Upplan one

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I walked this in late June after a spell of dry weather, from the Derwent end to Langsett. The weather was perfect on the day. It took 4 hours.

This is a beautiful walk in the sunshine. The section from leaving the reservoirs to Cut Gate End, across the green hillside with noone but birds and sheep for company is one of the nicest walks I've taken for a good while. Being a trek across sometimes boggy moorlands and with the paths on the second half being extremely stony, I'd recommend boots. You're a long way from a road most of the time. I twisted my ankle and rolled it again a couple of times, thankfully not badly. I also fell into a cunningly situated bog but got away with a muddy boot and knee. In bad weather, the usual cautions about suitable clothing apply.

The initial section from Fairholmes to the turn-off at Howden is a good road and popular with cyclists. This took about an hour. After that, you turn onto a mud track to climb up Howden Clough. The slope isn't that bad but I was breathing hard a bit by the top. This can be boggy in places but nothing more than 2-3 metres across and you can get round. You cross the open moors under the slopes of High Stones and Margery Hill on a path that's only a bit more worn than flattened grass. This is a gentler climb. At the top, the route joins Cut Gate at its end. Cut Gate is a very stony bridleway. Again, I saw a fair few cyclists, all being very polite to a limping walker. The long stretch along Cut Gate eventually leads to the side of Langsett reservoir and you walk around the side, joining the road shortly before the car park.

The stream at the clough is very easy to cross, being only a stride wide. There are a couple of stiles, one of which was broken and needed a little agility to cross. Note that dogs must be on leads from May to July on the moorland section.

I did go on an accidental diversion where the track turns East towards High Stones. The fact the track also carries on northwards here was what threw me. Afterwards I compared 3 different maps and none of them show all the tracks around there, not even some of the better defined tracks. The turn-off is where the path meets a circular stone shelter. I realised my mistake as the track descended when it should have climbed. There is a distinct steep and then shallower slope under High Stones. You should be skirting the bottom of the steep part. The path is clear when you're there but will likely vanish under snow.

The corner that leaves Cut Gate to follow Langsett around is called North America farm. This route is longer than I thought. The area towards Langsett was used for tank and infantry training during WW2 so at the end, I shouldn't have been surprised to see a sign warning of unexploded ordnance that might still be found.

There are no places for food and drink except at the route's ends. Fairholmes visitors' centre has toilets and a kiosk. Langsett has a pub and cafe. The car park says it has toilets too. Your options for resting are the floor but you couldn't find a more scenic floor to sit on.

Buses to Fairholmes are the 257 from Sheffield on Sunday only, otherwise you'll have to walk from the Ladybower Inn like I did. There may be other options not from Sheffield. At the Langsett end you can get buses to Penistone but to get back into Sheffield, I had to walk a few more km to Stocksbridge, there being a decent footpath north of the A616 - the Little Don trail.

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