The Grade 1 Scrambler

A guide to the long approach and short Grade 1 scramble up Red Brook, a Kinder Scout (Kinder Plateau) route above Hayfield in the Peak District.  Summary: the final section is a perfectly OK Grade 1 scramble, but it’s hard to recommend when the outing takes three hours there and back for only 10-15 minutes of actual hands-on scrambling.

Route in: from Hayfield, park at Bowden Bridge car park or along the road leading to it; alternatively, take the bus to Hayfield and walk along Kinder Road. Continue around the northern edge of Kinder Reservoir, then follow the River Kinder until you reach Red Brook.  Walk up beside Red Brook to the start point.  It’s a bit drier to walk above the Kinder rather than close by it.

Start point: you can start engaging where you please, but typically clambering over boulders starts around OS ref SK 07660 88275

Grading: there’s a lot of rock clambering and “sclambering” with some grade 1 scrambling in the final section (which starts at SK 07897 88093), plus one or two optional lines at a slightly higher grade that can be avoided to keep the whole route at Grade 1.

Notes: water levels in the brook are very varied depending on the weather: some of the better scrambling is along the main line of the brook where the rock can be greasy, and in wetter conditions it’s safer to keep to the drier rock at the side rather than commit to the wet main line.

End point: where you reach the path along the edge of Kinder Plateau at SK 08045 87975, having completed just over 200 metres of ascent from the River Kinder of which about one third is walking, half is clambering and one sixth is scrambling

Route out: quickest route (just over an hour) is roughly south-west then west via Cluther Rocks and Farlands; or you can downclimb Red Brook and retrace your approach taking c.90 minutes, which is roughly the time for walking south along the Pennine Way and heading west via Oaken Clough; or it’s just over two hours to walk north along the Pennine Way and descend via William Clough

Map link: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/custom-routes/red-brook-c90a1c5

Time: c.100 mins from CP to start point; around 30-40 mins for the scramble of which 10-15 mins is actual hands-on scrambling; see above for exit route timing

Combine with: River Kinder, Crowden Clough over Edale, The Cloughs above Jacob’s Ladder

Gear: this is classed as a dry scramble but you’ll certainly value waterproof boots and maybe also trousers after wetter weather

Verdict: the final section is a perfectly OK grade 1 scramble but it takes such a long time to get to, why come here rather than to more accessible Peak District scrambles.  Best suited to Kinder completists, hikers already heading this way or scramblers wanting a quieter exploratory route rather than a high-value scramble outing.

Category: Lower-rated scramble

Score: 4/10 overall (7/10 for scramble alone)

Video guide:

Map:

Map image/data from OpenStreetMap via AllTrails