Black Edge

About Black Edge

Rising steeply above the spa town of Buxton, this gritstone escarpment forms the highest point of the Combs Moss plateau. While the interior is notoriously peat-heavy and pathless, the edge walk offers firm footing and expansive views across the Cheshire Plain toward the distant skyline of Manchester.

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Did You Know?

• •The name derives from the dark, weathered appearance of the gritstone escarpment that defines the western rim of Combs Moss. 'Edge' is the standard Derbyshire term for these dramatic outcrops, which contrast sharply with the limestone 'White Peak' to the south.
• •Just south of the summit lies Castle Naze, a significant Iron Age promontory fort. Its builders utilised the natural gritstone cliffs as a ready-made defensive wall, requiring only a double earthwork rampart to secure the landward side.
• •The summit offers a clear perspective of the Goyt Valley to the west and the distinctive 'Dragon’s Back' limestone reefs of Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill rising from the Upper Dove Valley.
• •Most walkers approach via the 'Hanging Rock,' a prominent gritstone feature on the western face, often combining the summit with a circuit of the entire Combs Moss rim to avoid the saturated ground of the plateau centre.
• •While the edge itself provides a reliable path, the plateau interior is a bog of such commitment that it has been known to claim the boots, and occasionally the dignity, of many a shortcut-taker.