Day 8 (Friday)
After my morning cuppa, I hit the road for the long journey south. I stopped at Abington Services for a bite to eat and a bit of a rest. Not the most exciting stop, but much needed. The weather was okay all the way down: nothing dramatic, just grey skies and a steady stream of many many motorway miles.
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Wilson saying goodbye to Glen Banchor
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After nearly seven hours on the road, I finally arrived at Millers Dale. I’m meeting a walking group here in the morning, which I’m really looking forward to.
The car park where we’re meeting is for daytime use only, so I found a quiet layby a bit further down the road to settle down for the night. I was more than ready to stretch my legs and get some fresh air and I noticed what looked like a cave or something similar above the layby so out of curiosity, decided to see if I could climb up to it… but it turned out to be a bit too steep, so I chickened out!
I had a peaceful evening reading my book and then had some much needed sleep.
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Tonight's park up just outside Millers Dale
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Day 9 (Saturday)
It was a quiet night, despite the occasional car passing by. In the morning, I headed straight to the car park at Millers Dale to make sure I got a space for the group meet-up. I needn’t have worried, it turned out to be a really big car park, though I can imagine it gets packed in the summer months. Parking cost £6.60 for the whole day.
Before getting ready for the day, I squeezed in a workout. It’s a bit of a logistical challenge in the van with limited floor space, but I’ve managed to find a different spot for each exercise. For things like standing dumbbell presses, I have to open the skylight so I can stretch my arms up fully - probably not what the van was designed for! If I’m parked somewhere remote, I might take the workout outside, but in a busy public car park? Absolutely no chance! I do sometimes wonder if people spot the dumbbells bobbing up and down through the roof though!
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| Dumbbell workout through the skylight |
I met up with the others at 9:45am, ready to start our walk at 10. There were five of us walking today, plus a dog. We began by heading along the Monsal Trail and through the Chee Tor Tunnel. We then crossed the River Wye via a little wooden bridge at Blackwell Mill, in an idyllic setting with a handful of charming cottages - it looked like something straight off a chocolate box.
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| Entering Chee Tor Tunnel |
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| Chee Tor Tunnel |
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| Blackwell Mill |
Just after that, we passed the impressive Blackwell Mill Viaduct before reaching the Chee Dale stepping stones. This was another very picturesque part of the walk. We crossed the stepping stones without any trouble - there wasn’t much of a wait, and they were easy enough to walk across. The river level was low and the weather had been dry recently, so I imagine it could be a bit more of a challenge after heavy rain!
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| Blackwell Viaduct |
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| One of our group using the drone for an aerial photo |
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| Chee Dale Stepping Stones |
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| Chee Dale Stepping Stones |
Before we reached the second set of stepping stones, we spotted a beautiful duck on the river that immediately caught our eye thanks to its striking plumage. None of us knew what it was called—thank you, Google Lens!—but it turned out to be a Mandarin Duck. We weren’t sure if they’re common in this area, but it’s not something I’ve seen before. That made it all the more surprising when we spotted another one an hour or two later!
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| Mandarin Duck |
The rest of the walk through Chee Dale was just as stunning. The landscape through the gorge was so striking—unlike anything I’ve seen before. Our route was a circular one, which eventually brought us back to the disused railway station, now home to a café and public toilets. There are also picnic benches there, which made it the perfect spot to stop and enjoy our lunch.
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| A steep climb |
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The station at Millers Dale which is now a cafe and public toilets
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After lunch, we set off in the other direction, heading into Monk’s Dale - one of the five dales that make up the Derbyshire Dales. It’s described as a "steep-sided dry gorge", and yet again, the landscape changed completely. It looked like a dried-up riverbed, and much of the area was littered with fallen trees that had been cut down due to ash dieback. It honestly looked as though a hurricane had torn through the valley, ripping up trees in its path and leaving a trail of devastation.
The ground underfoot was a mix of small and large boulders, which I found really challenging to walk on. While this part of the walk was unique, I was definitely glad to reach the end - I spent most of it worrying I’d go over on my ankle!
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| Monk's Dale |
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| Monk's Dale |
The landscape then opened up, and we continued along quiet lanes and across open fields towards Tideswell. There were plenty of dry stone walls to navigate (either via squeeze stiles or traditional stone stiles) and we were treated to some lovely views across the dales. Unfortunately, I lost my balance at the top of one of the walls and took a bit of a tumble! Thankfully, I mostly just ended up with a bruised ego.
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| One of the many stone stiles |
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| The drone capturing us walking across the field and the lovely views |
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| Love this! |
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| Heading towards Tideswell |
Tideswell was a typical English village with stone cottages and the impressive St John the Baptist Church, known as the “Cathedral of the Peak.” We also passed the interesting Markeygate House, which is thought to be the oldest home in the village, dating all the way back to 1432. It’s a Grade II listed building and has had a few different lives - at one point it was an ale house and later a family-run butchers. It’s kept a lot of its original features too, including a original medieval door front door, which is apparently one of only a few like it left in the UK.
Tideswell also had the added bonus of public toilets! We went left Tideswell by going up hill which gave us a lovely view across the roof tops of the village.
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| Tideswell |
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| The medieval door of Markeygate House |
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| St John the Baptist Church |
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| Views of Tideswell |
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| Views of Tideswell |
We next walked through Litton, another village of stone cottages and then headed to Cressbrook Dale (also called Ravensdale) another of the five Derbyshire dales. The landscape changed yet again. Just as striking and picturesque but in a different way.
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| Cressbrook Dale |
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| Ravensdale Cottages |
The final part of our walk saw us walk past Cressbrook Mill (now apartments), through Cramside Wood and finishing our walk at the Angler's Rest pub for dinner. I had already phoned to check if I could stay in the car park overnight so I walked the half a mile back to the car park and bring my van down. We had a lovely meal, then the others headed back to Leicester whilst I enjoyed a peaceful evening in the van.
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| Cressbrook Mill |
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Cressbrook Mill Apprentice House
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| The River Wye |
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| My over night stop in the pub car park |
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| I like to try the local ales when I am away |
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| Lovely food |
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| Strava map of today's walk |
Day 10 (Sunday)
The car park was very quiet overnight with no problems. After breakfast and my morning cuppa, it was an hour’s drive further south to meet up with the other walking group I’m in. There were 14 of us walking today.
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| Morning cuppa |
This walk had a very different landscape to yesterday. It was great to be walking somewhere different to Leicester, and it was still beautiful though I think I’d been a bit spoilt after yesterday! The walk itself was uneventful, with a stop for lunch about halfway round.
The highlights were Fritchley Windmill and the ruins of Wingfield Manor peeking through the trees. It was a shame we didn’t get a better look. I’m sure there must be other paths that give a better view.
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| Wingfield Manor |
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| The best photo I could get of Wingfield Manor |
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| Beautiful bluebells |
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| Today's Strava map |
We started and finished at The Dog in Pentrich and ended the day with a lovely Sunday lunch. It was a really nice way to finish the walk - a good meal, a natter and a chance to rest my feet up after another day walking. I’ll definitely be keeping Wingfield Manor on my list to come back and see properly one day.
I then took the final drive back home to unpack and get ready for work in the morning. I’ve really enjoyed this trip although I didn’t quite do as much as I’d originally planned, my main reason for heading to Scotland was to meet up with my son, and I loved spending time with him. I was also really pleased that I managed to fit in some Derbyshire walks with two different walking groups, which made for a lovely way to round off the trip.
Looking forward to my next adventure!
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