Beresford Dale and Biggin Dale

Saturday 23rd May 2020

The lockdown started to be lifted in England in the middle of May, which allowed unlimited exercise so I could now do a good walk that is much longer than those that I had previously been able to complete. Ordinarily on this date I would have been heading up to Scotland for the start of a two week hill walking holiday, but the lockdown had not been lifted in Scotland and all unnecessary travel was not allowed. I would have to stay local and content myself with day trips in my local National Park of the Peak District. I parked at the Friden car park on the High Peak Trail and set off along the course of an old railway line past a brick works and eventually took a track across the main road to another road and finally onto a footpath into Hartington Meadows Nature Reserve. The fields there were bursting with wild flowers, buttercup and red clover most notably, and provided me with many delights as I followed a clear path over a hill and veering left past a disused quarry until I reached a road, however this confused me as there is no road marked on the map and it took me a long time to realise what had happened. The public right-of-way through the reserve veers right at the start of the descent from the hill whereas I’d veered left so I had to retrace my steps back up the hill before turning west to head back down.

Hartington Meadows is a fabulous place that begs a return visit as it is full of wild flowers and as I came down the hill I saw loads of cow slip that may have been going to seed, but were still a lovely sight. The path continued to the car park on the site of Hartington railway station on the Tissington Trail, which would ordinarily be busy but at this early hour and with the current circumstances was almost deserted. The toilets were locked, which is quite common at the moment, but does strike me as odd when at a time we are supposed to be washing our hands frequently the facilities for doing so are closed. Crossing the Tissington Trail I followed a path into the tiny hamlet of Heathcote and would have headed into the village of Hartington, but I wanted to avoid as many people as possible so I took a route via Highfield Lane eventually joining the path coming south out of Hartington just outside the village. This rocky path was a delight as I skipped along while the path descends to reach the short, wooded valley of Beresford Dale. I have fond memories of walking through this valley as a child and twenty-two years ago on my first ever walking holiday, however I can’t remember walking through it since.

The narrow valley was filled with wild flowers, bursting with green plants and abundantly overflowing in the bright sunshine before the path led me across the river where the valley opens slightly to reveal a gorgeous scene with sheer limestone sides and a delightful canopy of trees that created a mesmerising sight. Unfortunately it was woefully short as the valley soon opened out further into wide meadows as the path continues its progress south. While the sun was temporarily hidden behind clouds, and with great limestone cliffs ahead of me, I crossed the meadow that guards the entrance to Wolfscote Dale. I remember on a walk in 2015 I coming into the valley at this point so while I may not have been through Beresford Dale in the last twenty-two years I was now in more familiar territory as I passed into Wolfscote Dale, which is wider and deeper than Beresford Dale, though without the trees and abundance of wildlife that so delights in the latter. As the sun came out once more I had a lovely walk down this beautiful valley even though a strong wind was making things a little unpleasant.

Eventually I came to the junction with Biggin Dale where I turned to climb a rocky path through the narrow valley gradually climbing as I went. I don’t recall going through this valley since about thirty years ago, so I was keen to correct that oversight, but compared with the previous two valleys it struggled to compete. Eventually the valley opens out and divides, and at that point I had my lunch before taking the eastern branch towards Dalehead and out of the valley. At this point I had to turn over the Ordnance Survey map, which was a real pain in the windy conditions and took me a while to do. This is the problem with two-sided maps that might seem to be good value saving paper, but they are really tricky when you get to the edge and have to turn them over. Anyway, back to the walk and I was now unsure where to go next. My primary goal had been to revisit Beresford Dale and Biggin Dale and I didn’t have much else planned except perhaps to walk along the Tissington Trail so I crossed some fields to reach the course of the old railway line.

With hindsight, the best thing to do would have been to head north along the Tissington Trail until I reached the junction with the High Peak Trail at Parsley Hay and there turned down the High Peak back to my car. Instead I turned south along the trail for a short distance before coming off at the next bridge to follow roads and tracks across the drystone-walled and wind-swept High Peak to eventually reach the Minninglow car park on the High Peak Trail. Walking along the disused railway line for two and a half miles brought me back to the Friden car park with legs that were really aching from an exhausting walk that was more strenuous than I had been used to after months of lockdown. It was great to finally be able to get out and stretch my legs even though they complained afterwards. Maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t been able to go to Scotland as I needed to build my hillwalking fitness back up again, and the Peak District was a good place to do that.