Miller's Dale

I followed the single track road around to Miller's Dale and descended to the village. A sign warned me, before I entered the village, 'Here There Be Dragons'. I wondered if the Fire Service could get an appliance down the narrow road leading into the village. None of the houses seemed to be burnt shells and so I guess the Dragons must be rather friendly. In fact the village could have done with a few dragons to warm the place up a bit. It is so low down in the valley I doubted whether it ever got any sun. The grass and roofs were still white with frost. A sign on the bridge across the River Wye warned me that the bridge near 'Water-cum-Jolly', further down the river was out of service. The mind boggles as to how it got a name like that. I researched it, but found nothing. I was rather hoping it might have been a film location for a Stormy Daniels picture. I joined the Monsal Trail on the other side of the river and headed along it to Monsal Head.

Monsal Trail

The Monsal Trail is created from an old railway line. It is very spectacular. It must have been quite an exciting ride on the train. I couldn't understand why the builders constructed it on such a difficult route. It turns out the alternative was to build the line through the Duke Of Devonshire's land and so was a case of NIMBYism. I went through the the dimly lit Litton Tunnel. I noticed that people don't exchange a 'Good morning', in the tunnel. I wondered if people are more inhibited when they can't see the face of somebody else. I had a curious desire to stick out my tongue at the people that passed me, but I considered their eyesight might actually be better than mine. At the other end of the tunnel a Ranger car was parked. I'd recently watched a Hairy Bikers episode where they interviewed a couple of Rangers on the Monsal Trail. Further up the trail I could see the very same Rangers up on the embankment. A small world. This small stretch of the Monsal Trail was so good, I was almost tempted to continue on it to Bakewell. I then considered that I'd measured my planned route to be around 15 miles, and so I decided that would be a station too far.

Monsal Head

As I approached Monsal Head, the trail went over a very impressive viaduct. It offers great views in all directions. Those wanting to continue to Bakewell have to go through yet another tunnel. I was going to Monsal Head though and so I turned on to the path that set off through some trees to the top. It didn't seem to take long. I guess I was setting off at quite a high level above the dale anyway. It is a bit of a tourist hot spot at the top. Deservedly so, when you look at the amazing view down the valley. They'd even built a little area where you can take a photo, with a stone wall to prevent you tumbling down into the valley.

I'd been walking in the bottom of dales so long now it was actually a bit of a shock to get open views as I walked through the twee village of Little Longdale, and took a left turn up onto Longstone Moor. A sign warned me that I shouldn't stray off the track since there was a lot of mine shafts in the area. I saw evidence of these and quite a few sink holes too.

Coombs Dale

When I'd planned the walk I included what looked like a reservoir at Blakedon Hollow. I thought it might provide a good foreground for a photo of the entrance to Coombs Dale. My aspirations were deflated somewhat by the approach track which was a wide stone road. As I approached the reservoir I was greeted by several signs: 'Danger Keep Out', 'Danger Quicksand' and 'Danger Deep Water. It appeared my 'reservoir' was what looked like tailings from the local mine operation.

After the spectacle of the dales around Monsal, Coombs Dale had a lot to live up to. In truth, it didn't. The slopes didn't hold the interest like Monsal had, and a lot of the route was surrounded by trees. It wasn't an unpleasant route, just not that interesting. I was happy to climb out of the chilly dale and back into the sun again. A path through fields led me into Stoney Middleton that on first appearances was a typically quirky White Peak village. Getting from one side of the village to the other was quite a shock since it involved crossing the busy A623. I waited a while as two artics inched their way around each other. It was a relief to climb out of the other side of Stoney Middleton and on to the lane that would lead me back to Eyam.