Signs Of The Times

THE wonderful, reassuring, castiron, dark green-painted footpath signs which mark the start and finish points of so many of our finest public footpaths in the Peak are the only evidence most walkers see of the sterling work of the Peak and Northern Footpath Society, now in its 124th year.

- Roly Smith

My favourite is No 30, erected in 1906 on Kinder Road, Hayfield, indicating the start of the famous Snake Path via William Clough to the Ashop Valley and the Snake Inn. The dedication of this path ‘for ever’ exactly 120 years ago in May, 1897, within weeks of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, marked one of the earliest and most important achievements in the venerable history of the Peak & Northern.

As the Manchester Guardian reported at the time: ‘Everyone will (now) be able to take this delightful walk through some of the finest and wildest scenery in the Peak District without let or hindrance.