Sunday 10 May 2015

Great Longstone and the Monsal Trail

Just 3 of  us this week and we hadn't a clue where we were going, so we headed north up the A6 and stopped at Bakewell to look at the map and decided Great Longstone was worth a visit. We parked just opposite the green with the market cross and got booted up. We wandered down the village street and turned right onto a footpath just past the White Lion pub. Through past some houses and the playing fields then down to the Monsal Trail. Walking along the Monsal trail some sections were just full of rabbits, even got to a few feet of some of them, clearly used to people on the trail. We continued until we got to the Headstone Tunnel then onto the viaduct where we had our breakfast.
Its a steep climb from the Monsal Viaduct up to the Monsal Head Hotel where we stopped for a bit to recover and take some pics. This must be one of the most recognised places in Derbyshire.
We wandered down through Little Longstone across the fields and back to the car. Normally that would have been it and back home but i spotted a couple of really old tractors at the top of the village going onto a narrow road. Then more tractors came through the village and followed suit. We decided to follow and see what it was all about. We ended up at Castlegate Farm where there must have been every tractor from the Derbyshire Peaks assembled, old and new. We had a good look around and found out it was the annual Castlegate Tractor Run. We decided to leave before they set off because the route out would be blocked with tractors for about an hour.

This weeks route

Great Longstone War Memorial

Great Longstone Market Cross

Great Longstone Market Cross

Ike & Rob

Main Street Great Longstone




Fancy gate posts on the bridge over the Monsal Trail


Longstone Railway Station opened in 1863 nd closed in 1962


Dozens of rabbits running about

View from the Monsal Trail

Headstone Tunnel at 533 yards long.


Inside the Headstone Tunnel



Forget me nots

Ike & Rob

Panorama of the Monsal Viaduct with the river Wye below.

Hobss's Tearooms, erected in the 1850's for the navvies bunkhouse while they were building the Derby to Manchester railway.


Ike & Rob taking in the fabulous view


Rapeseed fields



Little Longstone Congregational Church built around 1844

Field of dandelions

Monkey on a gatepost

This colourful cottage is called Christmas Cottage

Rob pumping the Little Longstone water pump

The troughs supplied water to the village until 1904 when mains water was installed.

An old Triumph Herald convertible

It looks better like this


Rob & Ike talking fishing again

Great Longstone Market Cross

This is in the bus shelter in Great Longstone


Castlegate Farm. 





Badge on one of the tractors

Latecomer to the Castlegate Tractor Run. 
This was a cracking little walk around the 2 Longstone villages with an excursion to the iconic Monsal Head Viaduct.
See you next week.

No comments:

Post a Comment