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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°12′21″N1°50′06″W / 53.2059°N 1.8349°W ), near Buxton, to High Peak Junction, Cromford ( 53°06′01″N1°32′07″W / 53.1004°N 1.5354°W ), 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. [2] [3]
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. [4]
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 [update] some sections are not yet complete. [5]
Hartington is a village in the centre of the White Peak area of the Derbyshire Peak District, England, lying on the River Dove which is the Staffordshire border. According to the 2001 census, the parish of Hartington Town Quarter, which also includes Pilsbury, had a population of 345 reducing to 332 at the 2011 Census. Formerly known for cheese-making and the mining of ironstone, limestone and lead, the village is now popular with tourists.
The Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was a standard-gauge line between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built to carry minerals and goods through the hilly rural terrain of the Peak District within Derbyshire, England. The route was marked by a number of roped worked inclines. Due to falling traffic, the entire railway was closed by 1967.
The Tissington Trail is a bridleway, footpath and cycleway in Derbyshire, England, along part of the trackbed of the former railway line connecting Ashbourne to Buxton. It takes its name from the village of Tissington, which it skirts. Opened in 1971, and now a part of the National Cycle Network, it stretches for 13 miles (21 km) from Parsley Hay (53.1706°N 1.7828°W) in the north to Ashbourne (53.0196°N 1.7397°W) in the south.
The Midshires Way is a long-distance footpath and bridleway that runs for 230 miles (370 km) from the Chiltern Hills from near Bledlow in Buckinghamshire, through the Midlands counties of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, to Stockport, Greater Manchester. It also links several other long-distance walking routes or trackways including The Ridgeway, the Pennine Bridleway and the Trans Pennine Trail.
The Pennine Bridleway is a National Trail in Northern England.
The Pennine Cycleway is a Sustrans-sponsored route in the Pennines range in northern England, an area often called the "backbone of England". The route passes through the counties of Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Northumberland. It is part of the National Cycle Network (NCN). Sustrans founder John Grimshaw calls it 'the best National Cycle Network route of the lot'.
The Sett Valley Trail is a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) cycle- and bridleway in Derbyshire, England, linking the village of Hayfield and the town of New Mills. It runs along the lower valley of the River Sett and follows the trackbed of a former branch railway line from New Mills Central to Hayfield, which opened in 1868 and closed in 1970. The line was purchased from British Rail by Derbyshire County Council in 1973. The station buildings at Hayfield were demolished in 1975; an information centre, picnic area, car park and toilets have now been built on the site. The Pennine Bridleway and Peak District Boundary Walk follow the section of the trail between Hayfield and Birch Vale.
Thorpe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire; it is on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border, on the east bank of the River Dove, about four miles north of Ashbourne. The population of the civil parish as at the 2011 census was 183.
Parsley Hay railway station served Parsley Hay, a hamlet within Hartington Middle Quarter civil parish, about 9.3 miles (15 km) south east of Buxton, Derbyshire, on the LNWR line to Ashbourne. The nearest large settlement is the village of Hartington.
The Ashbourne line was a 33+1⁄2 mi (53.9 km) railway from Buxton via Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. It was built by the London and North Western Railway using a section of the Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) and it joined the North Staffordshire Railway at Ashbourne, proceeding to Uttoxeter with a junction onto the main line at Rocester.
Thorpe Cloud railway station was opened in 1899 between the villages of Thorpe and Fenny Bentley in Derbyshire, south east of Buxton.
Tissington railway station is a disused British railway station near Tissington, a village in Derbyshire near Ashbourne. It opened on 4 August 1899 and closed on 7 October 1963.
Alsop en le Dale railway station was opened in 1899 near Alsop en le Dale and Alstonefield, villages in Derbyshire southeast of Buxton.
Hartington railway station is a former railway station which operated from 1899 to 1963. It was built to serve the village of Hartington in Derbyshire, south east of Buxton.
Ashbourne railway station formerly served the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. There have been two stations in the town. The first, opened in 1852, was operated by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR); it was replaced in 1899 by a station at a new location, jointly operated by the NSR and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). In 1923 the station passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and in 1948 that of the London Midland Region of British Railways. It was finally closed to all traffic in 1963.
High Peak Junction, near Cromford, Derbyshire, England, is the name now used to describe the site where the former Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR), whose workshops were located here, meets the Cromford Canal. It lies within Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, designated in 2001, and today marks the southern end of the High Peak Trail, a 17 miles (27 km) trail for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The Derwent Valley Heritage Way also passes this point, and popular walks lead from here along the towpath in both directions.
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.
The Peak District Boundary Walk is a circular 190-mile (310 km) walking trail, starting and finishing at Buxton and broadly following the boundary of the Peak District, Britain's first national park. The route was developed by the Friends of the Peak District and was launched on 17 June 2017.
The White Peak Loop is a 60-mile (97 km) route for walking, cycling and horse riding in the Peak District of England. The trail combines sections of the High Peak Trail and 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 2022 some sections are not yet complete.
National Cycle Network (NCN) Route 67 is a Sustrans National Route that runs from Long Whatton to Northallerton. The route is 124 miles (200 km) in length and is open but with sections missing.