TORRS RIVERSIDE PARK
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INFORMATION
Location: Torrs Riverside Park is at New Mills, on the A6015 off the A6 Buxton to Stockport Road.
Visit: New Mills Heritage Centre is located on the ground floor of High Lea Hall. It features a museum, a shop, and a refreshment seating area. It offers a range of publications, maps, trails, sundries, and light refreshments. The collection includes over 250 items, with permanent displays, temporary exhibitions, and special events. Check opening details.
Refreshments: New Mills has cafes, pubs, and restaurants to suit all tastes.
New Mills: Spectacular New Mills! But many people who drive through the town by car are utterly unaware of the secret beauty below. The Torrs Riverside Park provides access to a dramatic gorge and an area of stunning natural beauty that was once a hive of industry. The main problem for the mills in the gorge was accessibility, with narrow, steep roads that were a disadvantage when steam power started replacing water. The next generation of mills were built on high ground on the other side of the gorge at Newtown, alongside the Peak Forest Canal and close to the railway station.
TORRS RIVERSIDE PARK
The Torrs Riverside Park provides access to a dramatic gorge and an area of stunning natural beauty. The Park also contains the remains of an important industrial area, with the Millennium Walkway winding its way for 125 yards through the gorge. It hugs a tall retaining wall before running along pillars rising from the river bed. The walkway forms the final link in the 225-mile-long Midshires Way from the Trans Pennine Trail in Stockport to the Ridgeway in Buckinghamshire.
Following massive reclamation work, the ‘Park under the town’ has taken over land left derelict by industry and now extends for two miles along the Goyt Valley. Trees have been planted, ponds created, and easy-access paths installed. The 25-acre Goytside Meadows Nature Reserve is open to the public at the park’s southern end.
When the Industrial Revolution swept the country, the Torrs was ideal for spinning and weaving, driven by waterpower. Set in a natural gorge, New Mills had the joint waterpower of the Rivers Sett and Goyt. Rocky waterfalls and cascades allowed the construction of weirs to provide a controlled water supply. The ledges above the floodwater level were ideal for building along the riverbank, and the sandstone rocks at the side of the gorge meant the builders did not have to go far for their materials.
In 1884, the problem of access between New Mills and Newtown, on opposite sides of the gorge, was solved by building the mighty Union Road Bridge, one of the highest road bridges in this part of the country. Despite this, it hardly seems as if you are crossing a bridge because the high parapets hide the view of the gorge.
When steam power started replacing water, the mills in the Torrs Gorge became virtually inaccessible due to their narrow, steep roads. The solution was to build the next generation of mills on high ground on the other side of the gorge at Newtown, close to the Peak Canal and railway station.
