No Sheep 'Til Buxton

[RIP]

Been a stressful few days so good to get away. Currently sat with a nice brew on the 17.24 Milton Keynes to Macclesfield, where I'm going to meet up with the Macc Lads for a weekend of debauchery.

No hang on a minute. I mean meet the lads in Macc for a weekend of riding around the nooks and crannies of the western Peak District. Frog and Raggy have cast caution to the wind and risked coming along. Will be good to ride with them.

Hour and ten minutes to Macc which is ludicrously fast. Very pleased to be back on the trains. I really did not enjoy the banality and tedium of motoring to the Winter Event due to strikes, only rendered manageable due to the illustrious and valued presence of MuddyPete. Far more fun staring aimlessly out of the train window and drinking tea and wittering with anyone daft enough to join in.

Second best chip shop in the world, then a ridiculous 1000' continuous climb to what may or may not be a luxurious bivvy spot somewhere.

See you out the other side Sunday evening with luck...

[PaulB2]

Have fun, I've been looking to do a trip up that way so intrigued where you end up.

[thenorthwind]

I assume you came up with the title and then had to plan a ride round it? Brilliant

I expect much fun will be had

[frogatthefarriers]

I expect much fun will be had

'T was...

[RIP]

I assume you came up with the title and then had to plan a ride round it?

Probably at the same time TBH .

Right, I've finally managed to convert my photos back from HEICs (whatever they might be) to JPGs after something went weird with my phone.

But first, to liven things up, I think we'll have a quiz question. Answer at the end. What are these?



Don't go to Limmogy's, have chips instead....



After a pleasant train ride to Macc, I met up with Frog and Kev Raggedstone and naturally the first thing we did was visit the second best chippy in the world opposite the station. As well as the food you get lots of free banter with the owner as well, which is fun. It also put off the evil moment that we had to set off on the 1000' continuous climb up the Old Buxton Road to the forest. In fact we wanted to put that moment off so much, that after only a couple of hundred yards of riding we stopped and gave up and nipped into the Silk Trader to, er, stiffen our resolve. I got chatting to the bloke behind the bar, and he said that the Macc Lads do actually pop in fairly often. Better than that, they'd actually had a live band called the Mock Lads recently who came all the way from Norway! The Norwegian Macc Lads, I can't picture it but there we go.

Cleaned my teeth, put on my best clobber....

We finally made it up the hill and were presented with three different kipping options - a wood, a shed, and a caravan. Perfect. We knew it was going to rain heavily overnight but Kev went for the woods so fair play to him, Lu decided he fancied the van, so that left me with the sheep shed which contained some huge bales of wool - Kev claimed they would be "too soft". Well that's me these days so no problem. Kev said he'd once bought a wool-filled duvet, and I've got a couple of Welsh wool pillows. We're always raving on about the importance of a decent mattress aren't we? Three inches this, four inches that, etc. In fact these bales formed a four feet deep mattress which must be the comfiest kip I've ever had, and would surely be good down to -50c or something with an R-value of about a million. Admittedly I reeked of lanolin in the morning and had to avoid a number of sheep who'd taken more than a healthy interest in me.

The van was derelict but had obviously been a shepherd's refuge and it contained a couple of mattresses, a cooker, and a huge pile of books which would have kept us entertained for months. Apart from the raging rain and wind sweeping across from the Cheshire plains 1000' below at 2am - my corrugated iron shed sounded like 500 church bells dropped at the same time and the place leaked like a sieve - we all seemed to sleep well anyway, although Lu's van had an alarming habit of tipping down at one end and then back up again, rather like the coach cliffhanger in The Italian Job, if he moved too much.









She used to play for Wigan at the back of the scrum....

Lu kindly invited me to partake of breakfast in his luxury accommodation, although we both declined to consume any of the stash of porridge or baked beans (although Lu carried the Pringles round for the rest of the weekend! Once you pop.....). Then it was away up the hill to collect Kev, and continue the long climb up to the Cat & Fiddle pub. You can just about see the whole of Manchester far below.





I watched The Two Ronnies....

From the Cat & Fiddle there's a long bridleway across Axe Edge Moor to Dane Bower and its old coal mine and quarry, the ancient chimney providing an incongruous sight in this remote location. The views across the whole of Cheshire are superb from here. Crossing the infant River Dane was made considerably easier wearing my fancy new ArcticDry waterproof socks.







Eventually we reached Flash, the highest village in England, and the very excellent Flash Bar Cafe. Time for second breakfast. And of course it's never too early for cake, so Lu topped his full breakfast up with a generous slice of Bakewell pudding cake.



They'd never heard of Boddington's....

Suitably replete we headed off into the Upper Dove Valley, which seems to be little known and I've not seen many visitors each time I've been. Due to the soggy conditions we decided against a diversion via Tenterhill ford and Booth Farm, and just headed straight to Hollinsclough. I'm sure my promise of another cafe had no bearing on the lads' decision. Yes, it had been a good hour since second breakfast and two hours since first breakfast, so plainly we needed a reasonably unprecedented third breakfast. This one is a bit different because it's an "honesty cafe" hidden in a shed by the river. Choose your favoured wares, add up the cost on the handy calculator, type the figure into the machine, and swipe your card, all done! Nice coffee, a huge range of cakes and biscuits, along with honey, cheese, and plenty of other stuff. You could have stayed all day to be honest.





From here we headed south following the River Dove along various tracks and bridleways, up past Earl Sterndale. The great thing about this area is the varied scenery, with bleak moors and gritstone/shale one minute, followed by limestone and its associated cosy valleys and woodland the next. At this point there was a cracking view across the Dove valley.



They'll ask the recipe for chips and gravy....

Turning east we picked up the Pennine Bridleway, with more desolate moorland, until we dropped down through Priestcliffe into Monsal Dale and the old railway station on the Monsal Trail. Another thing I like about this part of the Peaks is as well as the well-known trails - Monsal Trail, Tissington Trail, High Peak Trail - there's loads of limestone bye-ways and tracks to explore, and there's a particularly concentrated number around Priestcliffe.

There's another good cafe at the old station, but we had a wander up and down the Trail before indulging in our third cafe of the day. To the west there are two entertaining tunnels, with a couple of bridges over the spectacular gorge of the River Wye. An amusing few minutes can be enjoyed watching the youngsters on their "abseiling experience" hurling themselves off one of the bridges with many a screech and squeal.



Oh, go on then, another coffee at the station cafe, and then head eastwards following the river through two more long tunnels past Cressbrook and its dark satanic mills. A display board reminds you of its grim past when orphans were effectively kidnapped from London and brought up here to work in the cotton mills. An idyllic life in the country indeed....

Sheep, sheep, everywhere....

The light was gradually fading as we hauled ourselves up out of the valley on a nasty climb and headed across more bleak fields to our chosen hostelry for the evening. I've been here a number of times, albeit only every couple of years or so. We'd only been there a few minutes when a lady said to me "oh hello Chris". It took me a second to recognise her - the bar lady from when I visited in 2021 two years ago. Anybody would think Bearboners are memorable or something! Sadly Bearlegged was unable to fulfil his guest appearance after all, but an extremely convivial evening was spent consuming excellent food and ale, and plenty of bollocks was spoken obviously.





Sheep on the pavement....

When we finally departed, the wind was really getting up although at least no rain was forecast. We made our way to my usual graveyard spot where there's plenty of space to set shelters up discreetly. However, the wind was now so fierce, Lu and myself were ready and waiting to deploy our Gatewoods but we bottled it and went for the indoor option and the gardener's shed. Raggy of course is made of sterner stuff and stuck with the alfresco alternative. I had the necessity of a "night time visit" at about 3am, and during my quick sojourn outside the wind was incredible with the trees bending alarmingly, so fair play to you there Kev.

Goodness knows what Harriett and Joseph made of Kev's proceedings, but Lu and myself were very cosy in our shed including a particularly relaxing first breakfast.







[cont'd....

[RIP]

Sheep in the car....

We were packed and away in time for the first ride of the day which eventually brought us to Tideswell ('the cathedral of the Peak') and the cracking High Nelly's Cafe, with its rather unusual cycle parking arrangements. It's obviously very sad that quite a few cafes and pubs are giving up the ghost at the moment, so we were surprised to find Nell's open at 9.15am and filling up rapidly. We secured our window seats and enjoyed a very nice second breakfast indeed, featuring the inestimable Derbyshire Oatcake. These are multi functional, for example you could use one as a tyre repair boot if you were stuck. I added some extra toast and marmalade, with some of the best toast I've ever eaten. I mean it's just burnt bread isn't it, but this stuff was superb.







A desperately steep lane takes you out of Tideswell towards Buxton (and its sheep....), then via Wormhill and Tunstead to Peak Dale. This area is home to the largest limestone quarry in Europe, although it's so well hidden you'd hardly know it was there. There's a dedicated main line railway to haul away the limestone, with many 2000 ton trainloads departing every day. Nice scenery's all very well, but I like my rides to have a bit of industry and social history about them to keep me interested.



Sheep in the pubs and we all got barred....

Typical limestone plateau scenery near Buxton... with typical two-wheeled tramp



Various little tracks and trails finally brought us to the teeming metropolis of Buxton - reputedly the coldest place in England. Plenty of shops and cafes to supply us, and the majestic Buxton Crescent - a sort of junior version of the famous Bath Crescent - to marvel at. The Duke of Devonshire spent virtually all of his gains from the immensely rich Ecton copper mines building this what I would call a folly. I think we can guess how many of the 18th century miners managed to get even a glimpse inside.

Our second cafe of the day for a quick sandwich and coffee, while we watched a Danny McAskill clone practise his moves on the Duke of Devonshire's steps and gardens.....



On the way into town we had passed the Buxton spring water mega bottling plant with its loading bays and huge silos, but by far the better way to procure one's fix of magnesium-rich water is to take it for free (a 16th-century act of parliament ruled that a free supply of the spring water must be provided for the town's residents) from the spring next to the Crescent. The geothermal spring rises from half a mile below ground and about a quarter of a million gallons of water flow out per day. The mineral water emerges at a steady 27°C and originated from rainwater from around 5,000 years ago. That's what it sez 'ere anyroad.



You think you're one of the Macc Lads?.....

Yet another steep hill up out of town through Burbage along the Old Buxton Road. Surprisingly Buxton used to have local coal mines located just here. Admittedly not large scale, but what was interesting was that it was boated out to the surface along an underground canal similar to the Worsley mines near Salford. The tunnel entrance used to be just down there to the right.



Then back over the moors to the Cat & Fiddle....



She'll get fed up of buffets and one day she'll come back.....

It didn't take much of a decision to nip into the third cafe of the day just down the road. It used to be called the Dish & Spoon when I was a kid but sadly no longer. I spotted a cream tea on the menu but decided that clotted cream would hardly be getting much use at this time of year and could see it being way out of date, but Lu courageously went for it and was repaid for his boldness. Of course, the clotted cream was in an individual pot! Stupid boy Reg. Lu generously shared, after savouring our defeat.



A final view, from where you could see The Wrekin near Shrewsbury over 60 miles away.



Mirrored walls and daft plastic trees....

Then it was a high-speed blast down to Macc Forest, and along the trails, dotted with lots of benches with various deeply philosopical musings carved into them. Hopefully Lu and Kev will produce some thought-provoking photos of them .



A final cruise along the canal into town, to bid farewell to the lads and catch the 17.37 to Milton Keynes and unreality. A superb weekend in very good company, loads of varied scenery, six cafes and two boozers, what more could one wish for. It really is a pleasure and a privilege to travel in the company of other such seasoned and experienced Boners. As Lu would say, "life is good". And the answer to the quiz question? Lu's patent MYOG washing up liquid vials! If you ask him nicely he'll explain how he makes them. Me, I just scrape a load of grass around inside my pots .



And I changed to a real Macc Lad.

'Reg'

[fatbikephil]

Fabulous as ever chaps!

[RIP]

Reading all those ravings at the same time as listening to the soundtrack to put it into context is so much better.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avaJUaAijv4

...sigh, and I was such a shy retiring child... where did it all go right.....

[ledburner]

Hey reg , Brilliant write up of your sheepish adventures.....and I hope no sheep were harmed in that production

[redefined_cycles]

I really enjoyed that Reg. Thing is, we learn loads of history in many of these reports. I never knew it was the Wrekin you could see from down there down Macc...

Also, I love the way you didn't mess up any confidentiality issues with the sheep and they've all been kept anon. Even the ones in the car and on the pavements...

Will be good to read the other report from Ragedstone/Frog to see what they actually saw/made of it

[psling]

Well, it looks like I missed a fun ride gently rolling along canal sides and disused railway lines, pausing at cafes and hostelries to partake of refreshments, and comfortable repose at exclusive chambers

[Bearbonesnorm]

Just ace and obviously I found myself singing along and finishing off all those lines left hanging

[boxelder]

When we lived in Buxton, at the end of the last millennium, we always called the area around Flash Umma Gumma Land. Something strange would always happen, or we'd meet some Royston Vasey type character. Night rides were the best. You've inspired me to take some mates back and revisit old haunts.

[RIP]

Just ace and obviously I found myself singing along and finishing off all those lines left hanging

Mmm, you were frequently in my thoughts Stu, and yes I could hear you singing away in the background . We waved at Buxton for Dee as well.

I think we need to investigate the Mock Lads a bit more closely!

[RIP]

When we lived in Buxton, at the end of the last millennium, we always called the area around Flash Umma Gumma Land. Something strange would always happen, or we'd meet some Royston Vasey type character. Night rides were the best. You've inspired me to take some mates back and revisit old haunts.

Interesting . I've learned something there thanks Box. Umma Gumma...... "Pink Floyd album....the album's title supposedly comes from Cambridge slang for sex, commonly used by Pink Floyd friend and occasional roadie, Iain "Emo" Moore, who would say, "I'm going back to the house for some ummagumma". According to Moore, he made up the term himself".

Hopefully you'll get back soon!

[RIP]

Just ace and obviously I found myself singing along and finishing off all those lines left hanging

Mmm, you were frequently in my thoughts Stu, and yes I could hear you singing away in the background . We waved at Buxton for Dee as well.

I think we need to investigate the Mock Lads a bit more closely!

Ah! The Mokk Lads

https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/wh ... 680070

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm always continually disappointed that there isn't a mid-Wales tribute act, The Mach' Lads. I feel it's a fantastic opportunity sadly missed.

[RIP]

agreed!

Well, someone's gotta start it off... man of your talents....

[frogatthefarriers]

Lu kindly invited me to partake of breakfast in his luxury accommodation, although we both declined to consume any of the stash of porridge or baked beans (although Lu carried the Pringles round for the rest of the weekend! Once you pop.....)

I did carry the pringles the rest of the way. In fact, I'm still eating them at home. They're only a year out of date, but taste OK. I dread to think how much preservative they've used to make then keep so long.

[jay91]

Looked like a fantastic weekend

[benp1]

Ewe have done fantastic job with that yarn, Reg. Once again not a man to follow the herd. Woolly hat doffed

[RIP]

Arf! .

[RIP]

Certainly our evening hostelry was pretty crowded. It was..... rammed....

Any more for any more?

[Stinginglip]

Everything about that sounded superb..I've totally gotta rethink and step up my outings.

[RIP]

Cheers 'Lip .