The Monsal Trail

Much has been said and written about the new Monsal Trail and a colossal amount of money (£2.25m)has been spent on it. So does it meet expectations? We sent our roving reporter, Hamish McPukes to take a look. Here are his findings.

After Sunday's drenching at the Etwall BBQ and spending Monday drying things out, I was ready for a break. Tuesday is my usual day for checking the sheep on the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Reserve at Willington, but as of this week the sheep are away for their annual shearing and injections, so with a free day and much better weather forecast, I jumped on the Transpeak bus to Buxton with bus pass in one hand and my trusty Dahon folding bike in the other.
Arriving in Buxton an hour and a half later, I could not find the start of the trail until enquiring in a local bike shop to find that it is quite some distance West of the town on the A6 Bakewell Road at Wye Dale where there is a large car park charging £3.50 per day for cars.
This car park appeared to be full, illustrating how popular the Monsal Trail is already, just a few weeks after it's official opening.

I had chosen to ride from Buxton to Bakewell rather than the opposite way, as it is downhill, always the preferred option for we more mature and less energetic cyclists. We need all the help that we can get!

So from here we go off-road onto the path alongside the River Wye, very picturesque with the Summer sunshine sparkling on the tumbling waters and the fly fishermen flicking their flies across the surface of the rippling river.

Soon we arrived at the Blackwell Mill Cycle Hire Centre for a welcome mug of tea (£1.50 but a large mug and a tasty brew). And guess what, there I met a couple who walk their dog on the Mickleover Greenway. Cycle hire at £12.50 for a whole day, is less than half that being charged at Hicks Lodge in the National Forest.
On then to more open scenery, and on a fine day like this what better place than the Peak District, so incredibly beautiful when viewed from the many vantage points on the path.

The view from one of the viaducts, the grass so efficiently trimmed by the resident sheep, better than any mechanical mower.

Then on into the newly opened tunnels, with quite good artificial lighting in the longer ones, but a noticeable drop in temperature from the warm sunshine outside.

Coming out of the bright sunshine into the tunnels it takes a few minutes for your eyes to cope with the gloom. The high contrast is also a problem with photography, although digital cameras are much more able to cope than film cameras (remember those?). Even so, this shot needed a slight tweak of brightness in Photoshop to bring out it's full potential.

There are several good stopping places on the route, mostly old railway stations with cafes and toilets, but a desperate shortage of seats along the path and not many of those vacant for my lunch stop, as even midweek, there were lots of walkers and cyclists about. I spoke to one cycling couple who had come all the way from Brighton to cycle in Derbyshire and were camping at Buxton.

The dramatic rocky scenery becomes more pastoral, but no less beautiful, as you approach Bakewell and the trail continues way past Bakewell Station to end at Coombs Lane, which leads back into the town. Plenty of free car parking space on the lane if you decide to ride Bakewell to Buxton but that direction is uphill remember, the height difference being 525ft. according to my GPS. Other stats were - distance 11.5 miles. Time 3.5 hours, but that includes my lunch break and chatting to lots of interesting people who (like me) had nothing better to do on this fine afternoon. There is nothing better to do anyway. How nice it is to stand and gaze sometimes, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And how lucky we are to have such gorgeous scenery on our very doorstep.

So to summarise, a great ride with stunning scenery, but a shortage of seats, too many people (it must be heaving at weekends), and if it were a Sustrans Route people would be moaning about the track surface, which is coarse gravel in most places. No doubt this will break down eventually under the weight of thousands of boots and tyres. But early days yet, and things will settle down for the Monsal Trail to become a fine complement to the Tissington and High Peak Trails, where Derbyshire County Council were ahead of the game all those years ago, in converting old railways to multi-user paths. They even beat John Grimshaw to it and that was no easy task.
So go along and take a look. You won't be disappointed, providing that you go mid-week, and I would avoid the school holiday periods as well.
I will certainly be making a second visit, and possibly again in the winter, when there are no leaves on the trees, thus enhancing the views. Also must remember to alight from the bus at Morrison's Supermarket in Buxton, reducing the distance to ride to Wye Dale. Good place to take a pre-ride meal or to stock up with food and drink for a picnic.

The Bakewell end of the Monsal Trail leading back onto Coombs Lane and into the town.