X71 Timetable

Hulley's have just published the timetable for the new forthcoming bus service going to Hanley from Sheffield. It's a weekend and bank holidays only service and only one bus goes all the way over to Hanley. Nonetheless I will be able to take advantage of this route to travel towards Alton Towers and reach some very nice walking country from there and the intermediate stops en route. The intermediate stops and full route haven't been published yet...apart from Hartington, but Dovedale and the Manifold Valley should be reachable and areas further south such as the pretty estate village of Osmaston and the ruins of Croxden Abbey.

The morning departure from Sheffield on a Saturday is at 0840, that won't be a problem for me but the Sunday departure is at the same time and my train from Doncaster isn't scheduled to arrive at Sheffield until 0838 so I'll probably miss the bus more weeks than I'll catch it and so will need an alternative walk planned.

When full details are available I'll be able to start making my plans...I'm really looking forward to my walks in the southern parts of the Peak District and beyond, this summer.



UPDATE:

The full timetable has now been published:

I'm glad that the bus is stopping at Hulme End on its way to Alton Towers - it's a good spot for accessing the Manifold Valley.

New Bus Service Going To Hanley

Hulley's of Baslow are going to be operating a new bus service to Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, starting in March. No details have been announced yet but the company has been posting clues and blurred out photographs of locations along the route on their Facebook page. People have been having fun trying to work out the route, but it looks like it will definitely pass through Leek. 

I'm convinced that I've worked out that two of the locations are Monyash and Longnor: whatever the final route turns out to be though I'll be using it a lot to reach new areas of the Peak District such as Dovedale, the Manifold Valley, Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill, Lud's Church, Ilam Park, Tissington, and The Roaches this year.

I'm really looking forward to this summer - I'm already poring over my maps and working out interesting walks.

UPDATE:
Hulley's have just provided the answers to the clues they've been posting on their Facebook page and so here's a list of some of the places the new service [X71] will be going -

Monyash
Cheadle - there's one in Staffordshire but I only knew about the one near Stockport
Hartington
Longnor
Thorpe
Leek
Werrington
Brassington
Hulme End
Tissington

There seems to be no logical route that passes through all of these locations, so maybe it will be a circular service out to Hanley.

Bakewell; and then Monyash, Hurdlow, Longnor, and Burlow

I was on a mission today, to walk over into Staffordshire for the first time. The easiest place to start from is Monyash, less then four miles from the county boundary.

I woke up early this morning and so caught an early train to Sheffield and then the first bus of the day to Bakewell; this meant that I had over an hour to spend in Bakewell. It gave the weather a bit of time to brighten up as I went looking for some photographs to take.

The number 178 bus going to Monyash wouldn't start at first but the driver got out a can of oil and opened a panel at the back of the vehicle and somehow got the engine going. Then, when we were waiting to set off, seemingly for no apparent reason a large upper storey window in the old bank building shattered and shards of glass landed on the road and pavement, just a few feet away. Fortunately no-one was injured, at some times though later in the day a lot of people would have standing right in that spot waiting for a bus going to Sheffield. A frail old woman sitting across from me on the bus was quite distraught and wanted to call the police because she thought someone might have been kidnapped: a few seconds later though, just before we set off a man came out to sweep up the mess, obviously builders were working inside the building.

When I reached Monyash I headed out to the west and over towards the High Peak Trail, I passed through a tunnel going through the embankment and then followed the road through Hurdlow.

I climbed to the summit of High Wheeldon; it was still a bit misty though.

From certain angles High Wheeldon looks like a grassy pyramid, it's quite steep and because the grass was wet and slippery I decided to climb up on all fours and get down the other side using my backside. I was glad I was wearing a thick, heavy pair of hiking trousers because there were some low-growing thistle-type plants hidden among the grass and I had to be careful where I placed my hands and bum.

There were also some pretty white flowers on the higher parts though.

I continued down Green Lane and crossed over the River Dove and into Staffordshire at Beggar's Bridge .

There were some lovely views of Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill as I headed across the fields to Longnor.

I went inside the first pub I found in Longnor, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn; it was open and a log fire was burning in the grate but there was no-one around to serve me. I waited for a minute or so, shouted 'Hello' and 'Shop' a couple of times and then left and wandered further into the village. I spotted two more pubs; one was closed for renovation work and the other was far too posh for me to even consider entering.

I checked my watch and decided I'd got enough time to linger for a while and so went to the tearooms and had a pot of tea and a very nice fruit scone.

The church was re-built in the late eighteenth century, I think it looks a bit like a 'dark satanic mill'. 

I couldn't go inside the church today.

The route northwards towards Buxton took me right up close next to Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill; there was no time for me to climb them today...it looks like it would be difficult ridge walk, much more difficult than the Great Ridge near Castleton.

The last mile or so of the walk was spoiled because of some quite heavy rain and then needing to work out a route down to the bus stop at Burlow, a couple of miles south of Buxton. Some new houses were being built and I couldn't see where the footpath had been diverted: when I was able to I jogged and arrived at the bus stop just a minute before the bus arrived to take me back to Bakewell.

I enjoyed my walk today a lot, despite the weather not being ideal. I'd say the countryside in this part of the Peak District is the best I've ever seen. I'd love to explore the area more but it's always going to be difficult for me because I'm at the limit of how far I can reach using public transport from Doncaster.