Edale - village and civil parish in High Peak, Derbyshire, England

Edale is in Derbyshire. Edale is the name of the valley of the River Noe and the name used by most people for Grindsbrook Booth, the settlement where the only train station in the valley is located. It is the southern terminus of the Pennine Way, a 268-mile long-distance walk to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland. Its railway station provides a quick and direct public-transport route to the heart of the Dark Peak countryside from Manchester or Sheffield.

Get in

Trains call hourly at Edale on the line between Manchester Piccadilly (45 min) and Sheffield (35 min). The route eastbound from Piccadilly is via Marple, New Mills, Chinley, then through a long tunnel to Edale, and on to Hope, Bamford, Hathersage, Grindleford, Dore & Totley, then Sheffield.

There are no buses along this valley. The nearest bus route is from Sheffield via Hope to Castleton, a few miles away over the ridge. (And a lot more miles if you confuse it with Castleton near Rochdale on the edge of Manchester.)

Get around

• Train along the valley to Hope or Hathersage or Chinley
• Walk or bus to Castleton or other nearby Peak District villages and towns

See

• The surrounding hills
• Edale Visitor Centre, Fieldhead (between the station and the village centre), +44 1433 670207.

Do

• Pitch a tent (campsite in the village centre) before you walk the hills.
• Kinder Scout, rising abruptly on the north flank of Edale, demonstrates the contrasts of this area. The landscape to the south is attractive limestone, but north of Edale this changes to a gritstone plateau, poorly permeable to rainfall and overlain by peat bog. The plateau is bounded by steep scarps, so there are great views on the way up (an excuse to catch your breath) and along the scarp edges. But the interior is dismal: if you go in search of the summit, you'll struggle through bogs and lose the view, all for the sake of a couple of metres extra altitude. The summit is marked by an OS triangulation point at 636 m / 2087 ft; you'll be past caring when you reach it.
• If you're doing all 267 miles (429 km) of the Pennine Way end-to-end in a single sortie, then the usual direction is northbound to have the sun and weather at your back, and Day One is from Edale across Kinder Scout and Bleaklow to Crowden-in-Longdendale. There are two routes out of Edale, which can combine into a circular walk for hikers who are simply day-tripping. The traditional route is to ascend Kinder Scout immediately up Grind's Brook, then head northwest across the plateau. The alternative route, more scenic and less boggy, is west across the fields to ascend by Jacob's Ladder, then north along the scarp edge. The two routes meet at Kinder Downfall, from where you trudge on north gradually descending. The plateau is crossed by A57 but with no nearby facilities, so you continue north over Bleaklow before the last descent into Longdendale, with a zigzag around the reservoir to reach Crowden. The route is well marked and has boardwalks over the worst bogs. 13 miles done, only 254 to go. It's similar gritstone terrain all the way to Gargrave in North Yorkshire, where the route re-enters limestone scenery in the Yorkshire Dales.
• Over Mam Tor or Hollins Cross to Castleton and the caves
• Over Jacobs Ladder and past Edale Cross to Hayfield
• Have an evening in the pubs after you have walked the hills.

Eat

Toasted teacakes and other light snack in the two cafes and bar meals in the two pubs.

• Coopers Cafe, Grindsbrook Booth, 53.370233°, -1.817147°, +44 1433 670401.
• Penny Pot Cafe, Station Approach, 53.364779°, -1.816372°, +44 1433 670688, hello@pennypotcafe.com. M-F 9AM-4PM, Sa Su 8AM-5PM. 2019-10-01

Drink

• The Old Nags Head, 53.3707°, -1.8169°, +44 1433 670291.
• The Rambler Inn, 53.3655°, -1.8170°, +44 1433 670268.
• Tea in the various teashops

Sleep

B&B in cottages or pubs as well as a few campsites

• Edale Youth Hostel, Rowland Cote, Nether Booth (1 mile east of Grindsbrook Booth), 53.3761°, -1.7910°. The YHA youth hostel is a particularly large establishment, offering a range of services. Advance booking during school holidays and weekends is advisable. From £10 pppn
• Fieldhead Campsite, 53.3674°, -1.8167°, +44 1433 670386. £5–6.50 adult

Connect

• Peak District National Park, +44 1629 816200, customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk. Daily 8:45AM–5PM.

Go next

• Castleton
• Hayfield
• Crowden-in-Longdendale
• Sheffield