Alport Moor Circular

A little more of an off piste route, in that, although this one does follow publicly available paths, they are a little more unknown and in for the majority, no flagstones along the way.
For this one I parked up in the lay-by off the A57 at the foot of Birchen Clough and started by crossing the road into Snake Woodlands and headed in a north-westerly directing heading toward and through Lady Clough. I left this clough and crossed the A57 again, heading through Doctors Gate in the direction of the Pennine Way.
I joined up with the Pennine Way and followed it for a little over a mile and then made my way into the unknown. Here is where pretty much most of the trails got harder to spot, as too, did people. In fact between here and the end of the hike, I only saw one other person.
I was now heading toward Alport Moor and then onto Westend Moor, tricky paths to find at times and plenty of peat bogs to be negotiated along the way. I passed by the trig point on Westend Moor, one of the lonliest trig points I think I've encountered, seemingly stricken in the middle of knowhere.
From here it was onto Alport Castles, a quite unique rock formation up here and well worth the visit, that's for sure. I spent a good while here, plenty of time to play with the drone.
Then it was quite a steady 4 miles back to where I started, though there were a few more metres of elevation to tackle along the way.
All in all a great day in the hills, but then when are they not great days.
A map of this route can be found at explore.osmaps...

[@jeanpipes1160]

Looks an amazing walk Anthony, and what brilliant weather you had. Great video as always.

[@jerrygale1994]

Wonderful walk. Looked a tricky one in places. Many thanks for sharing

[@pipes-hikes]

Yes a couple of tricky spots, but nothing I’d say to really worry about if you’re confident in navigating.

[@paulkingsley2]

Brilliant video.This looked like a great walk so I went and did it Sunday with a friend. It didn't disappoint. Thanks for the inspiration, and thanks for sharing the gpx of the route.

[@pipes-hikes]

First of all thank you for the comment, very good of you to say. Secondly, I’m glad it inspired you to try it out. It was the first time I had done it but I don’t imagine it will be the last. Glad that you enjoyed the walk too 👍🏼

[@football_forever.1]

What a stunning route. Very lucky with the weather too. Not sure which part it was, doctors gate/alport moor perhaps but the section with the waterfalls and the twisting stream looked beautiful. Great walk, definitely pinching for the scrap book

[@nathankent8945]

I'm definitely going to be pinching this route, I've done Alport Castles twice before in different directions of Rowlee Pasture but your route looks a lot more scenic! Thanks for sharing Anthony, great video and drone footage! 🥾⛰️👍

[@pipes-hikes]

Likewise I’ve visited Alport Castles a few times but this was the first time I’ve ever done this route Nathan. Pretty certain it won’t be the last 👌🏼

[@steuk26]

Done most of this route but started at Doctors Gate, looks a bit more interesting the one you took so might have to do it all again😊 great video, thanks for sharing...you got yourself another sub👍

[@vs123]

Awesome view

[@pipes-hikes]

Thank you

[@thefun-employedadventurer3011]

Ah local play grounds

[@pipes-hikes]

I’ve walked around Alport Castles a few times but usually from Fairholmes, up to Alport Castles then off over Snake Pass toward Blackley Hey and back up past Hagg Farm. This was the first time I’ve been over Alport Moor and first time climbing up on top of the rock tower too. Great area for your local playgrounds 👌🏼