Friday 12 July 2013

In the valley of the Manifold ...

We parked at Hulme End about 15 miles from home and walked along the Manifold Way. We were intrigued by the Staffordshire RIGS Group waymark ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

The Manifold Way is another of the now defunct railways that used to run in the Peak District. This one follows what used to be the Leek and Manifold Light Railway ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

  Pock-marked Ecton Hill loomed into view ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...   

There was evidence how popular this area was and still is ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

Beside the Manifold Way we could see why a Geotrail had been created here ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ... 

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

To see the Geotrail leaflet [and download it if you're interested] go to the GeoConservation Staffordshire website here and click on Geotrails and then HampsManifold.

Like many trails that were once railway lines you have to get used to walking in a straight line for a hundred yards [or more] from time to time ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

Part of the Manifold Way is still used by traffic ... which makes walking through Swainsley Tunnel good fun ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

 As you can see there's not much room. We made it to the other end though ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

 We reached Wetton Mill where there's a nice tearoom and toilets ... as well as two National Trust Holiday Cottages. 

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

We were now on the eastern side of the River Manifold and as we walked back up the valley we got a good view of Ossoms Hill dotted with hawthorn trees ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

We were following an old road now which got quite steep in places ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

There was more evidence of the interesting geology hereabouts ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

We reached Swainsley again but this time we were across the river and above ground ... and there was a dovecote in view too ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

We were back at Ecton Hill and we read through the warning sign carefully ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

We then did something I wouldn't be able to do now ... we walked directly uphill ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

As we were going directly up, some other walkers were on their way down ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

We got a bird's eye view of Swainsley [and its dovecote] now ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

... and the slopes of Ecton Hill to our left ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...  

A 20 second video [with wind] gives you a good idea of the scenery in these parts ...

 

From a walking point of view a leader is told he should never walk straight up a hill to walk back down again. Guess what I did ...

Back at ground level some of the local livestock were foraging ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

 There is evidence that copper was mined beneath Ecton Hill as far back as the Bronze Age. It was the 4th Duke of Devonshire who made his fortune from it though, according to the information panel ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

 You can see 'you are here' on the panel above and you can see where we were in the photograph below ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

  I wonder what it's like 200 feet below ground now.

We made it safely back to the car park and had lunch at the Tea Junction ...

The Manifold Trail and Ecton Hill ...

 Very nice it was too.

This walk was followed on the 1st May 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 6.23 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 160.49 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 1st May 2011 ~ 688.54 miles

  37 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging approximately 4.33 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

This summary includes a walk of 2.26 miles on the 30th April 2011 around the villages of Carsington and Hopton for which there are no photographs.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for that walk Charlie,we have done the flat bit but the view from the top was wonderful.The geology is fascinating what a different world it was when it was forming.Have you ever been up Eccles Pike you get a 360 degree circle view from the top and you can drive almost up too it.Ann

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    1. I've never been right to the top of Eccles Pike ... but I think I've got quite ~ I've just checked and I'm getting mixed up with Lantern Pike Ann. It's not that far away and it's the latter I've nearly been to the top of. I will bear Eccles Pike in mind.

      The geology of the Manifold valley is interesting isn't it. It must have been very turbulent at times !

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  2. I have to admit that when I saw the title of your blog, I thought that maybe you were going to tell us that something had happened to your car (I don't know if cars have a manifold or not). Glad to see that it was a splendid walk. I'm still in awe at your ability to keep your photographs in order and to know "what" is "where".

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    1. I was just going to call it the Manifold valley but that sounded rather dull so I thought I would enliven it. As for the photographs I can usually tell where they were taken just by looking at them unless they're in an area I didn't know in the first place.

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  3. A very enjoyable walk Charlie. There is a similar walk not too far from here based on the old railway line built by I.K. Brunel to open up Milford Haven as a major port, although it doesn't have quite as many points of interest as your walk.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Mitch. I quite like walking on old railway lines that are now trails. Mainly because they are easier to walk on and [quite often] flattish !

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  4. Lovely - I know Dovedale far better and have only visited the Manifold Valley once, I think. I love seeing your photos and reading about the walks.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Alison. The Manifold valley isn't that much further than Dovedale and offers some interesting walking.

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