Sabres on Kinder

The Climb from Hayfield
From the car park and campsite (there are taps and toilets you can use here), follow the road up towards Kinder Reservoir. At the end of the road, go through the gate straight ahead (don't follow the track round to the dam). Now the real climb starts and continues unbroken past the reservoir and up William Clough until the well marked path meets the Pennine Way. At this stage, you are in a saddle with great views back down over the the reservoir and into Cheshire. This climb is the reason I have rated the walk as "hard" - if you are still OK at this point, you will be fine :).

Sabre Jets
At this stage, you can follow the Pennine Way to the right up to the Kinder Scout plateau, or you can take a diversion over the Black Ashop Moor to look for the crashed remains of two Sabre fighter jets that crashed here in the 1950s. Various larger parts and smaller pieces of aluminium are clearly visible as you approach the flagged waypoints on the route. 

Assuming you have found the first memorial out on the moor, you will need to climb up The Edge and can pass other aircraft remains on the way up. There is a clear path that follows The Edge; cross this and continue to the second flagged waypoint. From here, you can get a feel for the crash itself - the two jets were flying from Cheshire across Kinder, hit the side above the reservoir and cart-wheeled over the plateau with the heaviest parts coming to a rest over the moor. 

Remember that two pilots died here and the aircraft remains are memorials so treat them with respect and please do not take any pieces away with you.

Pennine Way to Kinder Downfall
You can now rejoin the Pennine Way safe in the knowledge that the last big climb is behind you. Follow the Pennine Way along the edge of the plateau to Kinder Downfall - this is a beautiful location and a great place for a picnic.

Kinder Downfall to Kinder Low
The next section of the walk follows the Pennine Way round the plateau and gently rising to Kinder Low, the highest point on this walk at 633m.

Descent back to Hayfield
From here, you need to turn off the Pennine Way and keep to the right hand paths as you descend. Watch out for the path off to the right to the Cairn - this looks like the main route but is a dead-end. Descending further, you will come to a junction with another clear path, where you need to turn right. This path crosses Oaken Clough, then a few fields before joining a clear but very rough path (the farmer seems to have spread a few hundred tons of specially sharpened large stones as the track surface, completely filling the space between two fences so there is no escape!). This track takes you to the end of a lane - bear right where it forks and it will take you back to the campsite at the start.

Short-cuts
The only real option to shorten this walk is to cut out the trip to the aircraft remains and memorial on Black Ashop Moor. Other than this, once you have reached Kinder Downfall the quickest way back is to follow the rest of the walk.

Picnics and Refreshments
For me, the best picnic site is at Kinder Downfall. There are no refreshments on route but you do pass a very nice village shop in Hayfield on the way to the campsite.

Taking Dogs
The walk is dog-friendly insofar as it keeps off roads but beware there are sheep along much of the walk. Also bear in mind that, other than Kinder Downfall and Oaken Clough, you do not pass close to much accessible water so you may want to take a drink for your dog, too.