Fog is the sweat of the never-never navvies who
Pound, pound, pound, pound, pound
Spikes in the rails to their very own heaven.Towers of London – Andy Partridge (XTC).
Six years ago today I had a successful stem cell transplant for Mantle Cell Lymphoma. I know it was successful as I’m still alive to tell the tale! To celebrate I’ve walked the half of the Monsal Trail between Bakewell and Monsal Head. The route (especially between Bakewell Station and Monsal Head) was rather busy for what I thought was going to be a quiet September morning – far busier than the Manifold Track earlier on this week.
However the 1km stretch between Bakewell Station and the Coombs Road Viaduct was almost deserted. My observations on these first five walks have led me to develop a theory, which shall henceforth be known as Holyoake’s Railway Walks Theory. It states:
The percentage of people you encounter on a walk along a railway trail (P) who will exchange a greeting is inversely proportional to the number of people you meet on the trail in the preceding 30 minutes (T). P = f/T, where f is a non-negative constant quantifying the normal friendliness of the population walking the route at about the same time as you are.
Conscious that it would be good to eat something after I’d finished walking, I started near the middle of the route at Hassop Station, where there’s a very busy cycle hire point, gift shop and cafe. It was a little after 10am when I arrived (four hours parking is £4.50, all day is £5.50) and the number of would-be cyclists waiting to rent their wheels was staggeringly large. I walked smugly past the queue and started out on the trail towards Monsal Head. Walking in this direction ‘T’ was rather large, so few people wanted to say hello.
The bridges crossing the trail all look very similar. A stone facade, with brickwork laid at an angle of around 45 degrees to the vertical walls forming the interior of the arch.
A few hundred metres past the controversial Thornbridge Hall developments are the remains of Great Longstone Station. It’s a similar size to Breadsall Station on the Great Northern Greenway, but in rather better condition.
The Headstone Tunnel quickly appears. The foliage above the entrance with the steel cage to prevent loose rocks from hitting you makes it feel like you’re walking into a dinosaur movie.
The tunnel is mostly dry but dimly lit. You can’t see the other end at first as it curves gently to the right. On the other side is the massive Headstone Viaduct below Monsal Head and that’s as far in this direction along the trail that I’m going today. I’ve got an earworm at this point – Towers of London, by XTC, as I’m thinking about the people who built all this, and how difficult and deadly the work must have been in the 1860’s.
At this point I retrace my steps back to Hassop Station (it’s getting really busy now and ‘T’ is huge) and on to Bakewell Station. The station buildings look as if they’re vacant and unloved, despite the thriving industrial units on the approach. As some point the track bed has been filled in to the height of the remaining station platform. The trail dips down a couple of feet after the bridge and normal service is resumed.
From here to the Coombs Road Viaduct, ‘T’ becomes very small indeed. Everyone wants to exchange a greeting! My theory is proven, a Nobel Prize surely awaits.
I’ve made it to the end, so I nip down to the road to look at the viaduct. It’s nothing like as large as the one at Monsal Head, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Time to head back to Hassop for lunch.
That’s all until October as I have other commitments for the rest of September. Today’s stats are below. If you enjoyed reading this, please consider making a donation to Lymphoma Action. Thank you for your support!
