Litton

June 13, 2018.

LITTON, TANSLEY DALE, CRESSBROOK DALE, RAVENDALE, CRESSBROOK MILL, RUBICON WALL, WATER-CUM-JOLLY, WYE VALLEY, LITTON MILL, TIDESWELL DALE, TIDESWELL TREATMENT WORKS, HORSE AND JOCKEY AND THE GEORGE AT TIDESWELL, THE RED LION AT LITTON

Distance: 6+ miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Sunshine with blue and cloudy skies and a gentle breeze.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tip and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (Turkish hols), Alastair Cairns (supervising builders), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Steve Kemp (unwell) and Chris Owen (hols)

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Outside The Red Lion at Litton, Derbyshire.

Starting time: 9.56am. Finishing time: 1.40pm.


Click here for details on holiday villas in Turkey to rent.

This was the shortest walk, unaffected by weather, in my memory as a Wednesday Wanderer.  There was no disputing the quality of the stunning scenery, and nobody objected to our visiting three different pubs. But some felt they had been sold short after a long drive to finish so early.

Indeed some expressed fears that their wives would find them jobs to do (of a non-exciting nature) when they returned home.

That said we not only enjoyed the scenery but were also entertained by the wildlife in and around the River Wye, observing swans, ducks with their ducklings, coots with their cootlets (?) and a rare sighting of a water vole.

With The Red Lion at Litton on our left we headed slightly uphill to reach a stone step stile to the right of the main road through the village. As Tom went back to retrieve his forgotten sticks we crossed the stile to head towards Cressbrook Dale and Wardlow. At the end of the field we crossed another stone step stile and turned left along a track for 30 yards before going right over a stone step stile (7mins). Three stiles in seven minutes – wasn’t George loving this !

After going through a wooden gate (10mins) we plunged downhill to Tansley Dale. The path brought us to a wooden gate leading to a wooden footbridge, which we crossed and turned right (19mins). We walked uphill through a wooden gate (30mins) and then dropped downhill again following a right fork in the paths.

Crossing a wooden footbridge (42mins) we followed the left fork in the paths and went through a wooden gate (46mins). On our left we passed Appel Cottage (probably owned by a dyslexic ) in Ravendale (48mins) before heading uphill to reach a T-junction (60mins) where we turned left.

Just after Bottomhill Road we went through an iron gate on our left and stopped by a weir for Pietime (64mins), observing a heron fishing nearby. We then retraced our footsteps back to Bottomhill Road and turned left at a stone wall with a footpath sign leading past Cressbrook Mill Flats.

These apartments are built on the site of the former mill and a new hydroelectric system is under construction nearby to use the force of the River Wye to create electricity.

We crossed a footbridge towards Litton (67mins) and reached a massive cliff known as The Rubicon Wall next to a stretch of river called Water-cum-Jolly (I swear I am not making this up !)

Here we saw a pair of swans, a group of six ducklings following their mother, and a pair of coots with four fledglings. We proceeded along the right bank of the Wye and reached Litton Mill (90mins).

As mentioned in a recent diary this was a notorious establishment where child labour was exploited and many orphans died from industrial accidents, disease and poor diet. It, too, has been converted into an apartment block.

As we continued along the right bank of the Wye we spotted a water vole swimming across its banks. This creature, called Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, is an endangered species. We also noticed on our right an impressive display of giant fungi.

Aforementioned fungi

After going through a wooden gate (102mins) we entered Tideswell Dale (106mins).  Leaving it we passed public toilets on our right, went through a car park (115mins) and followed a footpath to the right of a row of trees, many of them reduced to trunks. The path ran parallel to a main road to our left on the far side of which we saw Tideswell Treatment Works (119mins).

We left the footpath through a wooden gate and crossed the main road (123mins) before entering Tideswell. We reached The Horse and Jockey (133mins) and stopped for pints of Tetleys at £3-40 and lime and soda for 60p.

Tideswell, known by its inhabitants as Tidza, was founded more than 1,300 years ago by an Anglo Saxon called Tidi. The well, which is the scene of an annual well-dressing ceremony, lies beneath the fountain outside Fountain Square Church.

We passed the fountain on our left as we headed for a second pint at The George, our original destination, on the left of the main village street (140mins) for pints of unknown cask bitter brewed by Hardys and Hansons and costing £3-15 each.

Suitably refreshed we headed up the hill opposite The George and followed a path which brought us back  to Litton with The Red Lion on our left (155mins). Here the Longdendale Light cask bitter was excellent but an eye-watering £3-80 a pint.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.30am from outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge, calling for a stiffener at The Roebuck in Chapel-en-le-Frith around 12.15pm and returning for a last glass in The Cock at about 2.20pm.

Happy wandering !