Moving swiftly on...

Back to my Cromford walk with Nicki and moving on apace...

At the end of the Wigwell Aqueduct we crossed the canal by means of the restored swing bridge.

To the left of the photo, you can just see a sluice gate and beyond this, the canal becomes rather more gunky with an even lower water level.

So low, that it didn't even register on the scale!

Backtracking along the other side of the canal, we passed the Wharf shed (which is now an offshoot of Lea Green outdoor centre).

From this point, we were walking along the trackbed of the old railway line. This is where goods were exchanged between boats and wagons; as the artwork depicts.

At first, this line just served the canals but, in 1853, an extension was added to connect it to the main rail network.

From the Wharf shed, it was only a short stroll to here...

...the point at which the Cromford Canal met with the High Peak Railway, and the point at which we must turn our steps away from the water and begin to climb.

A while ago, I posted about the Tissington Trail. At the end of its 17 mile route, the Cromford and High Peak Railway meets with the Tissington Line near Parsley Hay. Both lines were axed under Beeching and have since been opened as trails for walkers, cyclists and horses. The next part of our walk would take us along the first short section of the High Peak trail.

Onward and upward :)

Tree Tunnels

The Cromford and High Peak Railway coped with the awkward Derbyshire countryside by running up a series of inclines, serviced by engine houses and winches to haul up the loaded wagons. In the first five miles of its route, it climbed a series of four inclines, rising over 1,000 feet.

In contrast, the London and North Western Railway Company who built the Tissington line selected to map or engineer a route level enough for a steam locomotive to pull carriages unaided. So, after emerging from the Ashbourne tunnel and passing over the Seven Arches viaduct, the route to Tissington is predominantly enclosed, running through a series of cuttings and over tree lined embankments.

In early summer, it can seem like walking through a tunnel of fresh green foliage with occasional glimpses of the landscape beyond.

(Best viewed large)

Benefitting from Beeching? : 'How the Trail Became'

The Peak District National Park (incidentally, the oldest in the world!) is divided into two distinct regions. The White Peak has a limestone base and is characterised by it's rivers, dales and rocky outcrops. Further north, the grit stone based Dark Peak is a land of wild moorlands and wide open spaces.

Traversing the White Peak, the Cromford and High Peak Railway was opened in 1831 as a link between the Cromford Canal at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. At the time it was a feat of engineering, being one of the first long distance routes (33 miles) and climbing to a height of 1,266 feet. In comparison, the highest working railway summit today is Ais Gill on the Settle-Carlisle line at 1,169 feet. C&HPR was built as an alternative to a canal and served to carry coal, stone and eventually cotton.

In 1899, it was joined by a second line, the Tissington Railway, which ran from Parsley Hay, 13 miles south to the market town of Ashbourne; from where there was a link to the main line at Rocester. At one time, milk from Derbyshire farms was transported down the Tissington line, onto the main rail network and from there to Finsbury Park in London.

Unfortunately, neither of these lines survived the Beeching axe, closing in stages through the 1960s. In 1971, however, the lines were given a new lease of life, being re-opened - in a joint venture between the Peak Park Planning Board and Derbyshire County Council - as trails for walkers, cyclists and horses. And so 'became' the Tissington and High Peak Trails.

Last May, I had the pleasure of walking a section of the Tissington Trail with a class of Y3 children. It rained (no surprise there then) and the back stragglers complained more and more with every step (awww! - we did a whole 3 miles!), but we had a great time, found loads of evidence of the trails original usage and, because it was a weekday, didn't even have to dodge many cyclists.

Almost the last section of our walk took us down the dip where once stood the Seven Arches. Sadly, the viaduct was demolished, but at least the new path took us right down to the level of the brook and the wooden bridge which crosses it.