Peak Walks A to Z

In case you noticed we’d not blogged a walk for a few weeks and put it down to our failing to find a Q, well think again….today we visited three!

The real reason for the lack of blogs was that half of us was away in the land Down Under enjoying sunny climes and spectacular scenery whilst the other half was out squelching through mud and rain and fog and snow and generally finding nothing much to write home about.

But now all that’s changed, including the weather: two consecutive days of Spring this week has the birds singing and the buds on the trees and with the Ann & Jan walking duo reunited,  off we go on the 218 to Pineapple Cottage, the stop for the Monsal Trail just on the outskirts of Bakewell.

Crossing the road, there are steps down onto the trail where we head away from Bakewell passing Hassop Station Cafe after a few minutes walk, both of us enjoying the weather, warmth and catching up on a few weeks of conversation.

We seem to time our arrival at Thornbridge perfectly as the cafe has just opened and so we pop in for a pot of tea and thereby bag our first Q of the day: 

Q for Quackers

We’re not sure how the cafe got its name although there are various plastic ducks in evidence amidst other quirky artefacts. It’s too early for more than a cuppa (and only chance for a very quick play on the piano before we’re on our way again) but from previous experience we can definitely recommend the pasties and sausage rolls here and the scones look pretty decent too.

Once rehydrated we’re soon back on the trail and emerging through Headstone Tunnel onto the viaduct still surrounded by suggestions of Spring.

I can never walk across the viaduct without remembering my Great Uncle Syd who used to tell me stories about his time as a fireman ( not the Fireman Sam variety) on the steam trains from Derby to Manchester. This was in the days when the Monsal Trail was part of the Midland Railway network and one of my favourite tales was about them having to stop the train to dig through snow drifts on the way to Buxton. More recently I have searched for photos of such an event without success but judging by images I did find, I reckon he was probably referring to the winter of 1947 as that certainly looks like it was an extreme weather event for the UK.

Anyway back to our lovely Spring day and continuing through the Cressbrook Tunnel we’re soon running parallel with the river, which we can spot winding its way steeply below us in the valley bottom.

On sighting Litton Mills down below us we look out for a flight of steps rising on our left at the side of a bridge over the trail. 

We climb up here and through the stile on our left into the Priestcliffe Lees nature reserve. 

Litton Mill is now converted into accommodation but has a terrible history of exploitation of child labour vividly described in John Bull’s book The Peak District, A Cultural History or for a gripping but suitably sanitised fictional version I’d also recommend the children’s adventure book The Devil’s Mill by Walt Unsworth.

After our flat-as-a-pancake walk along the trail we are now going up, up and up. There’s no denying it’s steep but the views along the valley side are very interesting and we’re soon passing through an area with those familiar lumps and bumps that indicate this was also an area of lead mining back in the day.

Once we’ve finished climbing ( for the time being at least) we pass by an obvious lead mining rake and over a stile where we walk parallel to a stone wall enjoying amazing views to our left and some lovely trees on our right.

Descending to a further stile next to a dew pond we turn briefly left along a cart track and then take the next signed path on our right.

The terrain is fascinating and unexpected as we now find ourselves in a small dry dale, heading downhill steeply into another dale bottom which we cross in order to head steeply up again on the other side.

After this, things plateau out a little as we continue over grazing land with numerous stiles in numerous stone walls, all riddled with fossils and with interesting views in all directions. A real limestone upland treat!

We know we must be near Taddington but the village seems to keep itself hidden, almost until we find ourselves faced with the ever busy A6 to cross. Our path continues directly opposite and leads us past the back of some dwellings and onto the main street of the village.

It’s a brief walk to our left and here we are at Q number two: The Queen’s Arms, Taddington. 

It seems that many Queens Arms were pubs previously in existence but renamed after Queen Victoria in her honour and it’s likely that this was the case here. The first pub on the site dates back to 1736 and was known as the Miner’s Arms and it’s thought the name was later changed to commemorate Victoria’s diamond jubilee.

That’s particularly handy for us today as the only place name we could find beginning with Q was  Quarndon ( near Derby) and although there’s some nice walking down there it’s definitely far from handy when you start to consider the public transport options.

But Q or no Q, I’d take any excuse to visit this pub, it’s been a favourite of mine for many years. 

And of course today I feel I just have to opt for a Queen’s Club Sandwich to keep the theme going. When it arrives I think there’d have been enough to feed her entire entourage!

Feeling rather full, we return to our walk and head out of the village, and for a while we’re retracing our steps from part of our C for Chelmorton walk. This happens on and off between here and our journey’s end in Bakewell but it’s been quite a while since C and in any case, everything always looks so different in the opposite direction. 

On the way out of the village we see two really tiny ponies ( too small to photograph!) and a characterful old tractor which seems like it’s come straight out of a kiddie’s story book.

Taddington is bordered by such a network of lanes and paths that the options between here and Bakewell are almost endless. In summer our route would probably be different and more footpath bound but today , as it’s been very wet for so long, we are on a mud-avoidance policy and for this reason we stay on the tarmac from hereon in.

I’m not going to give a step by step commentary of the route as you can click on the map at the end of the post to see exactly where we’ve gone today and equally you can see what other possibilities there are and decide for yourselves which way to follow depending on weather, time of year or your love of mud over tarmac.

Having said all that, today’s turns out to be an extremely pleasant route as there’s hardly any traffic and since we’re not busy looking at our feet, we get the opportunity to fully enjoy the views. 

Not least of these are the views across to Fin Cop the Iron Age settlement which looks incredibly imposing from this angle.

We wander through Sheldon spotting Magpie Mine on the way

and then a little later  we can see the roofs of Ashford-in-the-Water in the valley and over towards Ball Cross and Bakewell golf club up ahead of us.

We even see our old friend Beeley Moor ( featured in our K for Kelstedge) beautifully highlighted by the afternoon sun. Next thing we know we’re descending Stanedge Road past St Anselm’s School and arriving into Bakewell by the Church, down North Church Street.

Just as we’re drawing level with The Rutland Hotel we can see there’s a bus in and waiting but it’s not a 218 and the new(ish) fangled display on the bus shelter tells us we just have time for a quick drink in our third Q of the day, Another Queen’s Arms, this one on the corner of Bridge Street and Market Street.

This was apparently known as The Durham Ox before it was extensively rebuilt during the time of Victoria’s reign and renamed after her.

There’s a handy window looking out onto Bridge Street so we can spot the bus coming into the town and still get back to the stop in time. That’s the theory anyway and it certainly works today, rounding off a very pleasant day out with a bang-on-time bus to take us home. 

A top quality day out! 

https://footpathapp.com/routes/D0C58523-D288-4ED7-8E17-89B8717CA7BD?units=metric

Transport 

218 from Sheffield to Pineapple Cottage, Bakewell 

218 or 257 home from Bakewell to Sheffield 

Pubs/Cafes

Quackers Cafe Thornbridge 

Queens Arms Taddington 

Queens Arms Bakewell 

How far?

Around 25k

Route Synopsis 

Monsal Trail from near Hassop Station to Litton Mills-Prisetcliffe Lees-Taddington-Sheldon-Bakewell 

Should be ok for dogs 

Map

OS White Peak