DAY 6 Wednesday 8 June 2005

Snake Pass to Froggatt

After the usual large breakfast at Kings Clough Farm, we headed back through Glossop and turned east up and over Snake Pass. The Pass is the highest road in the Peak District and is often blocked by snow in Winter. It is a lovely drive, but like so many British roads there is nowhere to stop to take photos. We passed the Lady Bower Reservoir, then headed south to Hope and Castleton, where we stopped for morning tea.

A small stream on Snake Pass	Lady Bower Reservoir on the eastern end of Snake Pass
The road through Castleton	Frog Cottage at Hope
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Mam Tor, Sparrowpit & Peak Forest

From Castleton we took a loop round the High Peak through Sparrowpit, and Peak Forest, then Eyam. The road passes through rolling farmland, full of long grass, stone fences and acres of yellow buttercup.

Mam Tor, above Castleton

The view from Mam Tor looking down over Castleton and the Hope Valley

Eyam to Froggatt

The small, isolated village of Eyam lies across the valley from Froggatt and Froggatt Edge and you get a good view of how the gritstone "edges" dominate the skyline in the area. Froggatt is a small village now largely obscured by trees and the forest that is rapidly regenerating on the Edge.

The view from Eyam across the Derwent River to Froggatt Village with the Edge behind

Froggatt Edge

Froggatt Edge is accessible North and South by short walks from the road. We drove through Curbar and up to the Curbar Gap where there is a small carpark and wide track south right to the edge of the sandstone bluff. From here you get extensive views across the Derwent Valley. There are the remnants of numerous quarries in the sandstone and partly formed mill stones. In earlier times, most of the men in the nearby villages must have worked in these quarries, as the 1861 census lists their occupations as stonemason or similar.

A Froggatt on Froggatt Edge	The remnants of stone workings in the quarries on Froggatt Edge
Looking down on Curbar and the "New" Bridge	Looking back along White Edge

Froggatt Village and the Chequers Inn

From the Edge we descended down to the river and entered Froggatt Village. It is a collection of houses built beside the river and accessed by a bridge across the Derwent. The bridge is notable for the different widths of the spans, the bridge having been altered and extended at some time in its life. After finding Froggatt Wood, we headed to the nearby Chequers Inn for a pleasant lunch in the sun.

Welcome to Froggatt	Frog Hall in Froggatt village
Froggatt Wood	The bridge over the Derwent River at Froggatt

And on to Uttoxeter

From Froggatt we headed south, through Matlock Bath, Wirksworth, back through Ashbourne and on to Uttoxeter, where we stayed the night in a Travel Inn Hotel.

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Last updated: 25/06/2017