Popping into the Peaks

We had a few days to spare so decided on a quick trip to the Peak District National Park. It’s an area that we visited often in our younger years but haven’t explored much in the last few decades!
Starting off on a site near to Longstone and the Monsal Valley we watched the end of the summer heatwave as thunderstorms swept along the valley straight for us. So we battened down the hatches and waited for the rain to pass. 
Ian did a nice wander across to Monsal Head and then back along the Monsal Trail, a disused railway complete with tunnels and viaducts.

En route to our next camp site we pulled in at Millers Dale to do another short section of the Monsal Trail. Just along from the old railway station are some rather imposing and very modern looking concrete lime kilns that you can walk in to. Built in the late 1800s they burned local quarried limestone with coal brought in by the railway at temperatures exceeding 900°C to produce quicklime for agriculture, steel, and chemical industries. They only stopped using them  in 1944.  

We then walked through a couple of rather soot-lined tunnels. It was weird and a little creepy that the soot looked quite fresh. Then we dropped down into the valley to do a stunning little “walk” (it was more of a scramble) beside the River Wye (not the one in Herefordshire!).

The route took us from Millers Dale to Chee Dale and back. I loved the stepping stones that skirted around the overhanging limestone rocks and marvelled at the climbers on the cliff face, which brought back fond memories of our younger selves in days gone by (sigh). It was just after this point that the heavens opened … again, and the rest of the hike was more of a drenching. We really did look like a pair of drowned rats by the end of it and glad to get back to the van for a brew and a change of clothing!

Our next stay was at a very basic campsite in the Manifold Valley right beside the river. It was  literally two big grassy fields, a water tap and a rubbish skip (there were some porta loos but they were a long way away, a bit of a challenge if you wanted to get there in time!). It was cheap and cheerful and perfect for finding peace and tranquility.  It also turned out to be a brilliant base to head off along the Manifold Valley Way.

Not wanting to get drowned in the rain again, we waited for a day that promised sunshine before joining the path along the valley to reach Thor’s Cave. This is a huge natural cavern, and has been featured in films and on album covers (The Verve 1993). Archeologists have found  7 burials and evidence of occupation from the end of the Palaeolithic to Roman times, now it’s just a haven for tourists and climbers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This particular walk was rather monumental for me, it was nearly 5-miles and involved a steep ascent up to the cave. That might not sound much to you, but it’s the most demanding walk that I’ve done since getting my new knees and it felt wonderful.

As we headed back to camp, we sneaked across a field to find the location where the River Manifold just simply disappears into the bed rock, something I’ve never seen before. It happens just downstream of the Wetton Mill Bridge (pictured above), the water just seeps away through porous limestone via sinkholes and swallets and doesn’t reappear until it reaches Ilam, about 5 miles away.

And after that revelation we simply had to have an afternoon tea at the café, it would have been rude to just walk past.

Back on the campsite, the river was looking very tempting but the access wasn’t, so we only managed refreshing cold dips rather than swims. If we’d been here 326 million years ago, it would have looked more like the Bahamas and we’d have been diving into a lovely warm tropical sea! How times change (ha ha)