I’ve started to plan the walks I’ll go on during September and October this year. So far I’ve decided to tackle:
1. The Great Northern Greenway around Breadsall. This one’s easy, as the middle of the route is only a short stroll from home. It will probably turn into two separate walks – one to the end by The Paddock pub (next to the former Racecourse Ground Station) and the other through the Breadsall railway cutting to the current end of the Greenway at Lime Lane. The 2009 plans for the Greenway call for an extension all the way to Ilkeston – there’s no sign of that happening any time soon.
2. A circular route around the Iron Giant – Bennerley Viaduct. This, like the first route(s), is part of the former Great Northern Railway. It just qualifies, as one side of the viaduct is in Derbyshire.
3. The Monsal Trail. I’m aiming to do a couple of walks here, one from Bakewell or Hassop to the viaduct, and the other from Miller’s Dale station to the viaduct. And back, of course …
4. The Manifold Track. I’m going to start at Hulme End and walk along it until I feel the need to retrace my steps. It’s just a few hundred metres over the border in Staffordshire, but as I don’t think I’ve walked there since 1968, I’m going to stretch the definition of the Derbyshire border to accommodate it.
5. The Tissington Trail. As it’s 13 miles from end to end, I’m going to either hire a bicycle at Parsley Hay (yes, I know that’s not walking!) or simply walk a couple of the more interesting sections.
6. The High Peak Trail. My aim is to do the Middleton Top to High Peak Junction section of the route. Unusually for a railway, this has a couple of steep inclines (The Winding Engine House at Middleton Top is open on a number of Sundays and Bank Holidays during the year). Depending on the weather during September and October I may decide to tackle other parts of the route – or perhaps hire a bicycle to cover more of the 17 miles of trail.
7. The Phoenix Greenways. Unlike the other trails I’ve mentioned, I wasn’t aware of these until I started researching where I was going to walk. I’m still undecided as to which parts I’ll tackle – more research needed, as they say. The idea of tying in a walk on one of these routes with a visit to Hardwick Hall is appealing.
If you’d like to throw a few pounds my way in sponsorship, this is the link to my Just Giving page for Lymphoma Action.