thousandmilesblog | Walk Post 046 - Chapel to Buxton with Sudden Downpour (Reply)

Date of Walk: 28/07/10
Walk organized by: Manchester and High Peak Area Ramblers
Start time: 10:40
Start location: Chapel-en-le-Frith Station
Walk length: 9.52 miles
Weather conditions: Humid, frequent showers

Lunch stop close to Fernilee Reservoir, when the sun came out.

Details:
Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton
Buxton is the largest town in the Peak District National Park. The spa town sits in a hollow that lies about 1000 feet above sea level, surrounded by hills. It is famous for its mineral water, and has hot, cold and iron-bearing springs. Settlements have existed in the area since the Mesolithic period, but it remained a small village until a time of rapid growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Romans knew it as a spa town, and it was inhabited by them for most of the period of Roman occupation of Britain. It does not however appear in the Doomsday Book, as it was a small settlement with the land mostly used for grazing cattle at this time. It was named as Buxton in 1100, and was the site of a holy well and chapel which were damaged during the Reformation. In Elizabethan times, it was a popular spa town, and was visited a number of times by Mary Queen of Scots and several members of the Royal court. In the late eighteenth century, the 5th Duke of Devonshire had the Crescent built, which provided facilities for visitors to the area. It is still one of Buxton's most famous landmarks.

Chapel-en-le-Frith lies six miles north of Buxton, and is known as the Capital of the Peak (though Bakewell is generally thought of more often in this context). The Peak Forest Tramway, connecting the quarries at Dove Holes with the canal at Buxworth, passed through here. It was the home of Ferodo founder Herbert Frood, who designed and made the first textile brake shoes, after noticing that local farmers and carriers modified the wooden brakes on carts by strapping an old boot to them to get extra grip from the soles.

The Walk
Having coped reasonably well with ten miles or so at the weekend, I opted for this walk rather than a shorter one running on the same day, mostly because I hadn't walked in this area before. I took both walking poles and lots of energy drink, just in case. Starting from the station we crossed the railway line and went south-west towards Combs, enjoying good views of the reservoir and surrounding hills. We crossed farmland and a few country lanes to reach the Midshires Way, which we followed west down towards Fernilee Reservoir. Just before reaching the reservoir, we stopped for lunch.

The weather was very changeable, though staying quite warm and humid. As we ate lunch the sun came out for a short time. It was one of those glorious, almost magical patches of brightness in the gloom, but we noticed some ominous, towering black clouds to the west. On noting that they were moving north and not towards us, there was a sense of relief, but this was short-lived as the wind changed direction and they rapidly headed straight for us. I just about managed to scramble back into my waterproofs, which I'd taken off earlier because I was too hot, before the first enormous raindrops cascaded down on us. We cut the lunch break short and headed down towards the dam between the Fernilee and Errwood reservoirs, getting some brief shelter in the trees on the way down. Despite the heavy rain, the water level in both was still worryingly low.

Once across the dam, the rain stopped again and we enjoyed ice creams from the van in the car park. We then continued alongside the Errwood Reservoir, through a small wood to a picnic area where the River Goyt flows from the south end of the reservoir. We crossed the river and made our way up onto the moor, climbing steadily. At this point I started to get quite tired. I hadn't lagged behind at all until then, which I was really pleased with, but I dropped almost to the back of the group up the hill. Thankfully the rain held off here, because Goyt's Moss is quite exposed. The earliest heather was out, with pale pink flowers. Bell heather is supposed to be first, but that's more purple so it was possibly cross-leaved heath.

I eventually made it to the top of the hill, and we started down the other side, my knees complaining about the steeper sections. I have to take short steps down hills, and that means I take ages. We stopped in a relatively sheltered spot part of the way down, and some people carried on to try to catch the earlier train. I was too glad of the rest to rush on. We carried on through some farm fields to reach the road into Buxton at Burbage, and walked down this road into the Pavilion Gardens. Some of us had tea at the Pavilion, then went to the station to catch the train home.

Though I was very tired at the end, I'm quite pleased that I managed to keep up and wasn't last up any hills. A couple of people remarked on my improved fitness levels since last time they'd seen me, which was kind of them. It's good to feel like I'm getting somewhere at last. I was also glad to have been somewhere new. I'd visited Buxton before, but not gone outside the town. The terrain and scenery were quite varied, as was the weather, which makes for an interesting walk. I haven't done much walking in the White Peak area, and the hills are supposed to be a bit gentler there so I probably should go more often.