TIDESWELL DALE WALK
THE WALK
This glorious walk takes you along picturesque dales, past dark satanic mills, through woodland and lovely open countryside.
Soon after leaving Tideswell behind, you walk through peaceful Tideswell Dale with its abundance of wildlife. After joining a narrow lane, you soon arrive at Litton Mill. The walk continues through the tranquil beauties of Millers Dale to Cressbrook Mill.
A climb up through woodland leads to a walk through several fields with distant views of Litton, returning to the starting point along quiet country lanes.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 2 – Litton Mill is where Robert Blincoe arrived as a child from a London poorhouse. He later wrote a harrowing tale of the cruelty and inhuman treatment meted out to the mill workers, many of whom never saw their families again. The mill has been converted into apartments.
Point 3 – Water-cum-Jolly Dale, where there is a wide expanse of water, held back by a weir and mill stream that centuries ago would have operated a huge waterwheel. Tranquil and serene, the river at Water-cum-Jolly Dale flows through a deep ravine with rocky limestone crags.
Point 4 – William Newton was the manager at Cressbrook Mill; he is probably better known as the ‘Minstrel of the Peak.’ He showed much greater compassion for his workers than that shown at Litton. Newton built a school and a row of latticed windowed cottages that look down on the mill, now converted to luxury apartments.
Point 8 – There is a sense of spaciousness about Litton; a wide grass verge runs down the side of the street of this attractive upland village, situated almost 1,000 feet above sea level. An old-world village pub and a small triangular green, complete with ancient wooden stocks, make up the idyllic scene. The houses are of good quality, mainly built in the 18th century, although the oldest, Holborn House, dates to 1639.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 5.5 miles.
Start: Tideswell village or roadside parking on the B6049, just south of the village centre.
Location: One mile south of the A623 Baslow to Chapel-en-le-Frith Road.
Terrain: Mainly easy with a long, steady climb up from Cressbrook Mill. Water-cum-Jolly Dale floods after heavy rainfall, when this walk should be avoided.
Refreshments: There are several cafes, public houses, and restaurants in Tideswell.
THE ROUTE
IMPORTANT NOTE: This walk is best avoided after heavy rainfall as Water-cum-Jolly Dale may be impassable; there is a diversion, but this entails a very awkward ascent to Cressbrook (may be closed).
1. From Tideswell, walk down the main street and continue along the B6049, before crossing the road to an opening on the left to walk along a path under the trees that soon brings you to Tideswell Dale Car Park. Continue past the toilet block down Tideswell Dale. Where the footpath forks, go to the right over a footbridge and continue descending to reach a narrow road.
2. Turn left along the road that soon reaches the hamlet of Litton Mill. Go to the right of the tall gateposts at the entrance to the mill and follow the concessionary path through the mill yard.
3. The path continues through Millers Dale to Water-cum-Jolly Dale, with its towering cliffs. After heavy rainfall, the dale floods to make further progress impossible. You can divert through Cressbrook village, by following a diversion with a steep and often slippery ascent – not recommended.
4. Leave Water-cum-Jolly-Dale by walking behind Cressbrook Mill. Go to the left up a minor road. At a fork in the road, keep to the right. Continue climbing up the hill until, where the road turns sharply to the left, you carry straight on along a track into a wood.
5. Just before coming to a clearing in the wood, near a gatepost, keep a sharp lookout for a path on the left, which you follow to a long winding flight of steps which climb steeply up to the edge of the wood.
6. Follow the path to the right, keeping just inside the wood, before eventually crossing a stile on the left and angling across the corner of the field to another stile on the right.
7. Cross the following field diagonally and continue over a series of fields and a farm track, maintaining the same direction along an obvious path, aiming towards a barn in the distance.
8. As the land rises, the walk straightens as you head towards Litton, with the barn you have been aiming for, still two fields away on the left. At the top of the field, turn left onto a tarmac road and follow it along until it bends to the left, where you continue straight on across three narrow fields, keeping close to the wall on your right.
9. Turn left along a fenced path, which leads you to a country lane. Cross the lane, walk down the field opposite to the bottom left-hand corner, and turn left down the road.
10. Cross the road before reaching a white bungalow and go up a track to the right, signed ‘Unsuitable for Motors,’ which leads you back to Tideswell.
TIDESWELL
