Sheffield to Manchester – running to the winter markets

Last updated on February 4, 2025

It’s not quite a tradition – but last year I decided that I had some time to take off around Christmas, the weather was looking decent (for the Peaks in the winter…) and I wanted to head to a Christmas market for some mulled wine – but I also wanted to try….somewhere different. Given that my fitness was decent at the time, the answer was not to head into Sheffield, but to pick a nearby city instead – Manchester.

Looking for the short review? Do this run, it’s good fun – it’s better doing it with others! Take spare clothing as this involves doing an ultra over Kinder in the winter, and expect that section to be slower than planned. The mini market at Gee Cross makes food logistics much simpler, and the mulled wine at the end, however expensive, is still worth it!

It’s a bad idea. Most of the good ones are.

I’ve looked at options for this route before – potentially heading out via the Trans Pennine Trail to the north, or straight through Kinder, or slightly further south – the main criteria being ‘keep the distance shorter’, ‘keep the terrain interesting’ and ‘minimise roads’. From where I live on the edge of Sheffield, the start was the simple answer, then it was going to take some planning – I started with :

• Stannington (Sheffield)
• Hallam Moor via the Headstone
• Ladybower
• Half the Edale Skyline over to Kinder, keeping elevation
• Kinder Downfall
• Somewhere near Hayfield
• Another field.
• Somewhere near a canal
• Probably another canal
• Mulled wine

This sadly isn’t quite accurate enough to plot a route by. I did this on my own the first time last year, with my friend Kel this year – as I was on my own the first time, I wanted something relatively simple that I could preset and then follow on my watch. Add to this the complication that in December, there’s not all that much light to play with – I wanted to be out of the main Peak District section by the time night fell.

Why am I doing this….

….is probably a reasonable question, and one that I’ve had a couple of times. Largely, it’s because it’s incongruous, possible, something local that’s interesting and looks like fun – and there’s a sense of satisfaction to it. The first time had a good sense of adventure about it, this year it was good to do it with company, and definitely easier knowing the route!

There’s an organised event called the Peak Divide (https://www.peakdivide.com/) that goes a similar route, in either 2 day format from Manchester to Sheffield, or one and done from Sheffield to Manchester – my version is routed from the north of the city. I can absolutely see the more organised option being good for people, but the appeal for me was being self sufficient, and doing it through the winter.

So what’s the route?

The aim of the route is to be ‘off road’ for as long as possible, and take in some of the sights and sounds of the Peaks enroute – this is relatively simple at the Sheffield end of things – get to Ladybower, throw in half an Edale Skyline, get over Kinder, however as you get to Manchester there’s a lot of sub-urban areas which are a lot less fun.

The answer is to follow the canals – starting with the Peak Forest Canal near Cheetham Fold, then follow it in (switching to the Ashton Canal later), but at night these don’t feel safe on your own to be honest – in a group though, fine. The first time that I did this I was fairly slow and creaky when I got to the canals, it was good this year to be able to move faster along them.

The end result of the route looks roughly like this:

https://www.strava.com/activities/13116247705

It’s around 70km (starting at Stannington in Sheffield – it could be detoured into Sheffield for 7km more, or tweaked to go in more directly). I’ve looked at a couple of variations:

• Sheffield centre to Manchester – this variant would take you either through Endcliffe Park, up Porter Clough, over the back of Ringinglow area to Stanage Pole, then onto the existing route
• The ‘better weather’ alternative – this year’s route skirted around Ladybower, hopped over the shoulder of the hill at the Hope Cross then followed the path down the valley to Edale before going up Jacob’s Ladder – this was largely because it was getting wet and windy and I’d lost a lot of time in bogs at the Woolpacks the previous year. I’d argue though that the route is more fun if you do what I did the first time – go up Parkin Clough from Ladybower up to Winn Hill, and then follow the Edale Skyline route all the way up to Kinder Low, bypassing Edale.

Going via Edale is more sheltered and gives you the option to stop for a snack or drink (the cafe at Newfold Farm, the Nags Head or the Penny Pot cafe are all good options), but it’s also a trap if you’re feeling tired!

Logistics

I’ve been doing this route in the middle of winter near the solstice – so I’m taking full hill kit, and a change of clothes to switch into when I get to Manchester. Given the route goes over Kinder, even in the summer I’d take the usuals – spare layers, water, food, basic med kit, safety blanket and so on. We’d given ourselves a couple of days as a window for the run to help pick the day with the least grim weather.

On that note, I reckon this would be a good day out in the summer! I may do it in reverse as a summer run at some point.

I carried around a litre of water with me – arguably I should have had more, but I carry a filter flask and the route goes past a lot of water sources. I had enough food to get me 50km (plus an emergency gel and flapjack or two) – choice of what to eat is very personal, but I had my usual combo of some gels, salted potatoes, some rice pudding, a couple of savory snacks and some cheese.

There’s a feed station of sorts enroute – there’s a mini supermarket (Sainsburys from memory) at Gee Cross, 50 metres off the route – I topped up on food there (sandwiches, crisps, chocolate, coke, etc) – and really perked up from some good savoury food and protein.

The journey – and tips and tricks

We started the run at around 8am, as it was getting light – it was fresh, maybe 3-4 degrees and we knew there was going to be wind later on. Given that I had a fairly full rucksack, that acted as a heat store at the start and kept me warm.

Running out from Stannington was a fairly gentle start, dropping down to the A57 then onto a trail by the river, after a while then starting up towards Redmires, past the Headstone. It had been raining a *lot* leading up to the run, so when we got to the small reservoir that Rivelin Brook comes from (at SK247863) we took the path to the north of Middle Moss instead of going up and over towards Stanage, as usually that’s a bog at the best of times.

Ladybower above – with enthusiastic running buddy!

From there it was fairly smooth – past the stone circle at Hordron Edge, through Priddock Wood (aka ‘Mordor’ due to the trees) – then a snack whilst going over Ladybower dam. We followed along the reservoir to keep out of the wind, then hacked up to Hope Cross – where it got cold fast, and a quick adding of layers was needed.

Stopping for some quick Instagram moments, we took the low route down the valley past the Edale YHA, through Edale (resisting the tempation to stop for some food at Newfold Farm – we’d have never got going again, and given I was feeling tired I’d probably have stayed…. (but that wouldn’t have been fair on Kel who was with me and hadn’t done the route before). Instead, we pushed on to Jacob’s Ladder watching the cloud roll in down the valley from Kinder.

A quick snack, then we started up and over Kinder – it was getting cold and windy fast so neither of us had a desire to stop for long. Kinder Downfall was attempting to be Kinder Upfall as we ran past, and from this point most of the day trippers filtered away and we were on our own following the flagstone path down off the hill, the weather finally improving slightly.

The sections after this roll along – fields, the occasional roads, many paths and occasional long drags up hills – I remember at one point seeing a farm with a lot of Christmas lights over it in the distance and being asked whether the foodstop was before then – inevitably it wasn’t, but eventually we ran down through Werneth Low country park, and reached what felt like an oasis – 50km in, Sainsbury’s at Gee Cross…..

Two meal deals each and a conversation with a lady who was insisting that we must be doing it for charity (we weren’t, but nice idea), then we were on through the town, and onto the canals.

From here onwards, the route is a combination of running down relatively quiet old canals, often through industrial areas – I’ll admit that at night, particularly when I was on my own the first time it didn’t feel great – but we had no issues together. There’s a couple of sections where you leave one canal and go across a town area, then drop onto the next canal – it’s worth noting that occasionally the entrances onto the canals arn’t entirely clear but it generally makes sense.

We were faster on the canals – as ever, Kel and I had generally fairly different energy levels peaking at different points but that helped with keeping us going. I was glad that I’d worn my Inov8 Parkclaws- they’re a ‘road to trail’ shoe which was enough over Kinder but also gave a litlte more cushioning on the paved canal sections, and decent grip on the occasional flagstoned parts when the path went over bridges switching sides of the canal.

A strange welcome into central Manchester was coming past the Coop Live Arena where a Paul McCartney concert was on – before continuing along the canal. We were definitly into walk/run territory by this point with Kel’s feet causing problems, but shortly after that we finally made it into the city.

Finally – running with a thousand yard stare through the Christmas throngs, we made it to Picadilly Markets for a mulled wine, and a much needed change of clothes! There’s a quiet entertainment, possibly satisfaction being asked by people how we’d got there (we probably looked like we’d been through a hedge backwards) – but we met some very friendly people, and after a quick drink headed across the Picadilly Station for a couple of extra layers to wear then a train home.

Non glamorous picture sitting in a train station, finishing some mulled wine. The cup makes a decent momento of the run!

Should you do it?

Go for it! Given it goes over Kinder away from people for a long time then through a lot of canals likely in the dark, unless you’re comfortable I’d suggest going with other people – however, I did it on my own the first time and it was fine.

It’s a great day out – fairly varied terrain, and satisfying being a proper journey. I’d be lying if I said that it was all beautiful, the Peak District end is more satisfying but it’s a good overall experience.

It’s definitely worth trying starting from Manchester then running back to Sheffield – that may be a summer route instead.

Kit list for the day

• Trail shoes (ideally with some padding for the road sections) – Inov8 Parkclaw G280 this time around
• Full waterproofs (Inov8 Trailpant waterproof trousers, Montaine Spine jacket)
• Running watch (Garmin Fenix 7)
• Ultimate Direction Fastpak 25 (larger rucksack than the usual vest to hold a full change of clothes)
• Full change of clothes for the train home, and spare warm layers in case there’s issues mid run….
• Trail towel
• Various gels / flapjack / potato salad / rice pudding in refillable sachets
• A couple of soft flasks and a Katadyn BeFree filter flask
• THe usual hill kit – basic first aid, safety bag, spare buff or two, hat, gloves
• I took poles the first time – that’s a personal preference, I used them to help offset an injury
• Spare USB battery and cable

Route stats

Distance – 70km, ish

Elevation – 1700m

Time – around 10h 30 – it could easily be around an hour faster in better weather!