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Pennine Bridleway FROM DERBYSHIRE THROUGH THE YORKSHIRE DALES TO CUMBRIA

Hannah Collingridge

Pennine Bridleway FROM DERBYSHIRE THROUGH THE YORKSHIRE DALES TO CUMBRIA

Hannah Collingridge

Pennine Bridleway FROM DERBYSHIRE THROUGH THE YORKSHIRE DALES TO CUMBRIA

First published in 2021 by Vertebrate Publishing. Vertebrate Publishing, Omega Court, 352 Cemetery Road, Sheffield S11 8FT, United Kingdom. www.v-publishing.co.uk Copyright © 2021 Hannah Collingridge and Vertebrate Publishing Ltd. Hannah Collingridge has asserted her rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as author of this work. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-83981-042-8 All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanised, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems – without the written permission of the publisher. Front cover: Track between Long Preston and Settle. Back cover: Near Gorple Lower Reservoir. Photography by Joolze Dymond unless otherwise credited. ll maps reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on A behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright. 100025218. Design by Jane Beagley, production by Cameron Bonser. www.v-publishing.co.uk Printed and bound in Europe by Pulsio. Vertebrate Publishing is committed to printing on paper from sustainable sources.

Every effort has been made to achieve accuracy of the information in this guidebook. The authors, publishers and copyright owners can take no responsibility for: loss or injury (including fatal) to persons; loss or damage to property or equipment; trespass, irresponsible behaviour or any other mishap that may be suffered as a result of following the route descriptions or advice offered in this guidebook. The inclusion of a track or path as part of a route, or otherwise recommended, in this guidebook does not guarantee that the track or path will remain a right of way. If conflict with landowners arises we advise that you act politely and leave by the shortest route available. If the matter needs to be taken further then please take it up with the relevant authority.

PLEASE GIVE WAY TO HORSES AND PEDESTRIANS.

Contents Pennine Bridleway Area Map �� vi Introduction �� ix Acknowledgements

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How to use this book Navigation

x x

xiii

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Planning your ride The bike

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Essential kit �� xv Safety

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In the event of an accident

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xvii xviii

Rules of the (off) road �� xviii Maps �� xix

SECTION 1 Middleton Top to Dinting Vale 71.1km �� xx SECTION 2 Dinting Vale to Hebden Bridge 58.4km �� 18 SECTION 3 Hebden Bridge to Settle 71.7km �� 36 SECTION 4 Settle to Street 68km �� 54 CHARLIE’S LOOP 28.2km �� 68 MARY TOWNELEY LOOP 70.7km �� 78 SETTLE LOOP 16.1km �� 100

APPENDIX

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108

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CONTENTS

Settle Loop Yorkshire Dales National Park

Settle

Charlie’s Loop

1 Middleton Top to Dinting Vale 71.1km �� xx

2 D inting Vale to Hebden Bridge 58.4km �� 18

3 H ebden Bridge to Settle 71.7km �� 36

4 Settle to Street 68km �� 54

Charlie’s Loop 28.2km �� 68

Mary Towneley Loop 70.7km �� 78

Settle Loop 16.1km �� 100

PENNINE BRIDLEWAY

Hayfield

Peak District National Park

Mary Towneley Loop

Kirkby Stephen Hebden Bridge

Yorkshire Dales National Park Todmorden

Forest of Bowland AONB

Leeds

Burnley

Whitworth

Wakefield Littleborough

Rochdale 2

Manchester

Glossop Sheffield Peak District National Park

Buxton 1

Wirksworth Stoke-onTrent

Derby

Pennine Bridleway

AREA MAP & ROUTE FINDER AREA MAP & ROUTE FINDER

vii

MOOR EDGE ROAD AFTER CARRBROOK – A TYPICAL PENNINE TRACK

Introduction

The Pennine Bridleway (PBW) is the only National Trail that is a bridleway throughout, designed for mountain bikers and horse riders. As it currently stands it opened fully in 2012. The Mary Towneley Loop in the South Pennines, a 70.7-kilometre round, was the first part to open in 2002, with the 16.1-kilometre Settle Loop opening shortly afterwards in 2005. The full route runs from Middleton Top in the Peak District to Street, just south of Kirkby Stephen, in Cumbria. There were always plans to extend the trail further north but the funding was lacking, and extension is doubtful any time soon. However, Cycling UK have developed the Great North Trail, which extends the PBW to the north of Scotland, making the most of existing bridleways. The background for the creation of the PBW is really down to Lady Mary Towneley. She lived on the Worsthorne Estate near Burnley, was a passionate horsewoman, and was increasingly frustrated by the lack of bridleways in the local area. She was aware that there were many old packhorse and trading routes locally, but most of these had been classified as footpaths when the definitive rights of way were drawn up. There was a similar situation in the Yorkshire Dales and further north. After failing to interest the authorities in improving the bridleway network, she researched a route of old ways from Hexham in Northumberland to Ashbourne in Derbyshire and completed it on horseback in 1986 to prove her point. It took her nine days to reach Ashbourne after wrestling with a variety of conditions on the old paths, and it was this ride that prompted the Countryside Commission to support the idea, which eventually led to funding for the PBW. The Mary Towneley Loop opened a year after her death, fittingly carrying her name. The trail itself is varied using a variety of bridleways, old railway lines, quiet roads, and newly created paths and trails. Navigation is fairly straightforward as the trail is (mostly) signed throughout, although there is always the hazard of signs going missing or falling over. Most of the tracks are well used and therefore clear to follow except for the ‘fields of doom’ in the Ribble Valley (see 36–37, pages 50–52). There is also a chunk of trail from the north of Hayfield to Tintwistle (see 13–15, pages 16–24) that has not been fully developed yet. There are interim routes for walkers and cyclists, but not horses. Most of the interim route for bikes is on road and is not the most attractive part of the trail. It’s best to get this bit done quickly. Hannah Collingridge INTRODUCTION

Section

Middleton Top to Dinting Vale

THE START AT MIDDLETON TOP

WALLED TRACK FROM WORMHILL

01 M iddleton Top to Dinting Vale

71.1km/44.2 miles

GRADE There are some extremely easy sections of the ride along an old railway line and on tarmac, and some pretty challenging sections with technical descents and ascents, but these are fairly short-lived as a proportion of the whole section. MAPS » OS Explorer OL1, the Peak District – Dark Peak area, 1:25,000 » OS Explorer OL24, the Peak District – White Peak area, 1:25,000 » OS Landranger 110, Sheffield & Huddersfield, 1:50,000 » OS Landranger 119, Buxton & Matlock, 1:50,000 INTRODUCTION It starts gently; it gets much less gentle. Do not be fooled by the easy start to the route on an old railway line; when you leave the railway it gets steeper and more technical, especially on a loaded bike. There’s a fair amount of tarmac linking the off-road sections so average speed should be reasonable. The limestone sections from Chee Dale onwards are more challenging in

the wet; the shales and sandstones from Rushup Edge onwards provide a grippier but more technical kind of riding. Some challenging ups and downs are included before the road links of the missing part of the trail take you to the end of this section. A stage of all trail surfaces, starting easy before throwing the hills in.

450

11 5 6

Metres

150

8 12

0 Km

MIDDLETON TOP TO DINTING VALE TOTAL DISTANCE: 71.1KM/44.2 MILES » TOTAL ASCENT: 1,266M/4,154FT » START: MIDDLETON TOP (SK 276552) FINISH: DINTING VALE (SK 015944).

01 MIDDLETON TOP TO DINTING VALE

Directions – Middleton Top to Dinting Vale

The PBW starts at Middleton Top. I take the official start as the Engine House, at a height of 300m on the plateau of limestone, because it is a splendid monument to mark the start, or finish, of any journey. With the Engine House to your back, head L – if you start heading downhill, you’ve gone the wrong way. The first 24km (15 miles) of the ride is on the old railway so navigationally it is straightforward – follow the old track. In terms of riding it’s straightforward, too. There’s nothing technical, and it’s suitable for pretty much any bike and any member of the family. The only thing likely to make it tiresome is a headwind. Thankfully there are some interesting bits of the trail on the way.

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The Cromford and High Peak Railway, which is what we’re about to follow, was built to join the canal at Cromford, down in the bottom of the valley, to the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge to the west – a quicker route and therefore cheaper than using the Trent and Mersey Canal to the south. A canal couldn’t be built across the limestone plateau due to the lack of water, so the brand new technology of the railway was embraced. No locomotive, ancient or modern, can cope with the steepness of the incline between Cromford and Middleton Top. Instead the wagons were hauled up from the valley bottom by steam-powered winding engines, the engine at Middleton Top being the highest of the three on the Cromford side. A winding engine does

20 CHEE DALE

PENNINE BRIDLEWAY

literally that: a steam engine turns a drum around which a cable can be wound in or let out, hauling wagons up or down as you choose. 2 A mile or so into the ride you may be surprised by the steepness of the hill you’re on.

This is Hopton Incline and, at 1 in 14, the steepest bit of railway that was worked by normal steam traction on the British rail network. Some days the weather was so grim, and the rails so slippery, that the loco could only haul a couple of wagons up at a time. It’s usually not quite that bad to ride. Just after the top of the incline you cross a works entrance way at SK 251546. As well as avoiding the heavy wagons using the entrance, note that this is one of many examples of the industry still exploiting the limestone and associated minerals around here. Many of the firms came originally because of the railway and the promise of easy transport; some are gone like the railway, but many remain.

Keep SA over the road on the continuation of the railway path. After 1km you’ll spot more industry on your left, and Harboro’ Rocks on your right. There’s evidence of prehistoric activity amongst this dolomitic limestone.

01 DINTING ROUTE NAME u»u 01 MIDDLETON TOP TO VALE – GRADE DIRECTIONS

Directions – Middleton Top to Dinting Vale

3 Reach a crossroads of trails with a low embankment in front of you. Bear R to keep

on the main trail. Here is a wonderful bit of landscape showing evidence of use for thousands of years. On the hill to the right, in the copse at SK 209572, is Minning Low with a Neolithic chambered tomb, two Bronze Age burials, and evidence of use through to Roman times. The many ‘low’ names in the Peak District derive from the Old English hlaw (meaning mound, cairn, hill, mountain or barrow), demonstrating awareness by the early English people of the antiquity of their landscape. The embankment ahead is not built in the style of most railways. Because this was such an early railway, the builders used the technology they knew rather than the style we are familiar with when thinking about Victorian railways. There was also a glassworks here using locally available sand, and the railway, and a nearby farm, has ‘grange’ in its name demonstrating its previous use by a monastic owner. The trail crosses an embankment, then another, and passes through Minninglow car park (no toilets or refreshments) at SK 195581. After 800 metres there is an 80-degree bend at Gotham which was so tight it required a check rail to prevent derailments. It’s a further example of how new the technology of building railways was; bends this tight worked on canals but severely restricted the speed of trains. 4 Cross the A5012 at Newhaven Crossing (SK 181598).

When the railway was open there was a crossing keeper here. We then pass Friden Brick Works, yet another company who took advantage of the local minerals and the railway. There are some information boards about the specialist bricks they produce. 5 Arrive at Parsley Hay Junction where the Tissington Trail joins the PBW. Follow the

trail SA to Parsley Hay car park where there are toilets and seasonal refreshments. Then continue on the trail.

PENNINE BRIDLEWAY

CONTINUES ON PAGE 9

01 DINTING ROUTE NAME u»u 01 MIDDLETON TOP TO VALE – GRADE DIRECTIONS