The Rusty Back Fern

The Rusty Back is a fairly rare species of fern. This example, photographed in the Peak District, seems to be thriving. It has been fenced off to protect it from grazing sheep.   

The Monsal Trail tunnels

The railway tunnels on the Monsal Trail, built in the 1860s, had remained locked and closed to the public ever since the railway closed in the late 1960s. These were Headstone Tunnel, Cressbrook Tunnel, Litton Tunnel and Chee Tor Tunnel.

Occasional trips through the tunnels were organised by Peak Park staff,

when hard hats and torches were essential. .

On one such trip lunch is taken between Cressbrook and Litton tunnels. A spot which was most difficult to reach other than by passing through the tunnels.

The tunnels were opened to the public in 2011 after the installation of lighting and improvements to the trail surface.

Chee Tor tunnel in 2011 soon after it was opened to the public.

Golden Clough Bridge, Edale....

Constructed by local craftsman Robin Wood, from a single tree which had been growing nearby.

This ten minute video tells the story of the bridge.  

Headstone viaduct

Headstone viaduct, built in 1863 to carry the Midland Railway over the River Wye in Monsal Dale.

The viaduct is considered a thing of beauty now, has a preservation order on it, and is one of the icons of the Peak District National Park.

However, when it was first built it was considered a disaster by the writer John Ruskin.

He wrote,

"There was a rocky valley between Buxton and Bakewell, once upon a time, divine as the Vale of Tempe. You Enterprised a Railroad through the valley – you blasted its rocks away, heaped thousands of tons of shale into its lovely stream. The valley is gone, and the Gods with it; and now, every fool in Buxton can be in Bakewell in half an hour, and every fool in Bakewell at Buxton; which you think a lucrative process of exchange – you Fools everywhere”.

Headstone viaduct under construction in the 1860s

 

In 1968 the rails were still in situ

Headstone viaduct is also referred to as Monsal Dale viaduct.

More sheep

Padley Chapel

The 15^th Century Chapel is all that is left of Padley Manor near Grindleford. The remains of the manor are behind the chapel.

The chapel is best known for the story of the 'Padley Martyrs'; two priests Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludham,  who were arrested here in July 1588, and subsequently executed for high treason. Their crime was simply being ordained Catholic priests.

 

The Manor was owned by John Fitzherbert. He was a catholic, and as such refused to accept Elizabeth I as head of the church. The two priests were only visiting him, and were unfortunate enough to be there when the house was raided by the authorities, who were probably checking up on Fitzherbert.

The chapel is still the subject of a pilgrimage which takes place each July to honour the martyrs.

 

South Head

South Head  1622 feet or 494 metres above sea level.

Viaduct problem at Bugsworth 1866

The Autumn of 1866 had been remarkable for very heavy rainfall and flooding. 

At Bugsworth in Derbyshire the recently opened railway was carried by a five arched stone viaduct. The exceptionally wet conditions caused a land slip which affected the railway. At first it was a bridge north of the viaduct which began to crack and move. Shortly after, sixteen acres of land, slipped down the valley, cracking the viaduct, and causing it to be declared unsafe. The railway company took measures to drain the land to avoid any further slippage.

From The Midland Railway Its rise and progress by Frederick Williams 1888

Next, a temporary wooden viaduct was constructed. Four hundred men laboured for ten weeks to complete the task.

The line re-opened in early 1867.

Some years later the embankment, which still carries the railway today, was built on land between the wooden viaduct and the original stone arched one.

The old viaduct was demolished with the help of gunpowder.

Because of the realignment, the track went to the wrong side of the station building, so what should have been the platform side became the entrance, and the intended entrance ended up on the platform side.  Bugsworth station was closed to passengers in 1958.

The village of Bugsworth as it was known at the time of this incident is now, officially, known as Buxworth.   

The Tissington Trail

It is forty-five years ago today that the Tissington Trail was opened to the public.
It runs for thirteen miles on the trackbed of the London & North Western Railway, from Parsley Hay to Ashbourne, providing a traffic-free trail for walkers and cyclists.

 

The trail at Hartington, where an original railway 

 signalbox has been preserved.

A spectacular view from the trail near Tissington village.

Washgate Lane

The Centuries old Grade II listed bridge over the River Dove near its source. 

The narrow bridge was used by pack horse trains to cross the water as they approached Washgate Lane.

Unfortunately, the ancient surface of the lane (known as pitching) has been destroyed over the last few decades by recreational vehicles (4 x 4s and motor bikes).

 

  



Compare the photo taken in 1972, when the pitching was mostly intact.................           

.............. with the one taken in 2011. 

On a more positive note, over the last few years, groups of Peak Park Conservation Volunteers have spent their time re-pitching short sections of the lane.

   In all weathers!

 

"Hey Mum, we're being watched"

Near the Roych

Ordnance Survey Trig Pillars

The Ordnance Survey (OS) trig pillar looks down from the summit of Chinley Churn onto Chinley village, and the distant Chapel-en-le-Frith.

The OS erected 6500 of these pillars between 1936 and 1962, as triangulation points, to improve the accuracy of their maps.

The OS map makers no longer use the trig pillars, but employ the more accurate satellite technology.   Look at the OS Blog for more information