Litton Peter Stone RFM Blue Line Walking with Peter

 Litton Peter Stone 

RFM Blue Line 

Walking with Peter

11/04/25

We started in Tideswell again at just before 8.00 o'clock. The mid April day started cool but not as chilly as last week. 

The buildings in Tideswell are unchanged since the 19th century and before. Its quite remarkable really.

We headed out of the village to the south on a rural access lane. The birdsong was wonderful.

We dropped down the slope along a well trod uneven path through a wood and onto the early quiet of the B6049. 

Crossing the road and backtracking slightly up the dale we could see the bluffs through the trees. Mr Ellery (Holgate Geography teacher) would have loved this. He often pops up in our thoughts when geographical features appear.

Heading down the valley we spotted a glorious Mandarin duck with his somewhat less glorious whitish grey mate. A cheerful sight on a rapidly warming day.

Steep slopes rocky outcrops and moss covered logs all added to a spectacular valley.

Peter found a cave, looked man-made but decided it was too low to explore. 

In no time at all we were heading into Litton Mill at the bottom of the dale. It was quick because it was really easy walking.

Litton Mill so obviously an industrial relic with its mill race, some signs of machinery still there and its engine house adjacent to the mill. We speculated on its development from water to steam power and now just somewhere to live. It was really nice and clean which I should imagine is not true of its industrial heyday as that chimney was not high enough to get the smoke out of the valley.

We followed the River Wye down Cressbrook Dale.

Sitting on a log with a cup of coffee we watched the trout in the river. Honestly the shadow in the photo on the left is a big trout. A begging swan came right up to us to be fed but gave up after receiving nothing and headed downstream.

We headed towards the picturesque Water-cum jolly-Dale. What a name that is.

We explored the area a little as well, why not. There was a big house above the gorge. The wooden bridge over the quiet river could be a little more interesting when the river is running. The river had scoured the cliff into an interesting shape. Viewed from the bridge the weir and downstream river bed were worth a look. Finally the lovely mill had become a private living space.  All wonderful in the unseasonal bright sunshine.

Well that was the easy part now we turned and headed up the very steep Cressbrook Dale. The slopes were full of wild garlic and trees.

Up and up the dale we went through forest and scrubland until we emerged into the open spaces of the upper part of the dale. The river had long since dried up giving us a clue to the underlying geology of the area.

 

We came round the final bluff and came across Peter Stone, named after my brother.

We had a coffee and sandwich next to the outcrop (not a bad view) and decided to alter our route slightly as we did not fancy walking on the A623 even for a short distance. So we retraced our steps and were entertained by a pair of Buzzards soaring over the cliffs.

We headed up the very steep Tansley Dale towards Litton. This was narrow and steep. 

Out of the dale the countryside opened up and we followed a walled lane towards Litton.

This is a very pleasant village with its stocks, village cross, green and tiny shop cum post office. No idea as to any history but it was just a fantastic little place.

Up a steep hill out of the village we passed this Church of England on the outskirts of the village.

Up here the views were long as we finally reached the higher ground. We headed over to Tideswell which we could see in the distance. 

A good view of the Cathedral of the Peaks met us on reaching the little town. 

The dragons were a surprise.

Wow, this was an unusual April walk. It turned out to be really warm. We passed quite a few people, once the morning advanced, and all as ever were friendly and willing to chat. On the way from Litton to Tideswell we passed a woman who must have been in her nineties strolling along. They breed them tough in the Peaks.

The distance was just short of 8 miles and we ascended a total of 875 feet. It took us about 31/2 hours. We did about 19,000 steps.