The Monsal Trail and three of its tunnels ...

The newly opened tunnels on the Monsal Trail were the main reason for heading up into the Peak District in May 2011. After parking at Monsal Head we walked down the lane towards Little Longstone Congregational Chapel ...

 

 

  and the village itself ...

 

Just beyond the Packhorse we took the path across the fields towards the Monsal Trail ...



 The signs on the Trail had been upgraded.



 We turned right along the Trail and headed towards the first tunnel ...



 ... passing under a bridge linking the fields on either side of the cutting ...



 The cutting was soon below ground level ...





 ... and we were walking into Headstone Tunnel ...



 After a few hundred yards we came out into the bright daylight below the Monsal Head ...



 This is an area that has its admirers ...



 We followed the Trail north-westwards ...



 Away to our right there was an excellent view of Cressbrook Mill ...



 We entered Cressbrook Tunnel ...



 On leaving Cressbrook Tunnel we caught a glimpse of the River Wye below ...



  We entered our third tunnel of the day, Litton Tunnel ...



 Before many minutes had passed we came out into the daylight above Litton Mill ...



 We left the Trail and descended the path towards Litton Mill ...



 The butterbur was looking very healthy ...



 I noticed a floating apostrophe on a blue sign that perhaps I ought to bring to the attention of the Apostrophe Protection Society ...




 Beyond Litton Mill we followed the path beside the River Wye ...

 We were soon back on the Monsal Trail, passing over the River Wye a long way below ...



 We followed the path rising from the Trail to Monsal Head itself ...



 As the path rose out of the valley there's a good view of the viaduct below ...



 The whole area was a very healthy green ...



 For the last few yards of the walk the footpath passed through sweet cicely on both sides of the right of way ...



This walk was followed on the 15th May 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 5.95 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 185.95 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 15th May 2011 ~ 707.69 miles

  41 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just over 4.5 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

Following the Cromford Canal ~ 3

The third walk along the Cromford Canal as I  progress away from Cromford itself.

I parked next to The Birches at Ambergate and crossed the River Derwent ...



I passed the cricket pitch and the Hurt Arms before turning up Chase Road to cross the canal. On the far side of the canal is this well ...



A few hundred yards later and I was walking up through Crich Chase with the sun coming through the leaves overhead ...



I climbed the hill out of the valley and came out on the path to the west of Chadwick Nick, Crich. Turning left I entered the small woodland beside the road and followed the path through the wood. There's a good view from here away towards Masson Hill above Matlock ...



Walking down the lane towards Whatstandwell I noticed an old milestone which  is one of the roadside features that we ignore or take for granted ....



I find them fascinating, what with their quaint lettering and misspellings ~ doesn't the one above read 'ASHBOURE' rather than 'ASHBOURNE' ?

Rather than go all the way down to the A6 and pick up the canal, I wandered along some of the more obscure paths of Whatstandwell and ended up in the wood on the east side of the Whatstandwell/Holloway road ...



Then I was nearly down to the canal near Robin Hood and looking along the path we'd walked a few days ago ... and still the wild garlic wasn't in full bloom !



Then I was down by the canal and continuing along my journey, initially towards Whatstandwell bridge ...



I passed under the bridge and noticed the water level was quite low.



The unusual thing about the house on the right in the photo above is that it is built above a tunnel ...



Further along the canal some clearance work had been done on the far side of the canal and the bluebells were in flower ...





There were some small wooden 'rafts' floating on the water ...



... and close inspection revealed what they were.



'DWT' stands for 'Derbyshire Wildlife Trust'.

The greenery was lush and plentiful ...



... and by now I was getting nearer to Ambergate ...



Earlier in the day I had walked over the bridge I now went under ...



I assume the marks under the bridge were where the rope of the horse walking along the towpath slowly rubbed into the stone ...



Then I walked under a rather rusty old bridge ...



... to reach the end of the canal, at least at this point ...



The canal used to run through here but now there is, or at least there was, some large 'gas' buildings ... but more of that another day.

All that remained was for me to backtrack at this point all the way back to the car.

You can see the route I followed on the OS Explore website, here :~ http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/19674

Date of walk ~ 9th May 2010

Length of walk ~ 6 miles

Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 135 miles

Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 265 miles

25 of 2010