Sar Lou Adventures

Midlands Marilyn & UK Iconic walks challenge – Kinder Scout 636m/2,086ft

Feeling achy as hell but proud and accomplished having finally ticked off the big one on my Midlands Marilyn challenge with this 10.25 mile hike over Kinder Scout. I chose the William Clough path route, wanting to get the steepest section as an ascent rather than a knee shredding descent (also in possible rain having checked the forecast) and I’m so glad I did. It was tough as hell and very energy sapping, but the challenge and views were totally worth it once you got up to the plateau. It was also great to prove to myself that I can tackle those big ascents as I build up to the big 3 of Yr Wyddfa, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis.

The William Clough path a historic walking route on Kinder Scout in the Peak District that commemorates the Mass Trespass of 24 April 1932. That event was a pivotal protest in the UK’s right-to-roam movement, where around 400–500 walkers hiked from Hayfield up onto Kinder Scout to challenge landowners’ restrictions on access to open moorland, helping secure broader walking rights across open countryside. The classic walk follows much of the same terrain the 1932 trespassers used, starting at Bowden Bridge in Hayfield, past Kinder Reservoir, and up the valley alongside the stream called William Clough. From there you climb onto the moor plateau of Kinder Scout, joining sections of the Pennine Way and past Kinder Downfall before reaching the Kinder Low trig point. I carried on roughly a km into the plateau to find the Kinder Scout summit before making my way down past Edale rocks and the stone steps, following the Pennine Way to make my way back to Hayfield.