Fenny Bentley to Buxton - Thursday, 23rd August
28 miles cycled
Woke to another cloudy but bright day, although throughout today showers would come and go.
My caldera clone prototype seems to work well - a higher capacity version of a supercat/turbocat stove brings 900 ml to the boil (just) for our morning coffee.
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| David has found new ways to lacerate his fingers |
The morning routine is coffee/tea followed by us failing to get away by 9:00, ..
...and to stop at the first place for breakfast.
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| Too early for breakfast stop |
This day's adventure took us along old railway line (the Tissington Trail) before the climbing up and coasting down started in earnest for the last half of the day to Buxton and beyond.
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| Nope, just a pre-breakfast snack. |
We finally breakfasted at Parsley Hey National Park Centre. There is a bike hire place there and it was quite popular.
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| At last! Breakfast at Parsley Hey NP centre. |
Amongst the more traditional hybrids and mountain bikes we saw tandems, trikes and trailers to carry toddlers.
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| Here's the first road away from the Tissington Trail |
Keith forges ahead, impatient to get some miles under his belt.
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| Over the hills now. The views really open up after the 'Trail ends... |
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| Silverweed. Eaten before we had potatoes and ground to make flour for bread or porridge. Supposedly cures mouth ulcers. |
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| The unusually shaped Chrome Hill and Hollis Hill. |
We had been following the '68' signs North out of Earl Sternadale. David spied a sharp right hand turn that took us North past the East of Hillhead Quarry over Staker Hill towards Harpur Hill on a bridleway.
My OS map shows the route sticking to the B5053 out of Earl Sterndale. The GPX I'd downloaded from Cycle.Travel shows the same, but the new route does appear on the Sustrans map.
Of course, we realise Keith may have missed this crucial turn. Phone calls to find out don't get through.
At the start of the day cycling on the Tissington trail was easy because it was flat. When we left the railway we started cycling over the hills. We were not used to this. Staker Hill was particularly challenging because it was even hillier and the track was made from newly laid coarse gravel. Luxury.
At a late (3:30) lunch at the Cheshire Cheese at Buxton we finally contacted Keith, who by then had realised his mistake, and arrange to rendezvous later on in Whaley Bridge.
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| Keith missed out on this! |
The Old Road out of Buxton was particularly interesting: A stiff climb and a long roller coaster descent over disintegrating tarmac
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| More off road on 'Old Road' out of Buxton |
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| Back on tarmac |
The rain gets heavier and we get hale-stones.
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| 'Hale stones the size of cats', I tell you! |
Just outside Whaley Bridge we regrouped at The Shady Oak next door to the Goyt Valley Campsite. Keith's journey sounded as arduous as ours involving a long decent before a long ascent back to Buxton and then more up and downs to Whaley Bridge. All on roads. However, Keith was on a road bike and I did think that maybe, for him, he had taken the better route.
When Keith arrived at Shady Oak he received the news that Goyt Valley campsite had closed due to family illness, however he had found another, Chapel Campsite, at Chaple-en-le Frith (a mile or two out of our way) from the delightful landlady.
Over pudding we discussed what to do.
Bridgemont, the other local site I'd found before the trip, David can't find any info on.
Shall we press on? Next site is at Broadbottom, some 10 miles away.
Well, it was raining cats n dogs, and it was getting late.
Keith turns on his trusty sat-nav and away we go.
We get a very friendly welcome at Chapel Campsite, with offers of tea and chairs. And it stops raining. Nearly. 8:00 finish.
Summery dispatch:
"Hellish day today lots of up and downs but great views.
Desperate fight through the pass North of Buxton, halestones the size of cats.
28 miles today, camped at Chapel-en-le-Frith, near Whaley Bridge.
No casualties.
Send money."
Signal from Base Camp:
"Bank transfer on its way from Panavision + food. A mouldy old sandwich and some of Gillie's bread pudding that dropped behind the fridge.
Couldn't raise too much.
Just a few shekles and some rupees from Dinesh + some cameras to repair from him.
Light a path with flares or cloths (saves on the washing).
Don't give up hope"
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