After just over two weeks at Brigholme Farm CL in Giggleswick we are on the move again. I always find leaving this site hard. We have been visiting regularly since 2013 and it has become like a second home to us, so all being well we will be returning in 2022. When planning this trip we decided to stop for a few nights in the Peak District on our way home. So our next destination is Moor Farm CL close to the village of Flagg.
After a straightforward journey we are soon set up on our spacious pitch with cracking views towards Taddington Moor.
Moor Farm is a working dairy farm so our first meeting with the owner is as he walks his cows in for evening milking. He gives a cheery wave and briefly checks that everything is okay and says to get in touch if we need anything. We are very comfortable with this hands off approach, knowing that help or advice is at hand if needed but leaving us to our own devices in the meantime.
All pitched up it is time for to get out for a few miles before it gets dark. We leave the site and turn left down the lane passing the farmhouse and barns to reach a junction where we turn right and follow the road to pass Flagg Moor Farm and continue on to the main A515. Here we cross and join a footpath opposite which leads diagonally through a pasture field to enter a second field.
In front of us we can see a disused railway line and the path leads through a gate where we turn left and walk below the old track for a few hundred yards before it joins the railway. As we are just jamming about we decide to walk along the track a bit further to reach a parking area with a sign post for the Royal Oak pub. It is tempting to pop up for a pint but the light will soon be fading and I don’t fancy walking back to the site in the dark. We turn and head in a northerly direction along the line.
The Cromford and High Peak Railway was completed in 1831, it was built to carry minerals and goods through the Peak District. It was one of the first railways constructed and the terrain made it challenging countryside so there are a number of steep inclines and tight bends. The line originally connected the canals at Whaley Bridge and Cromford, running up the Goyt Valley to Buxton and across the limestone plateau to Middleton by Wirksworth, then down to Black Rocks and down again to the Cromford canal in the Derwent Valley below.
It was originally powered by horses on the flat sections with stationary steam engines winching wagons up the steep inclines. In 1841 steam engines, built by Robert Stephenson, were introduced. The line operated into the 1960’s but declining traffic and the end of some of the local quarries meant that it was closed in 1967. Sections, including the bit we are walking on now, form part of the High Peak Trail.
It is a cracking evening for walking and the fields besides the track are full of round bales of second cut haylage which are being wrapped in plastic. I understand the concept, but at a time when we are all being encouraged to reduce plastic consumption I wonder if there is a viable alternative.
We stay on the railway line until we reach a crossing of footpaths at a bridge, here we turn right and cross fields heading towards Street Farm. As we approach the farm there is a reminder of how hay making used to be done with an abandoned hay turner left near the gate.
We go through a gate and then continue through the farm entrance to reach the A515 where we cross and stop briefly to have a look at the menu outside the Duke of York. This pub is close to our site and there is every chance we will pop in during our stay.
From the pub we head south for just over a hundred yards on the broad verge beside the road and then turn left into Stonebench Lane and head the short distance downhill to our site at Moor Farm.
Our short walk has covered three miles and has been enough to stretch the legs after travelling and setting up. Now it is time to plan some longer walks for the next few days.
You can view this 3 mile walk on OS Maps and download the GPX file here.
To follow this walk you will need Ordnance Survey Explorer Leisure – OL24 – The Peak District, White Peak
27th September 2021
© Two Dogs and an Awning (2021)
All information on this site is provided free of charge and in good faith and no liability is accepted in respect of damage, loss or injury which might result from it. To the best of my knowledge the routes are entirely on public rights of way or within areas that are open for public access.
Walking can be hazardous and is done entirely at your own risk. It is your responsibility to check your route and navigate using a map and compass.