High Peak Trail

Footpaths in DerbyshireGeographic coordinate listsLists of coordinatesPeak DistrictRail trails in England ... and 2 more

Tourist attractions of the Peak DistrictUse British English from February 2018

The High Peak Trail is a 17-mile (27 km) trail for walkers, cyclists and horse riders in the Peak District of England. Running from Dowlow (53.2059°N 1.8349°W / 53.2059; -1.8349 (High Peak Trail (Dowlow trailhead))), near Buxton, to High Peak Junction, Cromford (53.1004°N 1.5354°W / 53.1004; -1.5354 (High Peak Trail (High Peak Junction trailhead))), it follows the trackbed of the former Cromford and High Peak Railway, which was completed in 1831 to carry minerals and goods between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge.Closure of the line occurred during the Beeching era, with the first section of the line closing in 1963 (i.e. the Middleton Incline) followed by full closure in 1967. In 1971 the Peak Park Planning Board and Derbyshire County Council bought the largest part of the trackbed and, in partnership with the Countryside Commission, adapted it for its current leisure use. The trail has a crushed limestone surface which makes it ideal for all users, including wheelchair use, assisted by level access onto the trail at various points along its route. The High Peak Trail is now a national route of the National Cycle Network. The elevated nature of the trail (the highest part of the line is at Ladmanlow, at a height of 1,266 ft or 386 m) affords many splendid views across the countryside. However, these higher sections can also be very exposed in poor weather. The original railway incorporated a number of inclines at its northern and southern ends, and whilst much of the trail is fairly level, these sections are naturally steeper. At Parsley Hay, about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Bakewell, the High Peak Trail is joined by the 13-mile (21 km) Tissington Trail, another route of the National Cycle Network, which was formerly the railway branch line to Ashbourne. The High Peak Trail crosses the Limestone Way near Harboro' Rocks.The High Peak Trail (and part of the Tissington Trail) are also designated part of the Pennine Bridleway, a 130-mile (210 km) leisure route which starts at Middleton Top, near Cromford, and includes 73 miles (117 km) through Derbyshire to the South Pennines. The Trail also forms part of the Midshires Way, a long-distance footpath and bridleway which runs for 225 miles (362 km) through the Midlands from Bledlow to Stockport. The High Peak Trail forms part of the White Peak Loop Trail, a 60-mile (97 km) route for walking, cycling and horse riding in the Peak District. It links the High Peak Trail with the Monsal Trail, with linking sections through the towns of Buxton, Bakewell and Matlock. The White Peak Loop is being developed by Derbyshire County Council and as of 2020 some sections are not yet complete.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article High Peak Trail (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

High Peak Trail
Cromford and High Peak Line, Derbyshire Dales Hartington Nether Quarter CP

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Continue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude	Longitude
N 53.1401 °	E -1.7357 °

placeShow on map

Address

Cromford and High Peak Line

Cromford and High Peak Line
SK17 0DY Derbyshire Dales, Hartington Nether Quarter CP
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Nearby Places

Friden Goods Yard

Friden Goods Yard was a goods station located on the Cromford and High Peak Railway near the villages of Friden in Derbyshire. Mostly for moving mineral and quarry traffic. It closed in 1967 along with the rest of the line. And today, nothing remains of the goods yard. The trackbed now forms part of the High Peak Trail.

Friden, Derbyshire

Friden is a hamlet in the civil parish of Hartington Nether Quarter, Derbyshire, England. It is 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Buxton, just off the Newhaven to Cromford Via Gellia road, and lies within the Peak District National Park. The name "Friden" is derived from the goddess Frig, the wife of Woden. It is on the route of the former Cromford and High Peak Railway, which now forms the High Peak Trail. Friden Grange is a Grade II listed building. It is notable for the manufacture of refractory products at Friden brickworks.

Long Dale

Long Dale is a carboniferous limestone valley near the village of Elton, Derbyshire, in the Peak District of England. The dale is cut into the plateau of Gratton Moor and Smerrill Moor and lies to the north of the hamlet of Pikehall, which is the venue of the annual Y Not Festival. Midway down the valley it turns sharply left and is known as Gratton Dale. Most of the valley is dry but Rowlow Brook flows down the lower part of Gratton Dale towards Dale End and onwards to become the River Bradford at Youlgreave.Long Dale is part of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve. Natural England manages the reserve which covers five separate dales of the White Peak (Lathkill Dale, Cressbrook Dale, Hay Dale, Long Dale and Monk's Dale). The reserve contains ash and elm woodland and shrubs including hawthorn and elder. Abundant flowers include mountain pansy. On the spoil heaps of the old lead mines there are rare flowers such as spring sandwort (Minuartia verna) and alpine pennycress (Thlaspi alpestre). Native grasses include meadow oat and carnation sedge interspersed with heather, bilberry and dwarf gorse. Long Dale & Gratton Dale is also a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).Overlooking Long Dale, the Smerrill Moor, Smerrill Barn and Long Dale bowl barrows are protected Scheduled Monuments. These Bronze Age burial mounds are about 10m across. They were excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1857 and he found numerous human skeletons, flint tools and a decorated Beaker pottery drinking vessel.On the east side of Gratton Dale are the remains of old lead mines (Rath Rake, Cowlica Rake, Dunnington, Hardbeat, Hardwork and Gatcliffe) which are a Scheduled Monument. Evidence of ancient surface lead mining comes from Roman brooches that were found in Victorian times at Cowlica Rake and Hardbeat mine. Records of intensive lead mining since the 1640s include disputed claims of mining rights. The remains include mine shafts, building ruins and earthworks.Just south of the head of Gratton Dale are the remains of Mouldridge Grange, which was a medieval farmstead run by monks from the Augustinian priory. The remaining earthworks of buildings and enclosures are a Scheduled Monument.There is a clear bridlepath along the length of the valley floor. The Pennine Bridleway runs parallel to Long Dale, about 1 km to the west. Long Dale is on the route of the 65 kilometres (40 mi) long Limey Way, which links up 20 Debyshire dales.

Newhaven, Derbyshire

Newhaven is a hamlet in the county of Derbyshire, England, east of Hartington and west of Cromford.The principal employer in the area is DSF Refractories & Minerals Ltd. The hamlet is located within the Peak District National Park.

Middleton and Smerrill

Middleton and Smerrill is a civil parish within the Derbyshire Dales district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. Largely rural except for the village of Middleton-by-Youlgreave and isolated farms, Middleton and Smerrill's population is 137 residents in 2011. It is 130 miles (210 km) north west of London, 20 miles (32 km) north west of the county city of Derby, and 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) south west of the nearest market town of Bakewell. Middleton and Smerrill is wholly within the Peak District national park, in the southern part of the area. It is one of the largest parishes but among the smallest by way of residents, and shares a border with the parishes of Gratton, Hartington Middle Quarter, Hartington Nether Quarter, Hartington Town Quarter, Monyash and Youlgreave. There are 31 listed structures in Middleton and Smerrill.

Gotham Curve

The Gotham Curve was once the sharpest curve on any standard gauge railway line in the UK. The curve, which was situated in the sparsely populated, exposed limestone uplands in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England, was on the Cromford and High Peak Railway. The single-track main line was inherited by British Railways in 1948. It closed in 1967.

Pikehall

Pikehall is a small village in the Derbyshire Dales consisting of a few dozen households and a handful of farms. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Hartington Nether Quarter. The A5012 road runs through the middle, dividing the village in half. The village is home to the annual Y Not Festival.

Hartington Nether Quarter

Hartington Nether Quarter is a civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The parish was created from the subdivision of the old Hartington parish. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 410, increasing to 434 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes Biggin, Friden, Heathcote, Newhaven and Pikehall.

Biggin (Dovedale and Parwich Ward)

Biggin is a village in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. It is part of the Hartington Nether Quarter parish, and is in the Peak District National Park. Biggin was once known as Newbiggin, when it had a monastic settlement of the Cistercian order, established by the monks of Garendon Abbey, Leicestershire. The monks established a sheep ranch at Biggin Grange, which still has one ancient outbuilding. Farming is still important to the village, though at one time (18th Century) it was also a centre of lead mining. When the lead started to be worked out, there was a migration of lead miners to Upper Teesdale, and they probably took the name Newbiggin there. Today tourism is an important industry alongside farming.

Middleton-by-Youlgreave

Middleton, often known as Middleton-by-Youlgreave or Middleton-by-Youlgrave to distinguish it from nearby Middleton-by-Wirksworth, is a village in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England. The appropriate civil parish is called Middleton and Smerrill. The population of this parish was 137 at the 2011 Census. It lies south west of Youlgreave, above the River Bradford. Its main industries are farming and tourism.

Arbor Low

Arbor Low is a well-preserved Neolithic henge in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It lies on a Carboniferous Limestone plateau known as the White Peak area. The monument consists of a stone circle surrounded by earthworks and a ditch.

Gib Hill

Gib Hill is a large burial mound in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England. It is thought to be a Neolithic oval barrow with an Early Bronze Age round barrow superimposed at one end. It is located some 300 metres south-west of Arbor Low henge.