UKH

I've just had confirmation from Yorkshire Water that the car park at Rivelin Dam will be closed from next Monday (26 September) until mid-December. https://www.yorkshirewater.com/things-to-do/reservoirs/rivelin-reservoirs/r...

This is to enable safety works on the embankment at the lower reservoir. The embankment road from the A57 will be closed to cars and horses, and the car park will be closed and used as a storage area. 

The embankment road will be open to cyclists and pedestrians, and all other routes in the area will be open, although Sheffield Wildlife Trust has plans to fell diseased larch and sweet chestnut in the woods over the winter, so there could be temporary path closures too. https://www.wildsheffield.com/wyming-brook-works/

For climbers, alternate parking access for Rivelin is tricky. There is room for a few cars in the layby on the A57; I don't know if this will be affected by the work, pls post here if you find it is. There may be places to park near the end of the footpath at Woodbank Road/Rails Road/Bingley Lane, but again only a few spaces and avoid blocking the road/gates etc.

If anyone has any thoughts on parking alternatives let me know. I'll update on the RAD too.

Louise [Peak area access team]

That's a shame - peak Rivlin season as well !  is there any parking on the lane up by the quarries ?

There is a pull in with space 2 to 3 cars on the bend and allows very easy access to the left hand quarries however it is private land and the owner is not keen on people parking there and notes have been left on cars so should be avoided.

There are no feasible parking places on woodbank road itself and access from this into the land other than via the public footpath is difficult and arduous and not on access land.

It's only about a 10/15 min walk from the car park at the bottom of Rails Rd, next to the river, to the usual footpath up to the crag.

Thanks for the update. Glad I got my project done the other week.  

^This.  It's a bit of a schlep but not such a big deal, just under a mile along the A57 (which does have a pavement fortunately) to the dam.

For anyone unsure where that car park is, it's actually marked on the OS map at SK291873.
Or using the Google map you can find it at: 9CJP+JJM Sheffield, in the little triangle between Manchester Road, Rails Road and Rivelin Valley Road.

I suppose it became more or less inevitable when the phytophthora ramorum disease got established at Redmires, but it's desperately sad news about the tree felling at Wymingbrook.

Thanks cragtyke and deepsoup, I've updated the RAD and suggested the Rivelin Valley CP as an alternative. 

If anyone has any other suggestions, or has issues with parking there, let me know. Yorkshire Water have said they will contact me as soon as they know when the works will end and the car park opens again.

Worth noting that the rails road carpark is very popular and can get incredibly busy (full) at peak times. On the plus side there is no height barrier or locked gate to negotiate.

Yes, thanks for adding that. It's a pretty small car park too.

Another option is to park up at Lodge Moor and walk down (30-40 mins), though that gets busy too.

The 256 bus from Sheffield stops near the dam, might be a better option ...

Another option on finding the Rails Road car park full might be to carry on up Rails Road to find somewhere to park in Stannington.  There's a layby with room for a few cars just as you come to Stanington at OS SK299881 (Google Maps: 9CQX+F3X Sheffield)

From there you would walk back to the top path (the footpath off Woodbank Rd) rather than all the way back down to the A57 - about a mile and a half to the crag.  If the walk back down the road to Woodbank Rd is unappealing there is a footpath up slightly then steeply down across fields, but that'll be muddy in the winter.