{"id":714,"date":"2014-01-11T01:41:45","date_gmt":"2014-01-11T00:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=714"},"modified":"2014-01-15T23:06:39","modified_gmt":"2014-01-15T22:06:39","slug":"tideswell-dale-monsal-dale-and-cressbrook-dale-derbyshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=714","title":{"rendered":"Tideswell Dale, Monsal Dale and Cressbrook Dale, Derbyshire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Litton lay stretched like a sleepy cat along its lanes; a grey stone village, typical of the Derbyshire uplands, in the embrace of green pastures and loosely knit stone walls. <script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.onload = setupZoom; function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=880,width=930,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script> First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('MonsalDale.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2890\/10440015285_7334a8d65b.jpg\" title='upland scene 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2890\/10440015285_7334a8d65b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7346\/10440171263_a129795653.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7346\/10440171263_a129795653_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7306\/10440176983_8fdc6f747c.jpg\" title='Peter&#039;s Rock, Cressbrook Dale 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7306\/10440176983_8fdc6f747c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5502\/10440038805_b35bb14a7f.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5502\/10440038805_b35bb14a7f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3739\/10440021474_7cf44a0415.jpg\" title='Peter&#039;s Rock, Cressbrook Dale 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3739\/10440021474_7cf44a0415_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5531\/10440028374_f69fc1fba0.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale 3'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5531\/10440028374_f69fc1fba0_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3773\/10440113724_bf6bd39557.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale 4'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3773\/10440113724_bf6bd39557_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3808\/10440044894_f6c10bda44.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale 5'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3808\/10440044894_f6c10bda44_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2879\/10440225103_414b950a91.jpg\" title='Ravensdale Cottages, Cressbrook Dale'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2879\/10440225103_414b950a91_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2806\/10440235203_f5125ee9bd.jpg\" title='weir, Cressbrook Dale mill'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2806\/10440235203_f5125ee9bd_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5512\/10440243093_795ba58b3e.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale and mill'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5512\/10440243093_795ba58b3e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3671\/10440077754_fc35bcefed.jpg\" title='Cressbrook Dale and mill 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3671\/10440077754_fc35bcefed_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2889\/10440106335_a6a5bbb232.jpg\" title='Monsal Head viaduct 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2889\/10440106335_a6a5bbb232_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3829\/10440087054_43480c4ff7.jpg\" title='Monsal Head viaduct 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3829\/10440087054_43480c4ff7_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7342\/10440268823_e032d0e841.jpg\" title='weir on River Wye, Monsal Dale'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7342\/10440268823_e032d0e841_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7376\/10440278203_c865c0f64b.jpg\" title='weir on River Wye, Monsal Dale 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7376\/10440278203_c865c0f64b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5522\/10440131986_0835cb66ca.jpg\" title='upland scene 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5522\/10440131986_0835cb66ca_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3801\/10440141986_4dfdc06c4f.jpg\" title='upland scene 3'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3801\/10440141986_4dfdc06c4f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2805\/10440312193_ae96270078.jpg\" title='upland scene 4'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2805\/10440312193_ae96270078_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5493\/10440318653_3863816cae.jpg\" title='mill sluice, Litton Mill, Miller&#039;s Dale'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5493\/10440318653_3863816cae_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5473\/10440327573_568c76046b.jpg\" title='River Wye, Litton Mill, Miller&#039;s Dale'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5473\/10440327573_568c76046b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7376\/10440184045_34ddc1cd0e.jpg\" title='fish in River Wye, Miller&#039;s dale'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7376\/10440184045_34ddc1cd0e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5536\/10440164224_a41849b462.jpg\" title='upland scene 5'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5536\/10440164224_a41849b462_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=714\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\nIt had been too long since I\u2019d had a good day\u2019s walking with my London-based daughter Ruth. Crossing the fields and dropping south into the curving cleft of Tideswell Dale, we chatted away nineteen to the dozen, catching up on each other\u2019s lives. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s small wonder that the Peak District is so tremendously popular with walkers, especially the very beautiful and spectacular dales or water-sculpted canyons that burrow their way through the pale grey limestone of the White Peak district. History doesn\u2019t relate whether these strikingly beautiful surroundings were of any comfort to the 19th-century workers \u2013 some of them small children \u2013 who slaved away in the textile mills in the dank and cold dale bottoms.  <\/p>\n<p>In Miller\u2019s Dale we crossed the River Wye beside the mill-workers\u2019 terrace cottages and climbed the steep bank of Priestcliffe Lees, where young Friesian heifers put their rubbery noses over the wall to sandpaper our fingers with glutinous yellow tongues. At Brushfield the old farm-children\u2019s school stood high among stone cottages with massive lintels, looking down into the tree-choked canyon of Taddington Dale.<\/p>\n<p>Down in Monsal Dale we picnicked on a grassy shelf by the gurgling Wye, and then followed the old Buxton-Matlock railway line \u2013 now a superb cycleway \u2013 into Miller\u2019s Dale, where Cressbrook Mill stood huge and handsome in the throat of the valley. The Brewstop Caf\u00e9 behind the mill is run by three siblings (the oldest is 14), and their tea and cakes are a walker\u2019s dream. <\/p>\n<p>In Cressbrook Dale, up where the cleft opens grey rocky lips to the sky high overhead, a great outcrop of limestone hangs over the path \u2013 Peter\u2019s Stone, where the bodies of executed felons were once hung in a gibbet as a terrible warning to all. Today, as we turned back along the rim of the dale towards Litton, the dark stain of the past seemed cleaned away by the low evening sun that washed the rock in a flood of gold.  <\/p>\n<p>Start: Red Lion, Litton, near Tideswell, Derbyshire, SK17 8QU (OS ref SK 164752)<br \/>\nGetting there: Bus &#8211; 173, 65, 66 (Buxton &#8211; Tideswell). Road &#8211; Litton is signed off A623 Peak Forest &#8211; Baslow road at Wardlow Mires near Tideswell<br \/>\nWalk (12 miles, moderate, OS Explorer OL24): From Red Lion, left along village street. Pass &#8216;Cressbrook&#8217; turning; in 50m, right, then left over stone stile (166751). To far left corner of field; right along lane to road (165749). Ahead to left bend; over stile (fingerpost); follow field path\/stiles to cross road (161748). On down to road (160749); left to B6049 (155748). Left for 20m; left through gate; follow wall beside road, past car park (154742) and on along Tideswell Dale. Left at &#8216;Quarry&#8217; sign (154740) to quarry (155738); follow &#8216;Concession Path&#8217; to steps back into dale bottom (155736). Left for \u00bd mile to road in Miller&#8217;s Dale (157731).<br \/>\nLeft to cottages at Litton Mill; right (159730, &#8216;Monsal Trail to Miller&#8217;s Dale\u2019) across river and up dale side. Cross Monsal Trail (158730); up steps by bridge, left over stile; up path (\u2018Priestcliffe Lees&#8217;), following yellow arrows\/YAs. At top, through lumpy mining ground, following left-hand wall to turn left over stile (154725, YA). Right to stile into stony lane (153723). Left for \u00be mile to Middle Farm. At T-junction, left (159715, &#8216;Monsal Dale&#8217;). In \u00bd mile pass fingerpost (167717, &#8216;Upper Dale&#8217;), in 100m, right (&#8216;Lees Bottom, White Lodge&#8217;) to farm track; follow it to farm (167712). Follow &#8216;path&#8217; sign\/YAs onto stony track beyond barn. In 200m, left (168710; fingerpost) over stile; follow stepped path down into Monsal Dale. At bottom, left (171708, &#8216;Monsal Head&#8217;) for 1\u00bc miles to viaduct (181716).<br \/>\nLeft along Monsal Trail for nearly 1 mile. At mouth of Cressbrook Tunnel, right through gate (172724, &#8216;Cressbrook&#8217;) on path descending to cross river beside weir (172728). Bear right on path past Brewstop Caf\u00e9 and Cressbrook Mill. At road, left; fork right (&#8216;Cressbrook, Litton&#8217;); in \u00bc mile, fork right (171732, &#8216;Ravensdale&#8217;). Pass Ravensdale Cottages (172737); in \u00bc mile go through gate marked &#8216;Cressbrook Dale&#8217; (172741); in 100m fork left and follow dale bottom for 1\u00bd miles past Peter&#8217;s Rock to A623 (180756) at Wardlow Mires (NB 3 Stags\u2019 Head PH to right). Left along A623 for 100m; left (stile, &#8216;public footpath&#8217;) up field wall to cross stile (177756); across field to cross stile; right up wall to road (173754); left into Litton.<br \/>\nLunch: Brewstop Caf\u00e9, Cressbrook (weekends, school holidays); 3 Stags&#8217; Heads, Wardlow Mires (01298-872268); Red Lion, Litton (01298-871458).<br \/>\nAccommodation: Cheshire Cheese Inn, Castleton, S33 8WJ (01433-620330; <a href=\"http:\/\/cheshirecheeseinn.co.uk\">cheshirecheeseinn.co.uk<\/a>) &#8211; bustling, cheerful place.<br \/>\nInfo:  Bakewell TIC (01629-816558); <a href=\"http:\/\/visitpeakdistrict.com\">visitpeakdistrict.com<\/a>;<br \/>\n<A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.ramblers.org.uk\/\">www.ramblers.org.uk<\/A> <A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.satmap.com\/\">www.satmap.com<\/A> <A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.LogMyTrip.co.uk\/\">www.LogMyTrip.co.uk<\/A> <A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.visitengland.com\/\">visitengland.com<\/A><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Litton lay stretched like a sleepy cat along its lanes; a grey stone village, typical of the Derbyshire uplands, in the embrace of green pastures and loosely knit stone walls<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}