Miller's Dale

MILLERS DALE, WYE VALLEY, LITTON MILL, CRAMSIDE WOOD NATURE RESERVE, CRESSBROOK MILL, CRESSBROOKDALE, LITTON, THE GEORGE INN AT TIDESWELL, LIMESTONE WAY, THE ANGLERS REST AT MILLERS DALE

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry, Cloudy with Sunny Spells.

Walkers: Mickey Barrett, Peter Beal, Alastair Cairns with Daisy, Colin Davison, Mark Gibby, Hughie Harriman, Alan Hart, Steve Kemp, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

Apologies: Tom Cunliffe (prolonged Achilles heel injury), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (recovering from pneumonia) and Julian Ross (working in Bolton).

Leader: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Roadside between Anglers Rest pub and River Wye at Millers Dale, near Buxton.

Starting time: 9.57am. Finishing time: 2.31pm.


For devotees you can follow the exact route here

Click on the word "here" or cut and post the link below into your browser.

http://my.viewranger.com/track/details/NTk2OTQ0MQ==

An early start, traffic delays and mobile signal failure meant two of our 11 walkers had to make their own way to the first watering hole of the day. As they basked in the lunchtime sunshine, having bought fresh pies from the bakery, awaiting our arrival with pints in front of them, Alastair and Mickey seemed to have taken this setback in their strides.

It was a trip down memory lane for Mickey, whose father used to work at The George in Tideswell when it was an hotel, and who was taken on trips to The Anglers Rest at Millers Dale as a schoolboy. As was the custom in that era, commonly known as the black and white days, Mickey was allowed to sit outside with a bottle of pop, a packet of crisps and a crayoning book. On this occasion he regaled us with tales of his recent safari in South Africa while drinking pints of Farmers Blonde.

Who would have guessed that the little lad in short trousers would have become the seasoned jet-setting intercontinental traveller we know today ?

Or that he would have such sophisticated companions ?
(This supplied picture of Mickey bears a striking resemblance to one I spotted of Neanderthal Man. Ed)

Mickey Barrett

Neanderthal Man

Before setting off we learnt from a history board that the River Wye had powered many water wheels over the centuries. That particular site had been a mill for an estimated 900 years and was run by several generations of the Dakin family until brothers George and Thomas Dakin both died in the winter of 1912-13.

The mill closed in the 1920s and the building was removed in the 1970s. But a cast iron and wooden water wheel, 13 feet in diameter and 6 feet wide, made by Sheffield wheelwright Thomas Cavill around 1860, is still there.

We walked uphill with the Wye on our right and soon passed The Anglers Rest on our left. Once again we noticed there was no apostrophe on the inn sign, a distressing lapse in grammar and a blot on our cultural heritage.

We reached the hamlet of Litton Mill (25mins) with millworkers’ cottages on our left before reaching the mill itself via a concessionary path (27mins). The building has now been converted into apartments.

Litton Mill, set up in 1782 by two local farmers, became notorious during the Industrial Revolution because of its unsavoury employment practices. Because of the lack of local labour the owners scoured the country’s workhouses so they could turn paupers into apprentices. It was virtual slave labour and many children died as a result of mill accidents, illnesses and malnutrition.

The mill was destroyed by fire in 1874 but rebuilt. It closed in the 1970s and was converted into flats in 2003.

Continuing along the left bank of the Wye we entered Cramside Wood Nature Reserve (35mins), crossed a wooden footbridge and turned left along a pebbled track (50mins). We passed Cressbrook Mill on our right to reach a lane where we turned right uphill with the Wye on our right again (52mins)

We turned briefly right for Ravensdale (60mins) but after consultation with the map we returned to the original path and turned right (63mins). By a wall we stopped for pies, port and wine gums (65mins). Continuing, we crossed a wooden footbridge (75mins) and climbed away from the right bank of the river through trees. When we emerged we had splendid views across Cressbrookdale and beyond.

After going through a wooden gate we turned left downhill (88mins), went through two more wooden gates and followed a public footpath sign for Litton (110mins). After crossing a stone step stile marked with a yellow arrow we turned left along a farm track (113mins), passing Rope Makers Croft on our left. When we reached a road we carried straight ahead (117mins) along it, leaving Litton temporarily behind us (118mins)

We followed a wooden public footpath sign on our right, over a stone step stile, through two wooden gates marked with yellow arrows, turned left and crossed a lane (124mins). We crossed a wooden stile to emerge on a road opposite Dale House (127mins).

After a few paces left towards Tideswell we were called back to pass the sign for Litton, re-entering the village ten minutes after leaving it and turning left at Edgestones to the left of a cottage called Woodstock (131mins). We followed a path uphill until we reached a road and turned left uphill (136mins).

On our right was a field which appeared to contain cross-bred Highland and Friesian cattle. We reached the outskirts of Tideswell and turned left at a green public footpath sign (146mins). This brought us out opposite The George (147mins), where we joined Alastair and Mickey, and enjoyed pints of Hardy and Hartwell cask bitter, brewed by Kimberley, at £2-80 a pint.

We turned right out of the pub and passed the magnificent parish church of St John The Baptist, which is known because of its size and splendour as “The Cathedral of the Peaks.”  Outside a poster advertised a display by a troop of Maasai Warriors which was taking place inside the church on September 29.

The church had been embroiled in a 300-year-old dispute which began when, in the 11^th Century, William Peveril The Younger granted the parish of Tideswell to Lenton Priory. King Henry 11 later seized all the Peveril family lands in the Peak District and the parish of Tideswell was claimed by Lichfield Cathedral.

In 1250 the dispute spilled over into violence when armed monks from Lenton Priory fought their way into the church, where they tried to steal wool and sheep. In the ensuing skirmish they made off with 14 lambs. Another 18 lambs were killed.

Pope Innocent lV fined the monks but suits were still filed in the Vatican Court and the feud continued until Lenton and other monasteries were dissolved by Henry Vlll. The current church was built between 1320 and 1400 and its interior was restored in 1873.

After passing the church on our right we turned right at The Corner Chippy (150mins) to walk uphill along a road. At the top we turned left at a T-junction, and then turned right and left up a stony track (163mins). We paused for lunch (169mins) and then crossed two stone step stiles before turning left along a track (178mins)

By turning right at a public bridleway (180mins) we reached a metal gate (188mins) and emerged by a farmhouse. We turned right to follow a track marked Limsetone Way (195mins). The path led us through a five-barred wooden gate (197mins) and we then followed a wooden public footpath sign for Millers Dale.

We reached a road (199mins) where we turned right downhill, turning left at a church to reach our cars parked opposite (200mins). After de-booting we enjoyed pints of Farmers Blonde cask bitter at £3-50.

The day ended with further drama when your diarist realised he had placed his keys to car and house in a jacket slung over the back of his chair – a jacket belonging to George, who had just driven off with, unknown to him, my keys in its pocket. We alerted his passenger Colin and George made a swift return to save the day.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from the road outside The Soldier Dick at Furness Vale, aiming to reach The Old Hall at Whitehough, Chinley, around 12.15pm for a bracer and then returning to The Soldier Dick at about 2.20pm.

Happy wandering !