In effect it is a deep chasm surrounded by grey-blue dolerite crags, whose continued crumbling scatters scree down the flanks of the valley. It is often referred to as High Cup Nick, though that is only one part of the huge scar, and is sometimes applied to the waterfall.

It really is a hidden gem.

With the trig point to by back I was able to get this partial panorama:

While the views are quite spectacular, underneath the ground great feats of engineering have taken place, with two parallel tunnels more than 3 miles (4km) in length between Marsden and Diggle – one for the railway, the other for a canal (which opened in 1811 and took up to 4 hours to travel along as boats had to be propelled by crews ‘legging it’).

Having climbed to the top of Jacob’s Ladder, Edale Rocks are just a short walk further up hill towards the summit of Kinder Low.

This panorama was taken standing on the top of the cairn marking Hollins Cross.

It is day 3 and the weather had changed, the forest was shrouded in fog and there were patches of steady drizzle in the air. I headed off at pace to find some shelter within the light woodland in this part of Ashdown Forest.

Thankfully the drizzle eased off after a while which was lucky as I was now walking across farmland above Weirwood Reservoir, which brought back memories of sailing – though without a breath of wind in the air the reservoir was as flat as a millpond so the water was just the domain of the fishermen.

Shortly after leaving the reservoir behind I was in Forest Row, and being a bank holiday was almost deserted so crossing the A22 was much easier than the day before. Heading out of the village there was another golf course in the way which meant laboriously picking my way across fairways and between tees and greens.

It was only a short walk today of 9 miles to complete the circuit. The pedometer read 18,819 steps – I think it is back to the drawing board with pedometers as my theoretical stride length would be more than 76cm!! Perhaps it as only counting steps made by my left foot and needs to be doubled? More testing required.

Center of map

Route

Went with Maureen (and Rosie) to walk around Maiden Castle. Thankfully we had the best of the day, it was totally still on the plateau though it did start to rain gently as we headed back. On the way round we spotted a rather large raptor sitting on a fence post – we think it is probably a buzzard.

Located a couple miles outside Dorchester (to the south west), Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort – though there were earlier and later phases of use and occupation on the site. The earthworks are up to 6 metres high, and enclose an area of around 18 hectares, making it one of the largest hill forts in Europe.

English Heritage now maintains Maiden Castle.