Located approximately in the centre of Britain, the Peak District National Park lies mostly in Derbyshire and was the first national park to be set up in Britain in 1951. The park covers over 500 square miles from the southern end of the Pennines near Manchester to Ashbourne in the south. The area known as The White Peak is the lower, southern part of the Peak District which is where we spent a few days on a cycling holiday following the High Peak and Tissington Trail and a visit to the popular town of Castleton.
High Peak Trail, Sustrans Route 54B runs for approximately 17 1/2 miles between Dowlow, south of Buxton to High Peak Junction near Cromford. This trail and the Tissington Trail, Sustrans Route 68 at 13 miles, follows the bed of the old railway lines that ran between Buxton and the Cromford Canal and Buxton and Ashbourne.
Most of the trails are easy, flat going through lovely Derbyshire countryside....but there are some get off your bike and walk sections for wrinklies like us! Particularly on route 54A which links the two trails at the southern end via Carsington Reservoir. Loads of info is available with a web search as these are popular trails.
We stayed at Brundcliffe Farm near Hartington. It is an ideal location to see this area and is very well run by the Broadley family. They do B&B and are a Caravan Club Certified Location......it is also
......a working farm....as their wheels show.
Running through the farm grounds is the High Peak Trail.
A calf born just a few minutes ago.....
...trying to stand with the help of it's mother...
.....made it.
The path of the old railway track running through the Derbyshire countryside......
Hopton Incline.
Hopton Tunnel....
Tourist Information Centre at Middleton Top. It has a gift shop and cycle hire centre, car park, toilets and picnic area.
This is the restored steam engine house built in 1829 by the Butterley Company to haul wagons up the Middleton incline.
The BBC Country File Team were filming here for a series starting in the Autumn called Hidden Britain fronted by Julia Bradbury and....
....Matt Baker...who gave one of us a hug. I missed out. Julia wasn't here.
The "Top" as you might expect, is at the top of a hill and offers delightful views of the surrounding countryside.......easy on the way down....hard going coming back up. It's a 1 in 8 incline for about a mile.
The bottom of the incline.
Not running today...we could have done with a lift.
Steeple Grange Light Railway, an 18-inch gauge line near Wirksworth in Derbyshire. It is built on the trackbed of a branch of the old Cromford and High Peak Railway, now the High Peak Trail.
Coming in to Black Rocks.......
.....above Cromford. One of the many quarries to be seen along the route.
Willersley Castle. Now a Christian Guild holiday hotel and conference centre.
Then across to Carsington Reservoir on route 54B. Easy going in this direction.....down hill most of the way....but if you go downhill at some stage later on.....
Two miles long, serving Derby and the East Midlands. Cyclists and walkers can make a full circuit - about 8 miles.
The Visitor Centre...
...with plenty of amenities for everyone......
...and very busy on a day like today.
The lovely village of Tissington.....we neary died in the heat cycling up the hills from Carsington. Cyclists be warned...54A is a challenging route! Too knackered to take my camera out on this route.
The cafe on the village green....a welcome cuppa.
Tissington Hall.....
...and church.
Village pond residents.......
...including a Coot on it's nest
The Tissington Trail and the surrounding countryside heading north from Tissington . It is an easy incline in this direction all the way to Parsley Hay where it joins the High Peak Trail.
The restored Hartington Station....
A few miles to the north east is Mam Tor and Castleton. A popular destination for walkers, cavers and hang gliders.
Down through the Winnats Pass into Castleton.....
Castleton main street.........
Peveril Castle overlooks the town........
Lots of school kids on educational trips.
The Norman Keep and hang gliders over Mam Tor.
A Medieval Garderobe.........
.....in other words a toilet. The stone shelf supported a wooden seat with a central hole from which waste emptied into the Gorge outside the castle wall.....an old version of look up when walking under a ladder!
Free as a bird.