A walk through history in the far north west corner of Derbyshire where an old trackbed leads to one of the county’s must visit cradles of the industrial revolution all too often bypassed by people heading along the A6 for the Peak District or the fleshpots of Manchester. New Mills is a not-to-be-missed town just outside the national park, high above a magnificent gorge that mixes towering rock faces with mill ruins.
Start of the trail.
We’ve parked at the southern end of the Peak Forest Canal in Whaley Bridge and caught the bus from the nearby railway station to Hayfield. It drops you off at the eastern end of the Sett Valley Trail, a 2.5-mile multi-user route that follows the trackbed of a former branch railway line and where a thoroughly miserable early November morning as we came over the tops at Aldwark has given way to a far from unpleasant autumn day in the High Peak.
Lantern Pike from the trail.
Head down the trail enjoying the views up to splendidly-named Lantern Pike away to your right. Keep panning right for the hills leading towards Kinder Scout. You’re on the Pennine Bridleway for the best part of a mile but you’ll leave it to cross the road at Birch Vale and continue down the trail. Follow signs for New Mills, cross another three roads then at the fourth – aka Church Lane – turn left over the railway bridge and immediately right to rejoin the trail.
You should now start to pick up signs for The Torrs. Hold your breath to as you descend to the banks of the Sett for an astonishing slice of industrial heritage that really has to be seen to be appreciated. Follow signs for the Millennium Walkway, a remarkable piece of engineering opened just days before the turn of the century. But just before you get there, take advantage of a bench on the left and drink in the view of the weir and Torr Vale Mill.
Turn left immediately after the walkway to cross the bridge over the river. Go right to head uphill and follow your nose to the Peak Forest Canal, heading down Torr Vale Road and Wirksmoor Road then crossing Albion Road in the process. Your return to the start is now far less complicated, giving you time to admire about a million narrowboats while taking in the views west to the fields and moors leading up to Chinley Churn and Cracken Edge.
Peak Forest Canal.
Head past the marina at Furness Vale on your two-and-a-half mile all-level mosey down the waterway and feel free to make the detour to pretty Bugsworth Basin or simply cross the bridge and carry on back to base.
Start: Hayfield bus station. We parked by the end of the canal in Whaley Bridge. There’s a free car park a few yards away on Tom Brads Croft. Catch the 60 or 61 bus outside the railway station.
Highlight: The Torrs.
Lunch: Pack-up at same.
Music: It’s 40 years since Bronski Beat were in the top ten with Smalltown Boy.
Distance/map: Six miles. OS Explorer OL1 The Peak District/Dark Peak Area.
OS © Crown copyright [2024]. CS-29042-R6R3Z6
Walks with welf 