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National Trail Guides UK
NATIONAL TRAIL GUIDES UK
Contents :: WHITE PEAK WAY :: Day 3
THE WHITE PEAK WAY IS THE SOUTHERN EXTENSION OF THE PENNINE WAY
Day 3 :: Back into the Dales :: Monsal Head to Peak Forest :: 9 miles
From the bridge we were able to obtain good views both upstream and downstream of the River Wye, which at this point was wide and flowing between dense woodland. Across the bridge we were obliged to follow a narrow grass track steeply uphill to join the Monsal Trail, which follows Upperdale along the Wye valley. We had hoped to avoid the Monsal Trail, which is a disused railway track as the path itself is rather boring, although admittedly, the view of the river, when it was available, was very much worth seeing.
We walked on for some time until the converted mills at Cressbrook came into view. The track left the old railway line and proceeded forward along the side of the valley amongst scrub until turning sharp left and taking steps down the valley side to the River Wye below, which we crossed at an old footbridge opposite to an attractive weir. This place was known as Water cum jolly.
Our path now followed a concessionary route along the far bank of the Wye, at the side of a large limestone cliff face that had been severely worn by water at its base in previous times when the river had raged more rapidly.
Water cum Jolly. was a haven for coots, swans and their young chicks, all of which were feeding during our arrival here. The path was rather muddy. Carol gave up all attempts to avoid the puddles and mud, whilst I balanced on raised stones along the water's edge. We had entered Millers Dale at Water Cum Jolly. and this was a very scenic dale indeed. The river was broad, full of large fish, meandering gracefully below large sweeping dale sides which were heavily dotted with trees and shrubs of various shades of green and many of which were in flower. In addition there seemed always to be limestone cliffs around to provide a refreshing contrast.
At the next bend, in a cut off loop of the river, there was a prominent duck's nest with both parents, several chicks and unhatched eggs. They did not even seem to notice us as we stopped to watch them, being safely separated from us by a sufficiently deep and boggy stretch of water.
We continued forward as the path progressed through dense woodland. After passing a weir the river banks became covered with dense clusters of Butterbur. We eventually came to a gate and then passed by the converted Litton Mills and adjacent cottages. From this point Millers Dale proceeded along a lane with the river on our left. We walked along the lane for about a mile before reaching an adjoining path on our right which led to Tideswell Dale, but this was not our route so we continued forward along the lane, passing a wooden footbridge on our left. We passed a large limestone cliff face on our right where a team of youths were practicing their climbing.
We passed the Anglers Rest and some cottages and then joined a road coming from our right and above our lane. There was a cluster of houses here and a church. Leaving Millers Dale we crossed the road to the chapel and passed through an alleyway immediately to its left, which accessed our next dale, Monks Dale. We climbed steeply up some stone steps and reached a gate taking us to a stony and narrow track following a wall on our right.
Monks Dale is a National Nature Reserve. We entered the dale under a wooded canopy, with a river on our right. Our path was slightly elevated from the shallow river and we noticed a small herd of cattle plodding along the river, in our direction. Shortly our path and river were almost side by side and the herd of cattle kept pace with us. it was quite a funny sight to see. it almost seemed they had escaped and were out for a ramble.
Our path continued as a muddy one through woodland and then we crossed a small wooden footbridge down to the riverside and from now on our path and the river were often difficult to distinguish, the river running drier as we proceeded uphill.
From time to time we emerged from the trees and saw just how beautiful parts of Monks Dale were. Briefly our path climbed away from the river, only to rejoin it a little later upstream. When this happened we were afforded a view of the dale and could plot our forward course.
We then plunged into the depths of the dale in deep woodland, and were obliged to follow the dried up river bed as the path now merged with the river bed. It was very rocky and difficult to walk on. Many of the rocks were covered in a deep growth of moss and the whole atmosphere was eerie. We were on this difficult path for about an hour, and it was thoroughly exhausting to walk upon. There was a constant danger of twisting or breaking an ankle, and we passed another group of walkers who had stopped to apply first aid to one of their number who had badly knocked his knee and shin.
We passed through a wooden gate and left the woodland, walking over a much broader part of the dale to a minor road which we crossed and then stopped to eat a sandwich. Starting again we passed through another stile directly opposite and continued to walk along the final section of Monks Dale. The sides of the dale gradually disappeared and we shortly entered Peter Dale.
Peter Dale was far shallower than Monks Dale, and although the path was significantly easier it was still not a comfortable path to walk on. The grass hid the rocks immediately below it. Peter Dale ended at a large field near to Dale Head Farm. On the right the side of the dale rose in a large final sweep of limestone cliffs.
There was a stile over the stone wall which led to a minor road by the farm house. We turned right and then almost straight away we left the road by taking a stile on our left into Hay Dale. Hay Dale was a more pleasant and shallower dale, the path being strewn with wild flowers. Carol was feeling very tired and it was decided that we would sleep here for awhile. Carol slept for about 20 minutes and I rested (bored).
Hay Dale swept around to our left in a large curve and our path followed along the valley bottom, on grass. Hay Dale was very pleasant, easy to walk upon and we proceeded quickly. As the dale neared its end the path changed to stone. A farm track joined from our left. We proceeded ahead and as we began to climb uphill again we took a stile on our left. We had been sharing the Limestone Way for some time but it now continued ahead and our route took us into Dam Dale, the last of the dales for today.
Dam Dale was very shallow. The path followed a boundary wall and we kept to the right of it. We noticed that the grassy floor of the dale was covered in very small white, yellow and blue flowers.
We progressed forward, passing a barn on our left. A stream had appeared on our left and the waters from this spread across the field beyond the wall at our side. We were headed toward Dam Dale Farm, which we could now see ahead of us. As we approached it the dale walls melted away. We passed through a gate and around the side of an electrified fence to another gate and passed around the farm onto a field.
We followed the worn grass across the field, passing between sheep and lambs and followed a track to a gate where we turned right to a stone wall at the side of a farm house. We passed this and joined a track uphill and passed the front of Damside Farm and there joined a made up road. We followed this past a school playing field, noting the beautiful trees, cottages and gardens around here.
