Monsal Trail Miller Dale RFM Blue Line Walking with Peter

 

Monsal Trail Miller Dale 

RFM Blue Line 

Walking with Peter

04/07/25

After a gap of about six weeks we are back in the Peak District walking the hills and dales instead of bird watching in the Dearne Valley. This was meant to be an easy return to hill walking and indeed it was although maybe a little longer than expected at just short of 12 miles.

We met in the quiet little village of Taddington at about 7.40. It was meant to be nearer to 8 o'clock but we had both been surprised by quieter roads than expected.

Walking through the graveyard past the beautiful 14th-century church of St Michael & All Angels we surprised a park full of rabbits who scattered in all directions.

We went along the minor, tree shrouded, road out of Taddington crossed the unusually quiet A6 and set off over the sheep filled fields towards High Dale. 

High Dale is only small but it is a beautiful example of a v shaped valley steep sided with limestone rock in evidence both in the walls and on the slopes.

This trough at the the bottom of the dale made of stone with the stone wall next to it was curious to see. We speculated as to its age origin and function. Peter suggested it was fed by a spring and I think he is correct. 

The idea behind todays walk is to travel a few miles along the Monsal Trail connecting several of my blue lines together. But first we have to get to the start point on the trail and the way was interesting and rural. Peter was the object of curiosity for these young cows.

The farm animals and landscape are just so perfect it feeds the soul.

The views to our right towards Monsal Dale were typical of the Derbyshire Dales and I am looking forward to planning a walk down the dale.

Stunning scenery and a ubiquitous dew pond.

A final steep lane down to the old railway line that is the ever popular Monsal Trail. The info sign regarding Monsal Dale just encourages me more to make that a near future walk although I hope we avoid the horned cows.

The old track bed has been replaced with a tarmac surface that makes walking on this flat trail so easy that the miles are covered very quickly. Peter suggested we had a break for a coffee which seemed a bit soon but after checking the OS app I realised we had already covered over 3 miles so a break was overdue. I still have to work on break management, it is definitely going to help in walk management over the long time.

First to come into view is the old mill at Cressbrook recently modernised into luxury apartments. We have in the past walked the valley floor and the whole of Cressbrook Dale as far as Peter's Rock. I have also walked the right side top of Cressbrook Dale on a solitary ramble. This is the first of the tunnels. Interestingly the OS map cannot take tunnels into account so it records our way as going over the hill although we have tunnelled under it. This falsifies the ascent figures so todays will be an estimate.

More views along the valley to Cressbrook on the left and up Tideswell Dale yet another dale we have covered.

The views from the Monsal Trail in between tunnels are higher enough up the valley side to be interesting in their own right.

The view after the Litton Tunnel over Litton with its mill buildings also now accommodation were interesting and reminded us of our path through the area next to the River Wye. We discussed the opposite hillside with its various industrial remnants and speculated as to what was there in the past.   

The stretch to the station at Miller Dale familiar to us from previous walks with the high bridges over the thin river valley below was uneventful but pleasant enough. There were other walkers and push bikes around but surprisingly few for this trail so we were thankful for that.This was the obvious place for our second stop of the day after about 7 miles. We had a good 20 minutes refuelling break.

We explored the old lime works at Chee Dale and were genuinely interested although it was obviously the clean appearance was incongruous with the operation of the kilns. You just have to use your imagination.

Just after the Chee Tor tunnel we came across a group of school kids abseiling off a high bridge. This was not an activity I have any envy of doing but well done kids for having the guts I definitely don't have.

Then it was through Chee Tor No.2 Tunnel after trying to work out what the brackets on the wall were for. We failed to find a use but later settled upon an old handrail. Perhaps the rails were removed to stop abseiling?

Chee Dale is impressive scenery and it is hard to envisage how this route was actually built in Victorian Times. It must have been one hell of a building site.

The sheer walls of the dale wiped out my internet and my OS app went dark.

We were impressed with the height of the bridge and the path below but continued walking as we did not realise we were meant to leave the trail here. After a few hundred yards we realised our error and retraced our steps to get onto the correct path. Thank goodness we did as the lower trail was wonderful.

We chatted with a couple and their son from Cambridgeshire who were revelling in the scenery. They were amateur photographers and enjoying the trip immensely. 

The track was close to the river Wye and steep sided. The river had a lot of trout openly patrolling their beats.

Under a high bridge a Dipper posed for photos on the opposite bank not 10 feet away. What a beautiful encounter, I was thrilled.

Where Great Rocks Dale meets Wye Dale we crossed the river and prepared to climb out of the dale. This row of houses was isolated on the other side of the river with the end of the road ending at the edge of the river. Everything going to and from the houses would have to cross the small footbridge. 

The hill though relatively short was, as expected, very steep. We took our time had plenty of viewing stops to catch our breaths and even waited for some cyclists to go down the narrow rocky track. The ones walking down with their bikes we didn't wait for but simply walked past exchanging friendly greetings. They all seemed to be our age as Peter said like Les's group. 

Just before the top of the hill we came a cross a dewpond with water in it. No good for cattle though as it was fenced off!

In this looking back photo you can see a large group of people who we had to remind to be careful with the cattle as they were organising kids photos in front of a large calf without any regard for the cow lying in the grass. She was obviously not worried as she ignored the shenanigans. It wasn't a serious problem but just a niggle that some people don't respect the animals and think they are there for their entertainment. A part of me wishes the cow would have been more protective towards her teenage calf but perhaps it was for the best.

The views out out of the bottom of the deep valley were a great change as we could see for miles on this lovely warm day. In the far distance we could see the aerial above Eyam connecting us to previous walks.

The only traffic in the Village of Blackwell was this tractor. 

We walked past this house for sale and speculated over its potential value. Somewhere between 600K and a million was our wide ranging estimate.

We passed a  couple of friends in a wooded field on our way to the curiously named Priestcliffe Ditch. We came across a small group doing the Duke of Edingburgh 3 days and chatted with them regarding their route and destination. These kids are always so happy to chat it really is, in a way, heart warming. These adventures will be part of their future as well as their present. I wonder how important they are for the wellbeing of each individual participating. They really are on their own to navigate from one place to another over 16 kilometres using old fashioned maps with full packs. They should all be proud of their achievement, I hope they are.

This area of the White Peak is know to have been settled since neolithic times and the bumps and borrows in this field suggest ancient settlement probably not neolithic but possibly early medieval.

The final lane after crossing the still quiet A6 on the way back to our cars at Taddington.

Another great adventure with a variety of landscape and human activity mind-blowing in its complexity.

11.85 miles

1100 feet ascent

03:44 hours mins walking time

3.1         mph

It looks like a fast walk but we had plenty of stops for views and breaks and the flat rail bed makes for a fast pace.

Loved it looking forward to next week.