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The ‘loveliest drive’
I managed to solve the question of whether the road from Goyt’s Bridge to Fernilee went through the gunpowder mill. But posed another with a photo of the mill entrance that just doesn’t seem right.
Farming in the valley
Bill Brocklehurst has lived and farmed in and around the Goyt Valley for most of his life. A recently published book includes a brief profile of a man who knows the land like the back of his hand.
Fernilee: a video history
Just uploaded to YouTube – a brief history of the construction of Fernilee Reservoir, including film of the 1932 inauguration ceremony, the gunpowder mill, suspension bridge and lost farmhouses.
Errwood Hall drive
A rare discovery: a postcard from the early 1900s shows the drive from Goyt’s Bridge up to the Grimshawe family’s grand country house, Errwood Hall. It’s a very different scene today!
Recording a brutal murder
Macclesfield’s Talking Newspaper brings to life the story of William Wood’s brutal murder on the road between Whaley Bridge and Disley in 1824. The culprits narrowly escaped capture in the town.
Fernilee footpath closed
The footpath along the western shoreline of Fernilee Reservoir has been closed for forestry work. It’s not likely to reopen before mid-November. So I’ve had to update a few of the walks on this website.
Young lady drivers
A photo of two young ladies dressed in mourning posing on an early motor car outside Errwood Hall has always intrigued me. A ‘Then & Now’ fade shows the scene today.
PRoW campaign update
A bulging folder of evidence forms shows there’s considerable support for the campaign to have a section of the old Cromford & High Peak Railway track recognised as a public right of way.
Sandy Lane gateposts
A couple of sturdy stone gateposts near the top of Old Goyt’s Lane once guarded access onto the track of the Bunsall Incline; the steep slope that today forms the main route into the valley.
Gail’s Goyt’s Bridge cards
Two very similar postcard views of Goyts Bridge are probably separated by only a few years, but reveal a massive change in fortunes for this wonderfully scenic spot beside the Goyt.
Laughing water
A 1948 article describing a walk through the Goyt Valley, from Whaley Bridge to Buxton, makes fascinating reading. It also reveals that I’d got the position of the suspension bridge completely wrong.
Over the hills
An inquest into a fatal accident on the Cromford & High Peak Railway in 1877 ruled that passengers could no longer be carried on the line. A writer describes one of the last journeys, riding on the ‘Fly’.
Whispers of the gods
A 1937 newspaper article published just before the opening of Fernilee Reservoir tells of a glorious landscape that has been lost forever – wrecked in the interests of the community.
Tracing the gateposts
Continuing the hunt to trace the history of some of the stone gateposts that stand around the Goyt Valley – this time to the west of Fernilee Reservoir, on the main track and up to Intake Farm.
Muck-spreading at Burbage
The campaign to have the Burbage section of the old C&HPR track recognised as a public right of way seems to have upset the land-owners. Cow slurry has been sprayed along the route!
To the gunpowder mill
A pair of stone gateposts beside Fernilee Reservoir set me wondering about their history. Old maps reveal that they once stood at the entrance to a path that led down to the old gunpowder mill.
Ladmanlow station
A recent book on the Cromford & High Peak Railway, which once ran through the Goyt Valley, includes a couple of photos of Ladmanlow Station, on the outskirts of Buxton. But does anything remain?
Applying for a PRoW
It seems the only way we’re going to resolve the problems at Plex Farm is by applying for the route to be made a PRoW – a Public Right of Way. And proving that it’s been used for over 20 years.
Fernilee to Castle Naze walk
This 12-mile walk starts from Fernilee Reservoir, passing Taxal Church and Combs Reservoir before climbing to the ancient Iron Age fort of Castle Naze, and returning along Combs Edge.
Threat of legal action
I’ve been threatened with legal and police action, unless I remove a walk that’s been on the site since 2011. Even though walkers have been going that way for donkeys’ years.
A postcard history
It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for ages – create a video of the valley, featuring some of the many wonderful postcards people have been kind enough to let me to scan.
Life for the killers
Four murderers receive life sentences for the brutal and senseless attacks which occurred just over 35 years ago in the scenic spot known as Goytsclough, close to the packhorse bridge.
Corbar to Erwood walk
I’ve just added walk 23 to the series. It’s an easy but rewarding eight miles from Corbar Woods down to the Goyt Valley, passing Errwood Reservoir and returning though Cavendish golf course.
Drones above Curbar Edge
“Covid-19 is causing much ill-health. We cannot also let it bring about a historic shift in the relationship between the state and the people, in which the state’s power grows and people’s liberty diminishes.”