Alone Beneath The Sky: Castleton to Hassop station 22/10/16

14.7 miles, via Cave Dale, Bradwell Moor, the Limestone Way, Hay Dale, Peter Dale,
Monk's Dale, Miller's Dale, the Monsal Trail, Litton Mill, Water-cum-Jolly Dale,
Cressbrook Mill, Upperdale, Monsal Head, Little Longstone & the Monsal Trail (again).

Having failed to get over to Lancashire for walking at any point in 2016, the best way to get together with My Sister and her family in the late season is to join them as they start their Autumn half term holiday in the Hope Valley in North Derbyshire, only a couple of hours distant from work on a Friday evening, so we might be able to enjoy two full days away together, allowing us to get away from it all at a time when it really feels like the best thing to do. Residence is taken up in Bradwell, and when walking schemes are compared it appears that we have both come to the same conclusions when it comes to walking targets, so a stretch over to the Wye Valley is chosen for Saturday, which could be walked directly from our holiday home, but this would miss one of the best features of this top edge of the White Peak, so an early start is sought from Castleton, where Dr G can drop us off between St Edmund's church and The George at 9.05am before he rouses My Nieces so they can have a day cycling the Monsal trail. Depart this Limestone village or townlet via the rising lane through the Market Place and find the way forwards hidden between cottages to find the start of the Limestone Way as it heads up Cave Dale, also known as the hidden valley and giving us an ascent like nothing I have walked since I was in the Wolds, and this particular drag is much, much longer. Rise through the deep cleft in the Limestone hillside, remembering to look back to see Peveril castle rising above, pondering geological history as we go, acknowledging that a post-glacial formation like this could have formed in a ridiculously short period of time, and despite it being notionally a dry valley, the going is pretty wet on a rough surface, forming a bridleway that I wouldn't fancy riding in either direction. The valley gets shallower and the ascent easier as the upper half is reached, but having started at the 200m contour, it's hard to acknowledge just how far you might have ascended as the track emerges on the relatively level expanses of Bradwell Moor, a vast grassland at over 400m up, and it doesn't look anything like any of the moorlands of the north country, neither Limestone nor Grit.

The long walk over the moor, largely shadowing the stonewalls and avoiding the muddy pools and roaming cows has us pondering where the boundary of the North and the Midlands might lie, as I'd always thought that the Dark Peak was the north and the White Peak, the midlands, but the Hope Valley lies between Sheffield and Manchester, which must place it in the North, and despite the Wye valley sharing a latitude with Buxton and Macclesfield, I'd definitively place it in the Midlands. More altitude is gained as we observe the wrinkles in the landscape, and the path approaches its High Moor summit at around 460m, it is again hard to acknowledge the altitude until we look back to see Mam Tor and Lose Hill, the local big hills, barely rising above the moorland horizon. The early morning mist start to lift as we meet the descending path off the moor top, and the terrain towards Peak Forest and Old Dam looks a lot more Midlands-ish than it does northern, and meeting The Cop farm and path over to the A623 and Mount Pleasant farm has us deciding that this is where the North ends, for today at least. It's descending all the way from here to the Wye valley, from over 380m up and in the midst of grassy fields, taking the path of the Limestone Way down the lane towards Wheston, before the rough path that drops us down into the upper reaches of the valley is met, returning some rough Limestone features into our day. A long groove in the Limestone will be our long passage down to the Wye valley, but it names itself as a trio of separate dales, the uppermost of which is Hay Dale, rougher in its upper stages, relatively narrow and grassier as the path goes south, containing a nature reserve and a quantity of former mine workings, and with many sheep grazing on its upper slopes, a delightful walk and descent with the sun shining. Below an intersecting lane and some higher crags, we move into Peter Dale, somewhat wider and with craggier edges, clearly a spot where livestock are moved too as the valley floor is pretty carved up and sticky in places, a place to meet men out shooting, and to be suddenly startled as the valley narrows suddenly to remind you that this was once a very active run-off channel in post glacial days. The Limestone Way leaves the valley via the minor road as the top of Monk's Dale is met, but we continue down anyway, as the path move between high and rocky crags before slipping into an extremely rough and primordial feeling former river channel, with every rock to step over requiring full attention, and our conversation and speed drops off as we traverse a mile or more of some of the most unexpectedly challenging going we have ever encountered.

The trail slips from the valley floor as the stream starts to reform at the bottom of the Dale, and we emerge among the high sided hills to avoid more cattle, Highlands who insist on resting upon the path, and rise up the eastern side to get some elevated views as we feel we ought to be approaching the Wye Valley, but another trip downhill is still to come as we're lead down to a footbridge crossing and the suddenly odd feeling of being on the wrong side of the channel. The path rises out of Monk's Dale, and rather suddenly arrives above the village of Miller's Dale, actually higher up than the top of the tower of St Anne's church, and our path twists down behind it to finally drop us into the Wye Valley, and we head west against the flow of the river because if we are going to join the Monsal trail to head eastwards, I want to walk below the high girder bridges that take the former MBM&MJR over the waters. Getting up to Miller's Dale station proves to be a bit of a crazy loop around, passing mills, cottages and tin huts on the way around, and under the railway again before we arrive at this noted junction station in the middle of nowhere, to gain access to the trail and use the facilities, enjoying a late lunch of homemade Jumbo Sausage Pasty in the afternoon sun before pressing on. We are only a day off of four years since we were last out here on the trail, but we have a better day than we had in 2012, with sunlight falling upon us and on the rising edge of Hammerton Hill as we cover a mile of path previously seen before detouring off to the valley floor at Litton Mill so we might avoid the tunnels and see the old route of the trail. The large grey mill is rather appealing up close, mostly converted to holiday lets these days, but the associated houses might feel a bit too remote for living in, stuck at the end of a valley cul-de-sac, but the permissive path beyond is scene of Autumnal joy sitting between the Wye and the mill race, the tree lined valley sides above and sunlight coming down to the valley floor onto a path that is surely pretty much impassable after periods of heavy rain. The twisting river leads us into Water-cum-Jolly Dale, between the Litton and Cressbrook tunnels above, but the tree cover above means the view up is nowhere near as good as the one down, and the going gets pretty sticky as the river widens to form the pond above Cressbrook Mill, but the compensation comes in the crags above it, some fine scouring went on when the glacial melt formed the valley after the last Ice Age, a place to pause to watch the climbers doing their thing whilst the afternoon is still warm.

Miss the turn to take us back up to the Monsal Trail, but it actually makes more sense to stay on the low path, winding its way around the dramatically situated Cressbrook Mill, also converted, and to stay at the valley floor, pacing the lane on the relatively level way down to the hamlet of Upperdale hopeful that the skies might stay clear as we approach Monsal Head and Headstone Viaduct. We are not to be lucky unfortunately, as the gloom closes in and the viaduct proves hard to spot as tree cover mostly obscures it, and even when off the road and onto the rising bridleway, it seems elusive, not revealing more than three of its five arches, and disappearing from view entirely until the full height of the ascent from the valley floor has been completed. The view at Monsal Head is impressive even in the gloom, as you can look up and down the Wye Valley from the exact same vantage point, and the viaduct is actually a fine addition to the landscape, regardless of what John Ruskin infamously wrote, a place to linger on a nicer day, or to retreat to the hotel bar if it hadn't been so hideously mutilated, and it's as far as I was interested in travelling, but obviously it's easier to press on and meet up with My Sister's family than the other way round. So back to the overland route, into more agricultural terrain away from the Wye and heading on down to the village of Little Longstone, the first settlement of any sort of scale sine we left Castleton, where the Packhorse Inn can tempt us with notices of Open Fire and Muddy Boots welcome, but we stay strong and stick to our path, I'd have favoured the road walk via Great Longstone, but My Sister is in no mood for roads and thus we hit the field walk back to the Monsal Trail. Rejoining the path north of Great Longstone station, we are on familiar territory all the way to the end, though getting the pace up proves challenging as the lower section of the trail is way busier than last time, when everyone seemed to be on the upper half, Saturday's are clearly the days for the casual wanderers, and a challenge for the riders and enjoyers of speedier travels. So on, over the last mile or so, passing over the Longreave Road and A6020 bridges, before the Duke of Devonshire's personal station, actually nowhere near Hassop itself, appears, almost before we were expecting it, concluding before 3.15pm, and it's fortunate that the 19th century nobility needed such a large station, as it now acts as a major cycling hub and tearooms, where the family can be reunited over tea and cake before returning to base, for dinner, and drinks!

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 2532.5 miles
2016 Total: 518.1 miles
Up Country Total: 2305.7 miles (3.4 miles claimed Up Country, 11.3 in the Midlands)
Solo Total: 2286.9 miles