Kinder Scout

Infobox Mountain
Name = Kinder Scout
Photo = KinderScoutPlateau.jpg
Caption = The Kinder plateau seen from the south
Elevation = 636 m (2,088 ft)
Location = Derbyshire, ENG
Range = Peak District
Prominence = 488 m
Parent peak = Cross Fell
Coordinates =
Topographic
OS "Landranger" 110
Grid_ref_UK = SK086875
Grid_ref_Ireland =
Listing = Marilyn, Hewitt, county top, Nuttall
Translation = Water over the edge
Language = Old Norse
Pronunciation = kɪndə skɑʊt

Kinder Scout is a moorland plateau (and mountain) in the Dark Peak of the Derbyshire Peak District in the United Kingdom. Part of the moor, at 636 m (2,088 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in the Peak District and the highest point in Derbyshire. It is accessible from the villages of Hayfield and Edale in the High Peak of Derbyshire.

To the North across the Snake Pass lie the high moors of Bleaklow and Black Hill, which are of similar elevation.

It is a popular hiking location and the Pennine Way crosses Kinder Scout and the moors to the North. This has resulted in the erosion of the underlying peat, prompting work by Derbyshire County Council and the Peak District National Park to repair it. The plateau was also the target of the mass trespass of Kinder Scout in 1932, which resulted in a UK-wide rethink of access to the countryside. From the National Park's inception, a large area of the high moorland north of Edale was designated as 'Open Country'. Eventually, in 2003, the "right to roam" on uncultivated land was enshrined into law, and this area of open country has been significantly extended.

In excellent weather conditions, the city of Manchester and its conurbation can be seen as well as Winter Hill near Bolton in Lancashire, and the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales.

It featured on the 2005 BBC TV programme "Seven Natural Wonders" as one of the wonders of the Midlands, though Kinder Scout could be considered to be in the north of England, lying between the cities of Manchester and Sheffield.

Kinder Downfall

Kinder Downfall is the tallest waterfall in the Peak District, with a 30-metre fall. It lies on the River Kinder, where it flows west over the edge of Kinder Scout. The waterfall was formerly known as "Kinder Scut", and it is from this that the plateau derives its name. Although usually little more than a trickle in summer, in spate conditions it is impressive. In certain wind conditions (notably when there is a strong west wind), the water is blown back on itself, and the resulting cloud of spray can be seen from several miles away. Below the Downfall the River Kinder flows into Kinder Reservoir.

Edale Cross

The Edale Cross lies immediately south of Kinder Scout, under Kinder Low and on the former Hayfield to Edale road. It marks the former junction of the three wards of the Forest of Peak: Glossop and Longdendale, Hopedale and Campagna. The first cross on the site may have been set up by the Abbots of Basingwerk Abbey to mark the southern boundary of their land, granted in 1157. The date of the current cross is unknown, although a plaque beside it claims it to be mediaeval. At some point it fell down, and was re-erected in 1810, when the date and initials JG, WD, GH, JH and JS were carved into it. These stand for John Gee, William Drinkwater, George and Joseph Hadfield and John Shirt, local farmers of the day who raised the cross. [Neville T. Sharpe, "Crosses of the Peak District" (Landmark Collectors Library, 2002)]

References

External links

*Computer generated summit panoramas [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ENG/Kinderscout.gifKinder Scout] [http://www.viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas.html index] . Note: the viewshed shown is not all visible from the summit. There is a large summit plateau; to see the entire viewshed shown it is necessary to walk around the summit but nearer the perimeter of the plateau.

*Kinder Scout [http://www.kindertrespass.com Mass Trespass] . The official site for the 1932 trespass on to Kinder Scout

Picture gallery