 12 km with 300 metres ascent, taking about four and a half hours.

Later:

The mushrooms survived intact and formed the basis of a very mushroomy meal. Too mushroomy if anything - we should have saved half of the Giant Puffball.

Next:
I've decided to adjust the remaining stages in order to reduce the long Stage 4 to New Mills. That will now finish comfortably at Chinley. Stage 5 will be Chinley to Marple (16 km). Stage 6 will be Marple to Guide Bridge (14 km). There will be an extra Stage 7, from Guide Bridge to Manchester (9 km) on Tuesday 3 November.

The summary programme, for reference, is here. (When updated.)