Sheffield Outdoor Adventures

Circular walk offering the most beautiful views of the Peak District national park. The walk includes two reservoirs (Derwent & Howden) and the Alport Castles. See this video to have an idea of how beautiful are the sceneries at the Alport Castles area.

Planned route:

• GPX
• Komoot

Main viewpoints:

• Derwent Dam
• Derwent Reservoir
• Howden Dam
• Howden Reservoir
• Alport Castles

Notes:

• Make sure you understand the elevation gain and distance mentioned in the walk description. Ask yourself if you are able to complete this walk.
• If you have knee pain when walking downhill, try using hiking poles.
• Fit and friendly dogs can join. But please keep your dog on a lead when we find livestock.
• Please don't come with flat trainers and/or jeans. You need comfortable walking trousers and shoes with good grip (so that you minimise the risk of falling down and potentially getting injured).
• It might be very windy and cold when we are on top of the hills. So you will need to bring some warm clothes with you.
• Be aware that in case of extreme weather conditions this event might be canceled or postponed.
• Any important news or updates before the event will be posted in the comments section. Make sure you check them. You can also enable automatic email notifications in your Meetup profile's settings.
• ​We have a WhatsApp community which you can join after attending at least one event.
• We would like the group to offer more walks, and of different level. But we need more people to help by creating hiking routes and/or leading walks. If you are interested to be involved, please talk to the organisers. In case you don't have experience, we will help you.

Weather forecasts:

• Derwent @ BBC Weather
• Derwent Valley @ Met Office

What to bring:

• required: walking clothes, hiking shoes, enough food and water for a full day
• recommended: raincoat, warm fleece, comfortable backpack, suncream, sunglasses, phone
• optional: hiking poles, hat, cap, camera, gloves

More details:

• Start Time: 9:00am
• Meeting point: Upper Derwent Visitor Centre, Fairholmes Car Park, Fairholmes, Bamford, S33 0AQ
• Length: 12 miles / 20 km
• Elevation Gain: 1,400 feet / 400 mt
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Duration: around 6 hours
• Lunch: We plan to arrive at Airport Castles at around 1:00pm. We will have lunch there and we'll stop for about 1 hour. During the lunch break people can also explore the Airport Castles area and do some optional scrambling
• Walk Leader: Erika
• Car Park: There is a car park at the meeting location. The cost is £6.

Terms and Conditions:
Anyone joining this walk is responsible for their safety and health (including guests). The group does not have any insurance policy covering injuries. If you RSVP to this event, you must agree to these conditions.

If you have any questions, please contact the event organiser and/or write a message in the comments section.

• The purpose of this online meeting is to show how you can create a route from scratch. I will also explain how you can do the actual offline navigation of your route.
• I have been hiking for more than 20 years, in different countries. I consider myself an experienced hiker.
• In 2024 I started using Komoot's website to both plan and follow hiking routes. I led many hikes in the Peak District national park using Komoot app on my smartphone, without having issues.
• I really like Komoot and I want to show you its main features and why I like it. I can also explain you what I do not like about it. I am not trying to sell or promote something to you.
• Another app / website I have been using for planning and following routes is OsmAnd. But my favorite one is Komoot.
• The aim of this online meeting is to help people that are new to hiking and/or that don't have experience on using apps / websites to plan and/or navigate routes.
• If you are an experienced hiker comfortable on using navigations apps / websites, then this meeting is not for you.
• This is not a mountaineering course, nor a navigation course, nor a safety course.
• Being able to navigate a route is a very useful skill. I encourage you to try learning.
• Be aware that in certain situations relying only on GPS navigation could be risky. You might be in a remote place, by yourself, and your device might stop working and/or you might (temporarily) lose your GPS signal.
• I promise you it will be very simple for you to learn how to use Komoot or OsmAnd.
• During this online meeting I will share my screen and I will create a random hiking routes using the Komoot and OsmAnd web applications. It is possible to achieve the same using other apps or websites.
• I should be able to cover the full content within 30 minutes. However I scheduled this meeting to last 90 minutes because I will allow people to ask questions (I could try creating a route for you, I can show you certain features of Komoot and/or OsmAnd, etc). The meeting will be interactive.
• You can leave the meeting at any time. You don't need to stay till the end.
• If you are interested to try creating a hiking route (with any app or website) after my explanation, I am happy for you to share your screen and try that during the meeting. I can assist you with that.
• If any of you want to try navigate a route, please install the app and then you could share your screen whilst you do the navigation. We can see that in action during the meeting.
• Previous recordings on how to plan a hiking route with Komoot website can be found here and here
• You can see how to do offline map navigation with the Komoot app here
• Some useful tips for the route navigation: download the route on your device, disable your Internet connection (enable airplane mode), enable your GPS location, do offline navigation using your route downloaded to your device.
• If you like the idea of creating hiking routes and/or following a planned route, it would be nice for you to test your skills during a proper hike or bike ride. If you want to contribute to our hiking group, you could create new hiking routes and/or lead walks. Let us know if you are interested.
• The meeting will take place on the Jitsi Meet web platform. You do not need to register a Jitsi account to join this meeting. You can join with using your computer (with a browser) or with your smartphone (with a browser or the Jitsi Meet mobile app).
• The Jitsi Meet platform allows a maximum of 100 concurrent users to join a meeting. So, I will keep a maximum number of attendees for this meeting.
• I expect more than 100 people to be interested in joining the meeting. If any of you has a paid plan with a platform that supports more than 100 participants (for example Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc) and would like to host the meeting, please let me know. I will still be able to share my knowledge even if I do not host the meeting.
• If you are interest in this event, but can't attend it, do not worry, I will do similar meetings in the next few weeks and months.
• If you are no longer able to attend this event, please cancel your booking, so that other people can take your place.
• If you want to make a booking for this event, but there are no places left, you can join the waiting list (you might be automatically selected if other people cancel their booking) or make a booking in one of the similar online events I will be hosting in the future.
• A link will be shared with everyone before the meeting. I will paste the meeting link in the comments section at around 19:15 BST.

More details:

• Start Time: 19:30 BST
• Meeting location: online
• Duration: 90 minutes

If you have any questions, please contact the event organiser and/or write a message in the comments section.

• Derwent edge by Dmitry Djouce is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Planned route:

• GPX
• Komoot

Main viewpoints:

• Edale
• Woodhouse Farm
• Edale Youth Hostel
• Clough Farm
• Jaggers Clough
• Haggwater Bridge
• Hagg Farm
• Rowlee Pasture
• Views to Alport Castles
• Birchinlee Pasture
• Ditch Clough
• River Westend
• Howden Reservoir
• River Derwent
• Cut Gate
• Little Cut
• Cut Gate End
• Margery Hill
• Wilfrey Edge
• Howden Edge
• High Stones
• Hey Bank
• Abbey Brook
• Cogman Clough
• Wild Moor Clough
• Bents Clough
• Howden Chest
• Back Tor
• Derwent Edge
• Whinstone Lee Tor
• Cutthroat Bridge
• Bamford Moor
• Views to Ladybower Reservoir
• High Hoe
• Bamford Edge
• Bamford Clough
• Bamford

Notes:

• In the Komoot link mentioned above you can find out more about this hike: photos and information about each viewpoint, length, specific route, ascents, descents, etc.
• Make sure you do some challenging hillwalking in the weeks before this event, otherwise you will feel exhausted and might not be able to complete the walk. This hike requires an adequate level of fitness.
• This is a challenging hilly walk. Make sure you understand the elevation gain and distance mentioned in the walk description. Ask yourself if you are able to complete this walk.
• Be aware that if you are very slow, the rest of the group (including the walk leader) might not wait for you. The walk needs to be completed within the expected time window as some people have a long journey to do before being at home. Hence we will keep a reasonably fast pace all day, without having long breaks.
• If you think this hike is too long or hard, you are welcome to join and make it shorter. If you look at the route you will see that it is possible to take few shortcuts. If you need help with this, please let me know and I will explain you the possible shortcuts.
• If you struggle during the day, there is a potential shorter route I can suggest. After walking for about 5 miles we will arrive at Hagg Farm. From there you can take a different route towards Ladybower Reservoir and then Bamford. This route will be roughly 11 miles long. If you decide to keep walking with us after Hagg Farm, you can still take few shortcuts later, but your walk will still be very long.
• It might be useful to have the hiking route on your phone, so that in case you need to take a shortcut and/or can't keep the same pace of the group, you know where to go. However there are always people in the area and you could ask for some help. We won't be in a remote place.
• If you have knee pain when walking downhill, try using hiking poles.
• Fit and friendly dogs can join. But please keep your dog on a lead when we find livestock.
• Please don't come with flat trainers and/or jeans. You need comfortable walking trousers and shoes with good grip (so that you minimise the risk of falling down and potentially getting injured).
• The route​ is planned in advance using Komoot. The walk leader typically does not recce the walk before the event. It is possible to find muddy terrain and/or slippery paths.
• It might be very windy and cold when we are on top of the hills. So you will need to bring some warm clothes with you.
• Be aware that in case of extreme weather conditions this event might be canceled or postponed.
• Any important news or updates before the event will be posted in the comments section. Make sure you check them. You can also enable automatic email notifications in your Meetup profile's settings.
• The main walk leader usually wears blue shoes and red backpack, you should be able to recognise him.
• ​We have a WhatsApp community which you can join after attending at least one event.
• We would like the group to offer more walks, and of different level. But we need more people to help by creating hiking routes and/or leading walks. If you are interested to be involved, please talk to the organisers. In case you don't have experience, we will help you.

Weather forecasts:

• Peak District @ Met Office
• Derwent Edge @ Mountain Forecast
• Margery Hill @ Mountain Forecast

What to bring:

• required: walking clothes, hiking shoes, enough food and water for a full day
• recommended: raincoat, warm fleece, comfortable backpack, suncream, sunglasses, phone, torch
• optional: hiking poles, hat, cap, camera, gloves

More details:

• Start Time: 8:00am
• Meeting point: The Rambler Inn, Marys, Ln, Edale, S33 7ZA
• Length: 28 miles / 46 km
• Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet / 1,100 mt
• Difficulty: Hard
• Duration: around 12 hours

Public transport in the morning:

• train from Sheffield (7:11) to Edale (7:48)
• train from Manchester Piccadilly (6:40) to Hope (7:27)

Public transport in the evening:

• trains from Edale (19:34, 20:30, 21:34, 22:33, 23:03) to Sheffield
• trains from Edale (19:47, 20:48, 21:47, 23:19) to Manchester Piccadilly

Travelling by car:
If you are coming by car, you could park at one of the two train stations mentioned above and do a short journey (from Bamford to Edale) by train either in the morning or in the evening.

Terms and Conditions:
Anyone joining this walk is responsible for their safety and health (including guests). The group does not have any insurance policy covering injuries. If you RSVP to this event, you must agree to these conditions.

If you have any questions, please contact the event organiser and/or write a message in the comments section.