BUXTON AND GRIN LOW WALK
THE WALK
Buxton and Grin Low Walk soon climbs up to the moors. As you approach Stanley Moor, there are good views over Axe Edge and from the best vantage points at the top of the climb, Kinder Scout in the distance. Although you pass close to Stanley Moor Reservoir, little can be seen of it other than the well-grassed dam wall that surrounds it.
Grin Low is an attractive area of woodland and upland grassland that is now a popular country park. The focal point is Solomon’s Temple, from where, on a clear day, you get magnificent views over Buxton and beyond.
Poole’s Cavern was awarded ‘First wonder of the Peak’ status by Charles Cotton in his book written in 1680. It is a natural cave and provided the home for a thief and robber named ‘Poole’ in the 1400s. It is the source of the River Wye.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 1 – Poole’s Cavern is a large natural cave that the Romans and prehistoric humans once used. The magnificent underground chambers and the incredible stalactites, stalagmites and crystal flowstone have earned the show cave the title of ‘most spectacular Cavern in Derbyshire.’ Thomas Hobbes, in the 17th century, famously described the Cavern as one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Peak.’
Point 4 – Stanley Moor reservoir, rectangular in shape and surrounded by earth embankments, relied on two nearby streams as its primary water sources. However, it was on a geological fault line where limestone and millstone grit met, resulting in the water gradually soaking into the ground despite the best efforts to stop it. It led to its eventual decommission.
Point 5 – Solomon’s Temple was built in 1896 by Solomon Mycock to employ some of the unemployed in Buxton. The Victorian folly stands on the site of a Bronze Age burial mound. Climb the spiral staircase to the viewing platform and enjoy a splendid view of Buxton and the surrounding area. It was a favourite place in Victorian times for visitors who took the waters at the natural baths and walked from the town centre up the hillside to relax and benefit from the fresh air and lovely scenery.
Point 6 – Evidence of man’s activity at Grin Low dates back over 5,000 years to the Stone Age, when religious rites took place there. In more recent times, quarrying and burning of limestone turned the area into an eyesore, with massive white spoil heaps dominating the scene. Fortunately, in the late 1970s, Derbyshire County Council and Buxton and District Civic Society commenced an extensive reclamation project, transforming the site into an attractive country park. Where rare species of wild plants, including field orchids, can be found, which resulted in a Site of Special Scientific Interest Status award
WALK DETAILS
Length: 4.5 miles.
Start: The car park in Poole’s Cavern Country Park.
Location: Off Green Lane, which joins the A515/A53. The A515 from Ashbourne and the A6 from Matlock meet in Buxton.
Terrain: Hilly, moderately steep in places, can be muddy.
Refreshments: There is a café at Poole’s Cavern and extensive refreshment facilities, to suit all tastes, in Buxton, including the Pavilion Gardens, newly refurbished Café and Art Café.
THE ROUTE
1. Leave the car park at Poole’s Cavern by a gate in the top left corner, down a path leading to the road and go right for 100 yards, keeping straight on where the road curves to the left. Walk partway across a playing field with a hedge on the left before going through a gap and continuing in the same direction with the hedge now on the right, heading towards a row of houses.
2. On reaching the road in front of the houses, go to the right. After a short distance, the route enters a field and joins a narrow-fenced path on the right of the field wall, which soon leads you past some buildings.
3. On entering an open field where the buildings end, keep straight ahead, climbing gently past a wood to reach a stile in the top corner of the field. Head down the following field to a stile in the bottom corner leading onto a road. Turn left and in a few yards, sharp right over a stile by a metal gate along a rough track winding uphill to a farm.
4. Walk to the farm and bear right at a small metal gate with the farm buildings on the left. Leave the farm by the lane as it winds its way past Stanley Moor Reservoir to the road.
5. Cross over the road to walk through the gateway into Grin Low Caravan and Camping Park along a tarmac road, turning right into the car park at the end. Go through the car park and up a slope to follow a clearly signed path for Solomon’s Temple, which soon comes into sight.
6. Having reached the Temple and enjoyed the magnificent view, turn around and walk back in the same direction. This time on a path at a lower level. Go over a stile and maintain the same line across the following field to a stile into Grin Low Woods.
7. Walk through the centre of the wood, keeping to the main path, ignoring all paths to the right and left until you come to a ‘T’ junction of paths, where you turn right.
8. Follow a broad path, soon turning right down a flight of stone steps back to the entrance to Poole’s Cavern and the start of the walk.
BUXTON
