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

One morning in the month of May ...

There's a good-sized car park in Tideswell Dale and it has toilets ! That can sometimes be a great relief.

Take the path south from the car park ...

 

Further down the dale, there's one of the Peak Park 'poetry benches' that I am tracking down ... in a lazy, uncoordinated way ...

 

There's also a giant wooden water vole !

 

Tideswell Dale is one of the Derbyshire Dales lovely limestone dales ...

 

I reached Litton Mill where the old mill has been renovated and restored ... and is now luxury apartments. The property at the easternmost end is the Old Gas House. As I stood there about to take a photograph a woman appeared from in the house and pretended to do something down the side of the property. All the time though she was staring at me and giving me rather suspicious looks. I approached her and told her not to worry I wasn't taking a photo with a view to doing anything else ... so was it alright if I took a photo ?

She agreed ...



 I continued down the valley with the River Wye on my right and sunshine shining through the Spring leaves ...



 It was shortly after this that a man walking up the dale told me to look out for a mole on the path ~ "it looks dead to me". This sounds interesting I thought. Once I got there though the mole 'came to life' ...



  This short video actually appeared on BBC TV's Springwatch programme BUT THEY FORGOT TO MENTION MY NAME ! Not that I let it bother me ...

This stretch of the River Wye in Millers's Dale is probably one of my favourite stretches of rinverside walking ... anywhere ...



 I think it's delightfiul ...



 Further along the path I could see men working on the old railway line above ... what were they doing ? Well it subsequently transpired that they were laying a new surface and preparing to open up all the tunnels on the Monsal Trail ...



 Quite where Millers Dale becomes Water-cum-Jolly I'm not sure but I think it's generally accepted that this part of the dale is Water-cum-Jolly ...






  Like Litton Mill Cressbrook Mill was in danger of falling into disrepair until a few years ago but now it has been converted into luxury apartments ... with a few holiday flats thrown in.



   I'd now reached the point where I had to start the return section of the walk ... 

[to be continued ...]

I spy a Cavalier ...

Stand at the north-western end of Fennel Street in Ashford in the Water and opposite The Elms is a house half-hidden by a hedge. If you can peep over the hedge then you may get a glimpse of this ...

... on the front of the building. Now, to me, he looks like a Cavalier but why he's on the front of the house I have no idea. Anyone else know ?

Walk up Vicarage Lane and cross the end of Pennyunk Lane until you can take a path on your right across one field. This enables you to cross the B6465 and follow a path through more fields towards Longstone Lane. This path can get muddy in wintertime ...


   
Sometimes it gets too sludgy as does the path on the opposite side of Longstone Lane. The good thing about this latter path is that it brings you to the Monsal Trail. The only problem there are the bikes ... but assuming you can avoid them [and they can avoid you] head eastwards until you reach the bridge over Longreave Lane. At this point you can leave the Trail and pass under the bridge to cross the A6020. 

Cross the road carefully here because many of the cars hereabouts are hellbent on getting where they're going at least five minutes sooner than they have to be there. Take the private drive [which is also a public footpath] leading towards Churchdale Farm ...



Beyond the hall, which you get a glimpse of to your right, the path descends down one of those banks which is easier to walk up than down ... especially when it's muddy.



Towards the bottom of the bank there used to be an impressive though rather daunting tree looming over all pedestrians ...







Since these photos were taken I believe this old tree has fallen down.

The path rejoins the A6020 and then you're just a few hundred yards along a pavement to reach Ashford in the Water again.

Just the sort of short walk if you're not too sure about how far you feel like walking. 

This walk was followed on the 2nd January 2011

Length of walk ~ 3 miles *

Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 5.2 miles

Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 2nd January 2011 ~ 534.25 miles

2 of 2011

* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

Grade 'A' grey day ...

It was one of those grey days we get in the UK. Even when there's some blue in the sky the overall impression is of grey ... unless it was my mood perhaps.

Look behind this image of Toll Bar Cottage, a few hundred yards west of Hassop Station. There are bits of blue sky ... but no sunshine ...



I certainly wouldn't fancy opening my front door to have a main road slapbang outside.

Leaving the road behind me I followed the field path towards Great Longstone and reached Buskey Cottage where I noticed a planning application for the proposed conversion of an open barn to a garden room.



I'm showing my ignorance again ... but, pray tell me, what exactly is a garden room ?

A quiet lane runs from Buskey Cottage into Great Longstone itself.



On the way I passed Arma Meadow ... at least that's what it seemed to say on the millstone next to the stocks ...



One of the reasons I had decided to walk into Great Longstone was that I had seen my cousin Richard a couple of days earlier and he had mentioned he'd got another butcher's shop. Here it is ...



I hope it will go well.

Within a few years I wonder how many red telephone boxes will be left in the UK. Images like this are likely to get rarer and rarer ...



I think the old village cross will last a lot longer.

Crossing the path over the Monsal Trail, not far from Thornbridge Hall, this dressed stone gatepost caught my eye. How long it would take to dress a slab of stone like this ?  Who did the job ?  Presumably some stonemason who got paid a pittance.



Back on the Monsal Trail, heading back to the car at Hassop Station, there were signs of what a hard winter it had been. The bark at the bottom of this tree had been fetched off by a hungry rabbit ...



I'm assuming it was a rabbit what done it.

It was beyond here where I sat on a bench beside the Monsal Trail and had a piece of our Christmas cake. There's nothing like it ... it tastes much better out in the open.



All that remained was to walk another mile along the Monsal Trail to reach Hassop Station.



Length of walk 3 miles

Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 24 1/2 miles

Total walked since records began [er, 1st September 2009] ~ 154 1/2 miles

5 of 2010