Monsal Head

Phew!! Nearly there! ...

... It's a steep pull up this valley side ...

... but there we are, back at the pub.

The remnants of our study group from my first year with the Open University get together from time to time to visit art exhibitions, historic properties, classical plays etc or just to have a meal and a chat.

Here they are, in their stall in the Stable Bar, drowning their sorrows/celebrating (exams have just finished!) in front of a roaring log fire while wondering if I might appear!

The pub is perched dramatically on the edge of Monsal Dale where the valley, carved from the limestone by the River Wye running from its Buxton headwaters to its confluence with the Derwent, makes an abrupt turn westward - almost back on itself! Having arrived earlier on this cold October day (the outside thermometer of the car was hovering just above freezing all the way over),this is where I had been to see what I could capture of the scenery. Here the view looking NW, back upstream toward Cressbrook ...

... and here looking downstream and looking west.

The further enhancement to the drama of the setting is the viaduct which struts across the valley ...

... allowing the railway to plunge directly into into the depths of the facing hillside.

Closed in 1968 after a century of use the railway found a new vocation, between Buxton and Bakewell, as a leisure trail, excepting the tunnels closed off for safety reasons and no doubt cost.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) railed (pun intended) against the Midland Railway despoiling the countryside - reproduced on the information board at the site is his quotation. MR were well aware of the beauty of this stretch of line it featured prominently in their pictorial publicity.

As your train emerged from the darkness of the tunnel this would be the view opening up as you seemingly soared eighty feet above the river.

Or this view if seated on the opposite side of the carriage.

The White Peak's distinguishing feature, that follows from its geological construct of limestone, is that the roads for the most part stay on the plateau/ridges while most pleasurable scenery is generally in the Dales and mostly accessible only on foot. Almost as if in some way the 'normal' arrangement had been inverted.

Down in the Dale, heading downstream, this is the walker's view of the viaduct ...

... and of his continuing path beyond as seen from the viaduct ...

... and these the locals he would have encountered had he continued. (These chunky shaped white/black/red mixed coloured herds seem to be slowly replacing the seemingly ubiquitous herds of black and white Friesians - a consequence of foot and mouth?)

But, obviously, like me, he didn't continue today but headed thankfully for the warmth and comfort of the bar, the excellent beer and the superb food.