Sickleholme

Sickleholme is one of the oldest golf clubs in the Peak District, founded in 1894 and occupying a dramatic stretch of the Hope Valley between the villages of Bamford and Hathersage. The course sits beneath the gritstone edges and moorland that define this corner of the Dark Peak, with the River Derwent threading through the valley below and Stanage Edge visible on the horizon — scenery that distracts even before you've hit your first shot.

The layout reflects its Victorian origins: compact, clever, and demanding rather than long, rewarding precision and course management over raw power. A par of 69 suits the terrain perfectly, where the natural contours of the valley dictate routing decisions that no modern architect would dare replicate from scratch. Several holes play across or alongside the Derwent, and the ground tends to stay firm and fast by English moorland standards.

This is a members' club with real character — the kind of place where the history of the game feels genuinely present, and where a good score requires local knowledge as much as anything else.