I slept well, but woke a few times with anxieties about today's ride. The plan was an ambitious attempt to join together four trails which didn't quite join up, involving some unknown off-road adventures. First to finish off the Tissington Trail to the north, then to somehow join it to the Monsal trail, going east in a steep sided valley with no road access to the start. This goes eastwards to Bakewell, but the next trail is only accessible by several miles of the A6, or an unsurfaced path up and over a hill. This third trail, which didn't seem to me named, led south to Matlock, and then by road to the High Peak Trail, which comes back to near the start. Fifty miles, mostly unsurfaced, with a fair bit of climbing. Was it too much?
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| The plan for all three days |
I had mentioned these dodgy bits to Roger when we first planned the ride, but he may not have taken full notice of what was at that stage a theoretical ride. When we talked about it last night, he was very attentive, and pensive, but we decided to give it a go with the option of abandoning or re-routing if necessary.
In the event, it worked out very well, as good as I could have hoped for really. Though I say it myself, it was a beautiful, varied, adventurous, interesting ride. We set off in cold sunshine back to the Tissington Trail, continuing where we'd left it yesterday. A few miles further on, at Parsley Hay, was the junction with the High Peaks Trail, our return route. Continuing north, with glorious views, we reached the end of the trail, and then a few miles of lanes, crossed the A6 and found the bridleway down to the Monsal Trail.
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| The old station signal box (and tiny cafe) |
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| Croatian stone shelter |
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| The northern reaches of the Tissington Trail |
It was steep, stony and a bit slippy, but dry and without mud. We decided to go for it, and carefully descended - a long way down - on foot, into the Dale, to be faced with a huge gorge hacked out of the rock by the railway builders.
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| Are we really going down there? |
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| Yes, we are! |
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| Made it! |
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| The Monsal trail |
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| Headstone Tunnel |
The
Monsal trail is epic. An easy ride through a steep sided, winding valley of the river Wye, with the track high above the river on one side or the other, or going through long tunnels (well lit with tarmac surfaces), surrounded by high cliffs or steep valley sides. Variously called Chee Dale, Monsal Dale and Millers Dale, at various points, it was a great ride, all slightly downhill. We enjoyed it so much that we forgot to take any pictures after the start.
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| Bakewell Tarts |
All too soon we were in touristy Bakewell for an early lunch. Roger was keen to try Bakewell pudding, but they had run out, so we shared a delicious fresh Bakewell tart. We made the decision to risk the A6 rather than the off-road over the hill route, and it was fine - not too busy, wide enough for cars to pass safely; flat or gently downhill, still following the Wye, along what was now a wide green valley.
From Rowsley to Darley Dale and Matlock we followed the trail with no name, aka NCN 680. It was lovely easy riding,, with the sunshine and a following wind. After the genteel streets of Matlock came a shock as we turned right into the hills. Soon we were at Cromford, for a tea stop on the pretty Cromford canal. After a mile on the canal we turned sharp right at High Peak Junction, onto the High Peak Trail.
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| Cromford canal |
The
High Peak Trail is unusual, as it was a railway with a gradient of 16-19%, and it was also built as part of the UK canal network, linking the Midlands with Manchester, via the high peaks. 250 metres of climbing meant an impossible expense to build hundreds of locks, so they built a cable-operated railway instead, to get up the slope, connected to a regular railway across the top.
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High Peak junction
(at the bottom of the climb) |
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| Sheep Pasture Top, the top of the first climb |
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| Middleton Top, after the second climb |
It was .. challenging ... to ride up the steep bits, especially off-road with a loose surface, but the ten or so miles across the top was heavenly, with huge views across the limestone landscape, and unexpected sunshine. Bordered by dry stone walls or banks of cowslips, the trail was a marvel of civil engineering, finding or forcing a flat route across green valleys or through craggy outcrops. The surface was dry and as smooth as tarmac. We arrived home at the hostel tired but happy after a great day out.
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| Lambs! |
In summary, riding the Dales trails has been like touring Derbyshire without having to do most of its characteristic steep hills. A similar tour on road would probably have involved four times the climbing, more traffic and maybe less good views.
Would I recommend it? Well, the circuit we did is definitely a challenging ride, and the descent into Monsal Dale is only for the sure-footed; perhaps risky when wet. But it's a lovely route. As an alternative, each of the trails could be ridden out and back for an enjoyable day's outing on each trail. There are plenty of cafes, except on the High Peak Trail where they're at either end. You can avoid the big climb up to the High Peak Trail by parking at the top of the incline, at Middleton Top.
One more trail to do tomorrow, on our way home ...
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