Showing posts with label Castleton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Castleton. Show all posts

Saturday 3 August 2024

Buxton and Castleton Peak District 3rd August 2024


On Saturday the 3rd August 2024 we woke up after a good night’s sleep at Poplars Farm Campsite. I cooked some bacon rolls and had coffee before we head off out for the day.


We drove for about 40 minutes and parked up at a free spot on Burlington Road in Buxton.

Buxton again is another place on my want to visit list!

We leave the car and walk through the pretty Pavilion Gardens. 

Buxton Pavilion Gardens is a Victorian landscaped public park in the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire. The River Wye flows through the gardens, which are a Grade II* listed public park of Special Historic Interest.

So what I thought was a lake is in supplied by the River Wye.

The park was designed by Edward Milner for the Buxton Improvements Company, following the arrival of the railway to Buxton in 1863. It was opened in August 1871 on a 12-acre site (on the land of the Hall Gardens, given by the 7th Duke of Devonshire) and in 1876 was extended to its present 23 acres of gardens and lakes. There was originally an admission charge to enter the gardens via a ticket office with turnstiles. Milner's design was a development of the 1830s landscape design of the Serpentine Walks (along the River Wye) by Joseph Paxton for the 6th Duke of Devonshire, on what was previously the private gardens of Buxton Old Hall. The three original rustic bridges were removed in Milner's design, with the introduction of ornate iron footbridges, the main one known as the Milner Bridge.

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra took a tour of the Pavilion Gardens when they visited Buxton in January 1905. During World War I Royal Engineers soldiers based in Buxton used the Pavilion Garden lakes for training exercises to build pontoon bridges. In 1927 responsibility for the Pavilion Gardens was transferred from the Buxton Gardens Company to the Buxton Borough Council.

The old bandstand platform is all that is left of an ancient Celtic temple. It was described in 1755 as having an octagonal base and a faint inscription appearing as 'Aeona'. It was concluded that the temple was dedicated to either Epona (goddess of horses) or more appropriately Apona (goddess of healing waters). When Edward Milner remodelled the Pavilion Gardens in 1871 the 2,000-year-old temple was demolished and only the base now remains.

                                 We follow the path through until we reach the Pavilion itself.


A series of Grade II listed Victorian buildings overlook the Gardens from its northern boundary with a wide promenade in front. The main Pavilion and Conservatory are cast-iron and glass structures from 1870, designed by Milner in the style of London's Crystal Palace. The two-storey central hall of the Pavilion (which now houses the café) was rebuilt in 1983 after a fire. The Conservatory was originally used as a small concert hall with a stage and organ. In 1982 it was remodelled as a greenhouse conservatory with tropical plants and a fish pond.

The Pavilion was extended with the construction in 1875 of the Octagon Concert Hall (by Robert Rippon Duke). With capacity for 800 people, the hall has been used over the years for musical concerts, tea dances, conferences, trade shows, antique fairs and farmers' markets. The Beatles played in the Octagon Concert Hall on two occasions in 1963. The Octagon reopened in 2018 after a three-year £3m refurbishment.


At the north east corner of the Pavilion Gardens is the Buxton Opera House (designed by Frank Matcham). Built in 1903, it is the town's principal theatrical venue with 900 seats. The Opera House was primarily used as a cinema from 1932 until its closure in 1976. The Edwardian theatre reopened for stage productions following its restoration in 1979. Since its full renovation in 2001, the theatre has developed a busy programme of events covering drama, musical concerts, comedy, dance, opera and pantomime. It is also hosts the annual Buxton Festival.

Within the main pavilion complex, the Pavilion Arts Centre on St John's Road has a theatre with 360 seats and it has been the home of the Buxton Cinema since 2017. The building was designed by William Bryden and was built as the Entertainment Stage theatre in 1889. It replaced an earlier theatre in the old hall stables, facing the Old Hall Hotel at the foot of Hall Bank. In 1833 the world-famous violinist Niccolo Paganini performed there but the theatre was demolished in 1854. After the opening of the Buxton Opera House, the Entertainment Stage was converted to show silent movies and was renamed as the Hippodrome. In 1932 it reverted to being used as a performance theatre called The Playhouse. It was subsequently known as the Paxton Suite from 1979 to 2010.

We have a walk about inside and look at the craft stalls and a Buxton Brewery Shop.

We walk out onto The Square and look back at the Opera House, what a great piece of architecture.


Buxton Opera House is in The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It is a 902-seat opera house that hosts the annual Buxton Festival and the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, among others, as well as pantomime at Christmas, musicals and other entertainments year-round. Hosting live performances until 1927, the theatre then was used mostly as a cinema until 1976. In 1979, it was refurbished and reopened as a venue for live performance.

The Buxton Opera House was built in 1903 and designed by Frank Matcham, who designed the London Palladium, the London Coliseum and many other theatres throughout the UK. The first production at the theatre was Mrs Willoughby’s Kiss. The Opera House ran as a successful theatre, receiving touring companies until 1927, when it was turned into a cinema. Silent films were shown until 1932 when the theatre was wired for sound and could present "talkies". The Opera House also became the venue for an annual summer theatre festival from 1936 to 1942, two of them in conjunction with Lilian Baylis and her London-based Old Vic company. People who performed at the opera house include the actor Alec Guinness, the comedians Ken Dodd, Peter Kay, Harry Hill, Sarah Millican and John Bishop, the musical artists Howard Jones, Aled Jones, Leo Sayer and Razorlight, and the ballerina Anna Pavlova.

After the Second World War, the theatre continued to serve primarily as a cinema. The building was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1970. The Opera House gradually fell into disrepair. In 1976, it was closed and rumours circulated that it would never reopen.


We walk on and turn left onto The Crescent and pass St Ann’s Well.

St Ann's Well is an ancient natural warm spring in Buxton, Derbyshire in England. The drinking well is located at the foot of The Slopes (formerly St Ann's Cliff) and opposite the Crescent hotel and the Old Hall Hotel.


The natural warm waters of Buxton have been revered since Roman times. By the 1520s the spring was dedicated to St Anne (mother of the Virgin Mary) and the curative powers of the waters from the well were reported. A 16th-century act of parliament ruled that a free supply of the spring water must be provided for the town's residents. The geothermal spring rises from about half a mile (1 km) below ground and about a quarter of a million gallons (a million litres) of water flow out per day. The mineral water emerges at a steady 27°C (80°F). Analysis of the water has indicated that it has a high magnesium content and that it originated from rainwater from around 5,000 years ago. The same spring water is bottled and sold as Buxton Mineral Water.

The new St Ann's drinking well of 1852 was designed by architect Henry Currey and it dispensed warm chalybeate (mineral-bearing) spring water alongside a cold water pump. The Pump Room was built next to St Ann's Well in 1894 to dispense the well's water from taps for drinking. The building (designed by Henry Currey) was a gift to the town by the 8th Duke of Devonshire, to safeguard the free public access to the water. In 1895 a new public drinking pump was erected next to the Pump Room. The current water fountain was built in 1940 and is a Grade II listed structure. It is made of ashlar gritstone with a brass lion's head spout pouring water into a marble trough. The inscription over the well is a tribute to Emelie Dorothy Bounds, Councillor of this Borough, by her husband and daughter. The bronze statue of St Ann and child is by the English sculptor Herbert William Palliser (1883–1963). The Pump Room is a Grade II listed building and is now the Buxton Tourist Information centre.


We fill our bottles with free Buxton spring water, it is very warm!

We pop into the visitor centre next door and buy some bottles and fill these for gifts for our children back home.


Opposite the Tourist information is the Crescent itself.

Buxton Crescent is a Grade-I-listed building in the town of Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It owes much to the Royal Crescent in Bath, but has been described by the Royal Institution of British Architects as "more richly decorated and altogether more complex".] It was designed by the architect John Carr of York, and built for the 5th Duke of Devonshire between 1780 and 1789. In 2020, following a multi-year restoration and redevelopment project supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Derbyshire County Council, The Crescent was reopened as a 5-star spa hotel.

The Crescent was built for William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, as part of his scheme to establish Buxton as a fashionable Georgian spa town. The facade forms an arc of a circle facing south-east. It was built as a unified structure incorporating a hotel, five lodging houses, and a grand assembly room with a fine painted ceiling. The Assembly Rooms became the social heart of 18th-century Buxton.

On the ground floor arcade were shops (including a hair and wig-dresser) and kitchens were in the basement. The Great Stables were built in the 1780s (also designed by John Carr for the 5th Duke of Devonshire) to stable up to 120 horses of the guests of the Crescent. A huge central dome was later added and the building is now known as the Devonshire Dome.

By the visitor centre are a collection of classic cars you could hire for a drive around the peaks.




We walk on crossing Terrace Road and onto Spring Gardens to have a look around the shops here.



At the end of Spring Gardens is the railway Viaduct spanning the roads below.

We walk back up the way we came and stop for a Costa Coffee before we head back down to Terrace Road and turn left to head up to the market.


Well the market wasn’t very impressive so we walk back down Terrace Road again and head on down The Slopes.

The Slopes (formerly known as The Terrace) is a Grade-II-listed public park in Buxton, Derbyshire in England. The area was laid out by landscape architect Jeffry Wyatville in 1811 for William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, as pleasure grounds for the guests of The Crescent hotel to promenade. The design of The Terrace was modified further by Sir Joseph Paxton in 1859.

The grassed bank of The Slopes lies between the Town Hall and Higher Buxton at the top and St Ann's Well and the Pump Room (into which the Buxton spring mineral waters were piped) at the bottom, facing The Crescent hotel, the Victorian spa baths and the Old Hall Hotel. The terraced area is intersected with numerous footpaths. The Terrace had previously been a bare hillside known as St Ann's Cliff. In 1787 Major Hayman Rooke uncovered a long section of the Roman town wall, which is now beneath the landscaped hillside of The Slopes. At the same time Rooke also documented details of the base of a temple in the same area, overlooking the site of the baths and springs. The temple was dedicated to the water deity Arnemetia. It had a shrine room set on a rectangular podium, with a columned portico at the front.

Twelve Grade-II*-listed 18th-century decorated limestone urns (originally from Lord Burlington's estate at Londesborough Hall in Yorkshire) are set on gritstone plinths along walled footpaths and stone steps.

Buxton Town Hall looks down from the top of The Slopes. It was designed by William Pollard in a French Renaissance style and built between 1887 and 1889.

The Grade-II-listed war memorial from c.1920 commemorates the soldiers from Buxton who perished in the two World Wars. An ashlar obelisk on a stepped platform is fronted by a bronze statue of Winged Victory holding a sword and a laurel wreath. The sculptor was Louis Frederick Roslyn.

The Met Office climatological station for Buxton is situated on The Slopes directly above the war memorial. The instruments at the station record various meteorological measurements (including temperatures, rainfall, humidity and wind speed and direction), which are read daily by volunteers. Buxton's weather was formally recorded in the grounds of Devonshire Royal Hospital since 1865. The climatological station was relocated to its present site in 1925. It is one of the oldest weather stations in the UK.

The Slopes were restored in 1994 with grants from the European Commission and English Heritage.

We get great views from here back down to The Crescent.


We are now back down on The Crescent and we visit Cavendish Arcades.

Nothing special about the shops, but you can see the old Buxton Bath here which was special.


Buxton's development as a Victorian spa town centred on the reputed healing powers of its natural mineral baths. The Buxton Bath Charity and numerous independent establishments offered hydropathic treatments using the thermal spring waters. Dr William Henry Robertson wrote the definitive guide to the Buxton waters, with its analysis of their medicinal properties.

The Natural Mineral Baths evolved over many centuries and occupy the site of ancient Roman baths and later Georgian baths situated over the main mineral water spring. The current building was constructed in 1853 to the design of Henry Curry and was altered in the 1920s. It was partly refurbished in the mid 20th Century as the town’s tourist information centre but the majority of the building lay empty since 1972.

The baths, along with parts of the adjacent Old Hall Hotel, are now part of the Ensana Buxton Crescent Health Spa Hotel as the Wellness Spa.



We walk back through the Pavilion Gardens and back to the car. We drive on to visit Castleton. I’ve visited here before but wanted Mel to see it and the amazing Winnats Pass to get there.


We reach Winnatts Pass and I’m still in awe driving through here!


Winnats Pass is a hill pass and limestone gorge in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. The name is a corruption of 'wind gates' due to the swirling winds through the pass. It lies west of the village of Castleton, in the National Trust's High Peak Estate and the High Peak borough of Derbyshire. The road winds through a cleft, surrounded by high limestone ridges. At the foot of the pass is the entrance to Speedwell Cavern, a karst cave accessed through a flooded lead mine, and which is a popular tourist attraction.

In the 1930s, Winnats Pass was the location used for annual access rallies in support of greater access to the moorlands or the Peak District, around the time of the Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout. At their peak these were attended by up to 10,000 people.


The permanent closure of the main A625 road at Mam Tor in 1979 due to subsidence has resulted in Winnats Pass being heavily used by road traffic. However, the narrowness of the road and its maximum gradient of over 28% has caused it to be closed to buses, coaches and vehicles over 7.5 tonnes (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) in weight. The road regularly features in the Tour of the Peak cycle race each autumn.

The gorge of Winnats Pass was once thought to have originated as a giant collapsed cavern; however, this idea has since been superseded. Winnats Pass can be seen to cut steeply down through Lower Carboniferous limestone rocks. These were formed approximately 340 million years ago as a reef fringing a shallow lagoon, with deeper water beyond. The presence of a small outcrop of fossiliferous rock (known as 'beach beds') at the base of Winnats Pass, close to Speedwell Cavern, suggests that a contemporary underwater cleft or canyon once existed within the active reef which caused the build up of shelly and crinoidal remains at its base. All these sediments were subsequently buried together under Namurian sandstones and shales in the subsequent Upper Carboniferous period. They were subsequently uplifted, but were only re-exposed by periglacial erosion towards the end of the Pleistocene. Melting water would have flowed along any lines of weakness within the reef limestone, such as those created by the presence of the original underwater cleft in the reef, carving out the gorge seen today.


Local legend is that the pass is haunted by a young couple Alan and Clara who eloped in 1758, only to be robbed and murdered by miners as they headed through Winnats Pass, on their way to Peak Forest Chapel. The miners hid their bodies in a mine shaft where they were discovered 10 years later.

We drive through Castleton and park at a car park just out of town and walk back in.

We walk up Howe Lane into Castleton, stopping to look in shops.

Castleton is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England, at the western end of the Hope Valley on the Peakshole Water, a tributary of the River Noe, between the Dark Peak to the north and the White Peak to the south. The population was 642 at the 2011 Census.

Castleton village was mentioned as Pechesers in Domesday Book in 1086 where "Arnbiorn and Hundingr held the land of William Peverel's castle in Castleton". This land and Peverel's castle were amongst the manors belonging to William Peverel that also included Bolsover and Glapwell.

We walk up Castle Street and stop to have a cream tea.

Up above is Peveril Castle.
Peveril Castle  is a ruined 11th-century castle overlooking the village of Castleton.


St Edmund's Norman church was restored about 1837. It has late 13th-century tracery and an ashlar-faced Perpendicular tower. Its box pews are dated 1661, 1662, 1663 and 1676.

A medieval leper hospital (the Hospital of Saint Mary in the Peak) is thought to have been on the eastern boundary of Castleton, though some locals believe it to have been just south of the Speedwell Cavern footpath from the village. University of Sheffield archaeologists are investigating 'Castle of the Peak', which was reputedly founded by the wife of one of the William Peverels before 1153, and continued until about the 1543 Dissolution. They say the earliest documents referring to Spital Field are a grant and a Charter from the early 14th century. They are also investigating the 12th-century planned town at the foot of the castle hill. Castleton's medieval town defences are still evident in the village and are a Scheduled monument.

We walk on and stop by the Castleton War Memorial and stop in the shop here.

We then walk along The Stones to the picturesque view of the cottages beside the Peakshole Water.

Castleton had a long history of lead mining; the Odin Mine, one of the oldest lead mines in the country, is situated 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) west of the village (see also Derbyshire lead mining history). Researchers studying an ice core from a Swiss glacier have found that levels of lead air pollution across Europe during the period 1170–1216 was as high as those of the Industrial Revolution, and the principal source was Peak District mines such as Castleton and Wirksworth. The mining created and enlarged local caverns, four of which are now open to the public as Peak Cavern, Blue John Cavern, Speedwell Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern. A small amount of Blue John is mined locally, and sold in a number of local gift shops, one of which is located in the 17th-century tollhouse.

Since the 1920s the main mineral industry in the area has been cement. Hope Cement Works is closer to Hope, but its quarry is closer to Castleton. A war memorial stands in the Market Place, in memory of local residents that died during both World Wars.



We walk back through town and back to the car.

We drive back to the campsite and I try to walk a short way from the campsite on the footpath there. I didn’t get far it was all overgrown. I got as far a field full of cows that had calves with them. They wasn’t happy to see me. One was mooing angrily and the whole herd started to chase me. Sod this I thought and headed back to camp.



We watched a glorious sunset across the valley from the campsite as we had dinner and I enjoyed some beers from Buxton, before getting some sleep.


What a Campsite view!


Tuesday 13 April 2021

Mam Tor,Lose Hill to Castleton,Peak District Circular Walk 12th April 2021

GPX File Here
Viewranger file here

I left home on Monday the 12th of April 2021, this is the first day of Lockdown restrictions being lifted that allows me to stay away from home for the night. So I jumped at the chance to get away before they decide to throw us back into another lockdown. So I leave home at 5am for the three and a half hour drive to the Mam Tor NT car park.(SW33 8WA).

Driving up I really wasn't expecting to see snow on the hills, at least the roads were clear of snow.

View from the Mam Tor Car Park.

I set off and start to climb the path up to the Mam Tor summit.

Mam Tor is a 517 m (1,696 ft) hill, its name means "mother hill", so called because frequent landslips on its eastern face have resulted in a multitude of "mini-hills" beneath it. These landslips, which are caused by unstable lower layers of shale, also give the hill its alternative name of Shivering Mountain.



I reach the summit, where I meet two local photographers.

The hill is crowned by a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age univallate hill fort, and two Bronze Age bowl barrows.


In the distance I can see a factory spewing smoke out. One of the photographers told me that this was the Hope Cement Works and that Limestone is so very important to this area.

The plant is mostly self-contained with its own shale and limestone quarries adjacent, with only fuel and small amounts of additives needing to be brought in.

I walk on across the ridge towards Hollins Cross next.

Hollins Cross lies between Mam Tor and Lose Hill on the Great Ridge that separates Castleton and Edale.

Hollins Cross is the lowest point on the ridge and is therefore a popular route taken by walkers wishing either to cross from one side to the other, or to start a walk along the ridge. It was also the traditional route from Castleton to Edale. Coffins from Edale were taken over Hollins Cross to Hope church until a church was constructed in Edale, leading to the nickname of the "coffin road" for this route.

Hollins Cross is named for an actual cross which was raised here, but which had disappeared by 1905.








Walking along the path towards Back Tor now I slip on some mud and end up on my arse. Great this will be a good look later in the pub!



Back Tor comes into view with a lonely tree perched on top.

Back Tor is 538 metres (1765ft) in Height.

I climb up the path, there are workmen busy here laying a stone path to its summit.
Not sure if I was allowed along the path, I walk up anyway saying a hello as I passed.


Now I take a  brief rest at the top, I make my way on towards Lose Hill.



I start the climb up to Lose Hill now.

Local access activist G. H. B. Ward was given an area of Lose Hill by the Sheffield and District Federation of the Ramblers Association in 1945, which was named Ward's Piece; he subsequently presented this to the National Trust.

I reach the summit of Lose Hill where I stop for a bite to eat, taking in the views of the Hope valley below.

Suggested explanations for the name of Lose Hill include that it derives from the Old English hlose, meaning pigsties, or that it may be a corruption of ‘loose’, as in ‘free land’. Another author (Murray) argues that Lose Hill should actually be called Laws Hill.

In relatively recent times, the two hills' names have prompted a fanciful tale concerning the outcome of an imagined 7th-century battle between the forces of Edwin of Northumbria and Cynegils of Wessex. Edwin's forces occupied Win Hill, while Cynegils' men camped on Lose Hill. As the battle progressed, Cynegils' forces advanced up Win Hill, and Edwin's retreated behind a temporary wall they had built near the summit. They pushed the boulders of the wall downhill, crushing the Wessex soldiers and gaining victory in the battle. However, there is no historical basis for the tale, and no evidence of any battle ever being fought here.


I follow the path off Lose Hill down towards Castleton.



I follow this through Lose Farm and Riding House Farm.





View of Peveril Castle in the distance.

I walk now along the road into Castleton.

Peveril Castle is a ruined 11th-century castle overlooking the village of Castleton. It was the main settlement (or caput) of the feudal barony of William Peverel, known as the Honour of Peverel, and was founded some time between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and its first recorded mention in the Domesday Survey of 1086, by Peverel, who held lands in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire as a tenant-in-chief of the king. The town became the economic centre of the barony. The castle has views across the Hope Valley and Cave Dale.

I walk through this lovely looking village, shame so much is still closed.



I pass St Edmunds Church.

The church dates from the 12th century, and has some 14th-century elements. Alterations were carried out in 1831 when the south porch was built, and the aisles were demolished. A restoration was carried out in 1886 by Hill Brothers of Tideswell.

The tower of St. Edmund's contains a ring of eight bells, with the heaviest six cast in 1802, and two trebles cast in 1812. All bells were cast by James II Harrison, and are unusual for their light weight (11 hundredweight), while being in the key of E-flat. Modern, tuned bells in this key normally weigh in the region of 20 hundredweight.

I stop in an antique shop, where I buy myself a German Stein. I ring the bell to pay and a elderly gentlemen (73 as he was eager to tell me) appeared. He looks at me and asks "You like big jugs do you?" I answered "yes" on the third time of asking I answered "I love big jugs" he replies "Great I'll go get the wife!". He seemed amused. He then thanked me as this was his first sale for months as the lockdown had seen him close.
 

\I walk on through the village to pick up the path back out.

I pass the beautiful Peakshole Water that flows through the village.




I take the path beside Peak Cavern.

Now I find myself climbing back up again out of the valley.


The path brings me out onto Arthurs Way and the bottom of the Winnats Pass.

I pass the closed Speedwell Cavern or also known as The Devils Arse.
Speedwell Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton.


The cave system consists of a horizontal lead miners' adit (a level passageway driven horizontally into the hillside) 200m below ground leading to the cavern itself, a limestone cave. The narrow adit is permanently flooded, so after descending a long staircase, access to the cave is made by boat. At the end of the adit, the cavern opens up with fluorspar veins, stalactites and stalagmites, and the so-called "Bottomless Pit". This chamber has an underground lake with a 20 metres (66 ft) high waterfall and an extremely deep vertical shaft, now choked to within 20 metres (66 ft) of the surface by rock spoil dumped by miners. The original depth of the shaft has been estimated, from the amount of spoil placed in the shaft over the years, at around 150 metres (490 ft).

The mine was developed in the 1770s but the limited lead ore deposits meant that it was not profitable and it was closed down by 1790.

At the foot of Winnats Pass, it is a popular tourist attraction with an underground boat trip to the cavern. Originally the guide propelled the boat by pushing against the walls with his hands, later the boat was legged through, and now it is powered by an electric motor.

A connection was discovered in 2006 between the Speedwell Cavern system and Titan, the largest natural shaft in the UK, which is 141.5 metres (464 ft) high.

I take a path behind and start a steep climb up to Treak Cliff Cavern.


Treak Cliff Cavern in Castleton is famous throughout the world for its unique and large deposits of Blue John stone and houses some of the most beautiful cave formations found in the UK.

Blue John (also known as Derbyshire Spar) is a semi-precious mineral, a form of fluorite with bands of a purple-blue or yellowish colour. In the UK it is found only at Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern . During the 19th century, it was mined for its ornamental value, and mining continues on a small scale. Deposits of fluorite have been recently found in China with colouring and banding similar to the classic Blue John stone.
There several shops in Castleton where you can buy some.
 
Down below is where I intended to park, but I opted to park near to the next days walk and a pub!


The path continues top climb steeply upwards.


At the top of the path I reach the closed Cafe and Blue John Cavern. I walk on taking a wrong turn slightly and arrive at the top of the Winnats Pass. I later drive down this spectacular pass.
The name Winnats comes from ‘Windy Gates’ as one of the windier entrances into Castleton and the Hope Valley.

This limestone valley was once under a tropical sea- the limestone is full of fossils of sea creatures which lived here over 350 million years ago. This makes Winnats Pass a protected site, by law, known as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Rocks and plants are not allowed to be removed from here. The valley was created by melting glaciers wearing away the rock – the limestone gradually dissolved and streams flowed through and under cracks and fissures in the rock. One of these streams created a large underground cave system which eventually collapsed, leaving the steep-sided valley you can see now.


I walk back onto the correct path, across Windy Knoll.

I eventually arrive back at my car after a 8 mile walk.

I drive onto Ladybower Inn beside the Ladybower Reservoir where I will spend the night.

I have my first pint of Batemans XB at the pub after they've been closed for months!



Great views for tonight's stay in the car.

I walk up the road to see some of the reservoir.


I stopped to admire the Plughole here.


Technically known as shaft spillways but affectionately known as plug holes, the drains were designed to regulate water levels in the reservoir by letting out water when the reservoir became full after prolonged wet spells.

The water is carried away down tunnels through the dam to the River Derwent downstream.

Each plug hole has a diameter of 24m (78ft) and the drop from the exit point to the floor of the tunnel below is 20m (66ft).

These shaft spillways have been nicknamed bellmouth or morning glory - after the flower - spillways.

I stopped at the Yorkshire Bridge Inn, not impressed with the ale selection, I returned to Ladybower Inn for another pint and fish n chips.


Then get a good nights sleep in before tomorrows walk!