The Dovestone Reservoir area seems to have a lot of potential for scrambles. Many of the scrambles in the area are covered in the Cicerone book Scrambles in the Dark Peak: Easy Summer Scrambles and Winter Climbs. I’m looking at these as practise for bigger things, but these scrambles are all a challenge of one type or another. My first venture was to check out Chew Brook and get some photographs of the Wilderness Gullys while I was there for future reference.
The initial approach up Chew Brook from the bridge at the foot of Charnel Clough is a little vague, but generally follows the southern banks of the brook until you get to the rocky outcrops. At this point the path follows quite closely around and through the rocks until you start to enter the gully formed by Chew Brook.
At this point it was obvious that the rocks were very green. I’d also got my old 4 season boots on, with hard soles. Not the best soles for the job with quite poor grip on anything smooth and wet. So this time round I went as far as the waterfall around 250 meters from Chew Reservoir. I was one my own and thought better of putting myself into a tricky situation. It’s a point to remember that the banking either side of Chew Brook at this point is extremely steep. So breaking out up the slope to Chew Road required a level of care and caution.
I know that people may think I am taking risks scrambling on my own, and you may be right. But I make sure someone has my planned route. I also stick to Grade 1 scrambles so that I can enjoy the challenge without too extreme a danger.
I took advantage of the nice weather to try and get some nice photographs. I love black and white high contrast landscape photographs. So I have had a go at my own.
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