Kinder Scout

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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 public footpaths. 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 Manchester conurbation can be seen as well as Winter Hill and the Welsh mountains 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 Sheffield and Manchester.

Kinder Downfall is the highest waterfall in the Peak District, at thirty metres. 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.

[edit] External links

• Computer generated summit panoramas Kinder Scout 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.

[edit] Picture Gallery

click on image to view full size

North Flank of Kinder Scout taken from grin ref SK075900