Mam Tor / Broken Road

Date of visit 08/09/2025

what3words: ///promoting.caller.roofer

Before we set off for our holiday in The Peak District I had done a lot online reading into the best places to go, that would suit our party. Time after time mention came up of Mam Tor as THE place to visit, with the caveat as to how busy it gets.

What really peaked my interest was the addition to this walk, the Broken Road. This article, from a rather niche website explains the history of the road, but for here it is just best to say this used to be, until 1979, a direct link across the Peaks to Sheffield, that is until nature took its course!

We started our walk, mid afternoon, having been to Bakewell for their famous Monday market before attempting the walk up Mam Tor. As is often the case in The Peaks, the weather can turn quite quickly. We set out in lovely sunshine, but towards the end of our walk, a couple of hours later, I had a weather eye on the storm clouds brewing in the distance - like a good boy scout, be prepared.

Carrying out our walk on a weekday appeared to pay dividends, as we had no trouble finding a parking space in the Hill Fort National Trust car park, and weren't swamped by the apparent numbers that can apparently be seen here at weekends.

Due to the nature of the walk, we decided it would be safest to walk Little One on his wrist strap, whilst the hill sides away from the well walked path weren't too dramatic, drop wise, we felt it prudent to be better safe than sorry!

Talking of the paths, there is a mixture of substrate in this walk. Much of the early stage is on a compacted gravel, slate and soil mix, later turning into distinct "crazy paving" style of slabs to give a reasonable walking surface. However, the general unevenness of the ground could be problematic for anyone with mobility issues and certainly not designed for wheels, apart from mountain bikes, which were out in numbers!

We were following the details of one of the many online walks for this trip, which took us to the memorial stone at Hollins Cross. This area used to be the site of an actual cross, until 1905, on what was known as coffin road, as this was the route taken for funeral processions, until a low level church was built nearby in Edale.

From this spot there is a fantastic view of the road, snaking its way across the hill side, but the view doesn't prepare you for what is to come when you follow the loose gravel path diagonally down the hillside and through the woods at the bottom.