Route: Edale from Barber Booth
Area: Peak District, High Peak
Date of walk: 5th March 2026
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 3.4 miles
Ascent: 400 feet
Weather: Mostly cloudy, some brighter spells
Earlier today we’d enjoyed a memorable walk up Mam Tor and along the Great Ridge. Our early start left us with sufficient time to plan an afternoon walk. We were staying at Rowlands Farm, which is ideally situated for walks in the Edale area and I can highly recommend it. We set off from the farm cottage, but anyone not staying here should start at Barber Booth, where there is a public car park and a few roadside spaces. The route map shows the walk as starting at Barber Booth. From the small village we walked past the Edale Methodist Church and joined a path leading gently uphill to Upper Booth. A flock or ‘curfew’ of about 15 curlews were flying about in the fields, a lovely sight and sound
At Upper Booth we turned sharp right to join the long distance Pennine Way. The path took us up and over the lower flanks of Broadlee Bank Tor. Along the way we had good views across the Vale of Edale to Mam Tor and Lose Hill, where we’d walked this morning. Eventually we arrived at Grindsbrook Booth, a hamlet within the village of Edale, famous as the starting point of the Pennine Way. The Old Nags Head is in the heart of the village and was too tempting to miss, so we paused there for ‘refreshments’
Suitably refuelled, we walked through the village of Edale, passing by its lovely parish church, before joining a public footpath near Edale Station. This took us through a succession of fields along the valley, crossing the railway bridge near Barber Booth before re-entering the village to end our walk. The light had been rather mediocre and didn’t show the scenery at its best, but we enjoyed the walk greatly and it was a fitting end to a wonderful short walking holiday in the High Peak
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
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We'd walked to this spot from our rented holiday cottage at Rowlands Farm, but the normal starting point for this walk would be from the car park at the end of this lane near Barber Booth
We follow a track through the small village of Barber Booth
We pass by Edale Methodist Church
The track takes us through the farmyard of Whitmore Lea Farm
We cross the railway bridge, with Broadlee Bank Tor in the distance. Our route will take us along the foot of the hill, heading right
We follow a path towards the head of the Vale of Edale
The path crosses a small stream
Approaching the small settlement of Upper Booth
We turn sharp right at Upper Booth to join the long distance Pennine Way, which we'll follow into Edale
We head east along the Pennine Way
Looking across to Mam Tor, where we'd walked this morning in more photogenic conditions
We follow the path to the foot of Broadmoor Lee Tor
The pointed outline of Lose Hill at the end of Great Ridge, another reminder of this morning's walk
Looking across the Vale of Edale
We descend towards Grindsbrook Booth and Edale...
Lose Hill and Back Tor on the far side of the valley
A paved path leads all the way into Edale...
We turn right here to walk into Grindsbrook Booth
We follow a path beside Grinds Brook
The Old Nags Head, Grindsbrook Booth, the official start of the Pennine Way
Resistance was futile...
Suitably refreshed, we pass by Edale Parish Church as we continue through the village...
Just beyond the church we leave the lane and turn right to join a path leading back to Barber Booth
A series of signposts indicate the way ahead...
The path takes us towards the railway line
We cross over the railway line and from here it's a short stroll back into Barber Booth to end our brief stay in the Peak District
