Photography Day Tours

The highest points in the Peak District are the only places in England where you can still find Mountain Hares. Most people will never see them when walking in the hills but I have a 100% record of seeing them and getting some great photos on these trips. It goes without saying that it's worth taking along a camera with a long lens or zoom and binoculars if you have them. If you don't, not to worry as I'll send you a set of digital photo's taken on the day.

The walk starts from the Snake Pass road, between Glossop and Sheffield. After a gradual climb of around 200m (600ft), we reach a flattening from where we leave the Pennine Way path. I will now navigate you across the complex moorland terrain to some of the best locations to see Mountain Hares in their natural habitat. There will also be the chance of seeing short-eared owls, golden plover, red grouse, kestrels, and other wildlife on these trips as well as learning about the ecology and restoration of these amazing bog and moorland habitats.
We will spend time here observing the hares before heading to the site of the B29 Superfortress "Over Exposed" plane crash. This is an incredible and moving location, and the most impressive in the region.

The walk is mostly on a mixture of good tracks and smaller footpaths which can be rough in places and includes a few gradual hills. Some of the paths is paved and tends to be a little slippy when wet. At any time of year, there are likely to be some muddy sections, especially once we start to head away from the Pennine Way across the moors. The terrain here becomes rougher with no paths in some sections.

This experience is also available as a private bespoke event for you/your group on a date you select and with a number of different walks to the hare locations. We also operate a Mountain Hare Photography Experience which is again booked as a private bespoke event on a date you select and focussed on spending a day photographing the mountain hares.

We set off from Bowden Bridge car park, the starting point for the famous 1932 Mass Trespass. We head up an easy track to Kinder Reservoir which provides some great views. The track gives way to a smaller path now which can be rough and somewhat muddy in places as we start to head up the main climb towards Kinder Scout.

After a climb of around 300m (1000ft), we reach a flattening from where we make a short detour to the site of a 1942 plane crash (both crew members walked away). The plane was a brand new USAF B24 Liberator which had departed from Burtonwood near Warrington. The wings and remains of engines and other parts can still be seen.

We head back now and climb another 100m (300ft) onto the plateau of Kinder and follow the edge towards the spectacular Kinder Downfall, still following the original 1932 Trespass route. After the downfall, we continue on to the strangely named Kinder Low which is actually the highest of Kinder's three trig points at 633m (2077ft). It's not quite at the very summit, which is a rather indistinct point 3m higher and about 800m away on the boggy plateau. I can guide you to it if you want to be at the very top!
It's now time to start heading back down which we do via a nice path over Kinderlow End. Before we drop down we'll pass a "Bowl Barrow", which is an early Bronze Age (~2000BC) burial mound. We continue down through the fields and back to Bowden Bridge.
The walk is mostly on a mixture of good tracks and smaller footpaths which can be rough in places and includes 1 fairly long hill. The hill up to Kinder is a steady climb of about 400m (1300ft)

Just before that climb, there is a short steep stone path which tends to be a little slippy when wet. At any time of year, there are likely to be some muddy sections, especially once we start to head up towards Kinder with it's peat bogs. As we climb up onto Kinder the path becomes rougher and a little rocky in places. Either side of Kinder Downfall a little more care is needed on these rocks. There is a fairly long descent back down but the route I have chosen provides one of the more gradual descents.

The walk starts from the small village of Rowsley, located where the River Wye meets the River Derwent. Rowsley is home to the fascinating Caudwell's Mill which still runs most days.

We pass by the back of the mill, and head through fields below the beech wood-topped Peak Tor which was home to an early Celtic settlement and still has the remains of a dry moat. We soon head up fairly steeply towards some lovely woods and then onto Stanton Moor.

The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the sandstone moor is home to many interesting features for us to visit including the famous bronze age Nine Ladies Stone Circle, the Reform or "Earl Grey" Tower, and the Cork Stone. We then head down to the small village of Birchover, which we wind our way around, before returning via another route through Stanton Moor before heading back down to Rowsley.

The walk is mostly on good tracks and footpaths with one fairly steep hill up to Stanton Moor from Rowsley, a climb of about 200 m (600 ft). At any time of year, there could be some muddy sections.

Probably one of the most interesting routes on Kinder Scout. Starting from Edale we walk through the lovely village of Edale and across fields before heading fairly steeply up towards Grindslow Knoll. From here the route we take is a stunning walk past many of Kinder's key features including the Wool Pack rocks and Pym Chair until we reach one of Kinder Scout's 3 trig points at Kinder Low.

We then continue on to the famous Kinder Downfall which changes its appearance depending on the weather from a lovely sunny lunch spot by a trickling stream to an almost perpetual waterfall on windy days when the water blows upwards as in the photo!

Next we walk into the notoriously complex "groughs and hags" that cover the plateau. This is an area of deep winding channels through the peat, the sides of which are often several metres high making navigation extremely difficult. The terrain will obviously be rough as we cross this area for approximately 2km and involve the crossing of several of these channels and working our way around some areas of bog. Having reached the main path once again we follow the southern edge back to Edale.

The walk starts out with a short but steady climb of about 100m (300ft) up to the top of the famous Mam Tor (or Shivering Mountain) at a height of 517m. From here we'll experience what has been described by a previous chair of the National Trust as "one of the top ten views in England".

We then follow along the Great Ridge towards Hollins Cross, which provides a great place to view the remains of the old Sheffield to Chapel en le Frith road which was lost to the landslips in 1979. We continue along the ridge to Lose Hill for another great viewpoint.

Leaving the ridge we drop down and follow another beautiful path back towards Mam Tor. We drop down further through a beautiful wood (with bluebells in spring) to join the route of the old road providing spectacular views of Mam Tor.

After returning to the cars there is the option to walk a little further for views of the amazing Winnats Pass.

The walk is mostly on good tracks and smaller footpaths and includes 3 fairly short but steep hills, each a climb of about 100m (300ft). At any time of year there could be some muddy sections. There is a fairly long descent towards the bottom of Mam Tor which is a little steep in places and can be a little slippery when wet so footwear with good grip is required.

This great guided walk starts from Fairholmes car park at the top end of Ladybower Reservoir near Bamford, Derbyshire. Before we head to the hills we will take time to visit the famous Derwent Reservoir dam where the “Dambusters” of the Royal Air Force 617 Squadron practiced 75 years ago this spring.

From the dam we head along the shore of Derwent Reservoir before the 300m/1500ft climb up onto the glorious Derwent Edge. The climb up is mostly gradual and on a clear day provides great views of the surrounding region.

Once on the ridge we pass the "Lost Lad" cairn and then follow a good paved path through the peat and heather landscape with a good chance for spotting some of the local wildlife. The views continue all the way along the ridge as we pass the various rocky tors and beautifully shaped rocks such as Back Tor, the Cakes of Bread, Dove Stone, and the Salt Cellar to name but a few.

From the end of the ridge we wind our way gradually back down to Ladybower Reservoir and our return to Fairholmes passing the site of the old submerged village of Derwent.

A stunning walk with amazing views, from the popular outdoors village of Hathersage.

The walk starts off fairly gently through the valley and woods before climbing up to the famous gritstone edge of Stanage. We walk along Stanage Edge, with a chance to visit Robin Hood's Cave, and "Keira Knightley Rock" for some great Instagram locations before then continuing on to Burbage with its ancient hill fort. The walk then heads back to Hathersage through moorland, fields and woods.

This walk takes you up a lovely but little visited ridge onto the second highest mountain in the Peak District, Bleaklow. We set off from Old Glossop along the route of an old roman road. Soon we leave the main path and gradually climb up an easy track until which reach Dog Rock providing some fantastic views.

The path becomes much smaller and almost indistinct now as we head across the notoriously difficult to navigate Bleaklow. Having an experienced guide with you means there’s no need to worry! As we continue over Bleaklow the route will be a little rougher in places. There will be great opportunities here to teach you a little about this special and important ecosystem on this the second highest mountain in the Peaks and the location of some of its wildest countryside. If you have an interest in navigation your guide will happily share some skills and you could even try navigating the group across a section of the notoriously complex Bleaklow moor!

After a total climb of around 350m (1200ft) we reach the “kissing stones”, a good spot for some lunch. From here we head over to the site of the B29 Superfortress plane crash (sadly all 13 crew members died). The plane was on a short journey from Lincolnshire to Burtonwood near Warrington when it hit the top of the hill in low cloud. This crash site is an extensive area of wreckage from the USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress nick-named “Over Exposed” which crashed on November 3rd 1948. This plane is famous for having filmed the first two Bikini Atoll atom bomb tests in July 1946 and it's involvement in relieving the West Berlin Blockade in 1948.

To finish the walk we will take a route passing the crash site of a Lancaster Bomber Mk.X. This crash site and memorial to a Canadian Lancaster Bomber is about a mile away from the B-29 crash site. From here we will continue down the ridge with great views back down to Old Glossop.

The walk is mostly on a mixture of good tracks and smaller footpaths which can be rough in places and includes 1 fairly long hill. The hill up to Bleaklow is a steady climb of about 350m (1200ft). At any time of year there are likely to be some muddy sections, especially once we start to head up towards Bleaklow with it's peat bogs and we will be leaving the paths for about 1km across rougher ground as we head to the crash site. There is a fairly long gradual descent back down to Glossop.

This is a particularly varied walk with the added bonus of a fantastic array of wild flowers and orchids in spring and early summer. The walk leaves the village of Ashford in the Water and climbs up and across fields to Monsal Head providing amazing views of the Wye valley. We then descend to the river before following along it's side through Monsal Dale.

We continue into Deep Dale where there is an abundance of flowers including the early purple orchid, wild thyme, cowslips and many more in spring and early summer.

We progress up Deep Dale to Magpie Mine, where we explore the best preserved 19th Century lead mine in the UK, with it’s Cornish engine house, chimneys and even an old horse gin. The Peak District Mines Historical Society have done a great job in preserving what is now Derbyshire's top industrial heritage site. There will be further opportunities to see spring flowers on the return walk to Ashford in the Water, some of which have adapted to living in areas with a high lead concentration, such as the Leadwort and yellow mountain pansies.

We start the day with tea and coffee and after introductions we will look at setting up your phone for effective photography. We will look at basic techniques and ideas including composition, framing as well as picking and approaching subjects. We will also look at what apps are available and discuss the popular options including Instagram and Lightroom. We will then head out to an outdoor venue take to some photographs before returning to get feedback, look at editing your photos and the options for letting the world see your photographic creations.

The courses will be run by Alex Ekins a qualified photojournalist and a Mountaineering and Rock Climbing instructor with over 25 years experience of photography and rock climbing throughout the world. Alex has been published in the mainstream media including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Economist, Le Monde and National Geographic as well as in climbing magazines throughout the world.

This tour is aimed at photographers of all levels of ability and experience, with an opportunity to visit and photograph some of the most iconic and evocative locations in the Peak District National Park. Subjects include the Magpie Mine, a lead mine which was closed in the 1950's, standing in beautiful countryside. The mine is said to be haunted and the subject of a curse! Don't worry, though, we will be staying on the outside! Monsal Head, with views of the famous viaduct striding across Monsal Dale, where we can descend to the old railway line to explore the Headstone tunnel. Derwent Dam, which is a historic location famed for its links to the Dambusters, set in a beautiful valley. Mam Tor, the "shivering mountain" with its wonderful views across Hope Valley and the Vale of Edale and the "broken road" and Cave Dale, a beautiful limestone valley beneath Peveril Castle in Castleton.

We will visit the wonderful Three Shires Head, where two pack horse bridges mark the boundary between Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire as several waterfalls complete the tranquil scene. We'll also visit Monsal Dale and the wonderfully named Water-cum-Jolly Dale, where the former mill workings are now a nature reserve below limestone crags.

Padley Gorge is a great place to wander around ancient woodlands and a cascading stream. Whilst Lumsdale Falls is a unique landscape featuring the ruins of old mill buildings which were built in to the steep rocks of the valley and powered by the adjacent waterfalls on the Bentley Brook.

The tour is informal and friendly, with opportunities to stop at the various locations to try out some landscape photography. There will also be an opportunity to enjoy a nice pub lunch at one of the Peak District's great traditional pubs; ideal to discuss photography and post processing techniques.

This tour is an opportunity to enjoy the wilder side of the Peak District, with magnificent views from some unique vantage points; the atmospheric gritstone edges of the Dark Peak.

Higgar tor is a wonderful hilltop where you can wander around the gritstone boulders, with great views across Hathersage Moor and Carl Wark Fort, as well as across to Hope Valley. A short hop away is Millstone Edge where a short walk can bring us to some abandoned millstones. Then a short walk will take us to the amazing views from Stanage Edge itself, the longest and arguably most spectacular of the Peak District's edges.

Baslow Edge offers great views across the villages of Baslow, Curbar and Calver and, occasionally, the opportunity to photograph some friendly highland cattle.