Thank heaven for common sense!  Six members, including newcomer Pauline, managed to turn up at the sensible car park, albeit an expensive Pay and Display carpark, for the ride despite my putting an isolated lay-by seemingly miles above the Monsall trail as our starting point.  It seemed that everyone, including me, took a look at the lay-by, decided I could not be serious and returned to the car park at the start of the trail!

The morning ride was uneventful though undoubtedly scenic with views of the gorges of the river Wye and the associated mills of Litton and Cressbrook where kindly Victorian Mill owners took orphans off the streets of Manchester and gave them the chance to work for their living!

Very soon we were at the trail’s end where we embarked on a bit of proper rough stuff riding up farm tracks and then swiftly down a rapidly deteriorating track to Rowsley for lunch and shopping! A new concept this on a Rough Stuff ride!

After lunch we followed a quaint track out of the village past the church gaining most of the height needed to rejoin the trail.  I say most but there was still a fair bit of climbing to do on a rough track below Rowsley Moor Wood before we reached our junction where Geoff and Pauline chose to make their way back to the trail and home while the rest of us struck directly upwards through some very muddy and steep tracks through the woods in the vague direction of Chatsworth.  Having negotiated this challenge, the route rewards with some beautiful downhills along forest tracks and through open pasture - a little too inviting for Graham who came a cropper on an ill-sited drainage channel but was thankfully only shaken not stirred thanks to his helmet and was able to resume after a bit of tac!

The greatest reward on this ride is the stunning view of Chatsworth which emerges after you pop out from a forest track to see the whole estate laid out before you.  Cary - ever the athlete - needed reminding to look up before he realised what a splendid view lay before us.  The official bridleway seems to take you in a big looping semi circle through the pasture so we followed our noses trying to pick out the best route through long, hay fever inducing, grasses down to the picturesque model village of Edensor, rebuilt by the Earls of Devonshire as they did not like the original village spoiling the view from their house!

A bit more tlc to Grayham’s knee and we were off on a long steady rough climb out of the village, past picturesque gardens only to reach the top of the track, the old Bakewell road according to an ancient milestone, and instantly descend rapidly on tarmac to the village of Pilsley where we took a wonderful bridleway which only ever seemed to go down until it eventually reached the A619, the new and rather busy main road to Bakewell.  

Sadly lack of time meant we had to take the road back to rejoin the trail at Hassop Station where the cafe proved too tempting for all of us except our athlete Cary who needed some lung busting exercise in his training zone back along the trail.  We took it easy and after a cuppa and cake, well I had the cake having been abstemious at lunchtime, set off along the trail.  What had seemed an easy and relaxing ride down the gradient in the morning turned into a bit of a trial as we ground our way back to the start.

A great day’s riding for everyone.

Rob Newton

 Roger's Photos can be viewed on Flickr here:

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