A sudden heavy hailstorm as we walked to the bus stop this morning killed any desire to go for a walk. It’s been a cold, wet, windy day, with the very brief eruptions of brilliant sunshine galling for reminding me of what I’m missing.
Never mind. It gave me the chance to see what the big issues of the day are.
The Gritstone Trail starts just outside Disley station so was perfect for the start of today’s walk. It takes you past Lyme Park and up to the Bow Stones (the shafts of two Saxon crosses); here we left it and continued over Whaley Moor down to Whaley Bridge.
Lots of gorse and skylarks and wonderful views. From Lyme Park you could see Manchester clearly, but I preferred our lunch stop view of rolling green hills. Still plenty of mud around, but nothing compared to previous walks like Penrith and Saltburn.
We caught the bus then walked beside the River Wye to the Headstone Viaduct – the old railway line between Buxton, Bakewell, Matlock and Derby. From the viaduct, we continued along the railway path beyond Litton Mill – through the Cresswell and Litton tunnels – and then up and over to catch the bus back from Taddington.
There were wood anemones everywhere and a few early bluebells. On the Wye below the viaduct we spotted three mandarin ducks, and towards the end we walked beside a jumbled-up field – the site of an old mine.
We caught the train to Furness Vale and walked back to Buxton along the Midshires Way. The High Peak Canal to Whalley Bridge then the Goyt Valley. We passed the Toddbrook Reservoir; all the work on it reminded me of how it was feared it would collapse in 2019 and that Whaley Bridge was in danger.
It was a pleasant walk – varied enough and not too muddy, and the weather was good to us. The final section, along the old Buxton-Whalley Bridge road, gave us a good view of Combs Edge and convinced me that it was not a route I wanted to attempt.
Aides memoires part 3 