Buxton, Eerwood Reservoir, & Red Grouse
So this weekend I decided to mix things up and catch the train to Buxton as opposed to around Hathersage & Edale. Essentially I wanted a change, and originally wasn't even going to travel to the Peak District, but weather changed my plans.
Anyways, I caught the train from Manchester Oxford Rd station, changed at Stockport, and arrived at Buxton at around 10:10am. From there I began to walk up the A53 out of Buxton, turning off it when I reached Bishop's Lane which I then followed until it turned to the right. Shortly after which, I turn off the lane, and onto and up the hill to my left, trying not to fall down on the slippy mud initially and the thin layer of snow a little further up. Arguably the mud was the more slippy of the two.
Reaching the top of the slope, I attempted as best as I could to follow the path which eventually goes past the entrance to the abandoned Goyt's Valley Tunnel. After this, I crossed over a wider track running from left to right, and began to make my way down hill to the bottom of the valley, still somewhat paranoid of slipping over. At the bottom, I crossed over the river/stream and continued to follow the path down the valley. It was along here that I saw what I'm guessing is a Red Grouse and managed to get the picture below. It was nice to see, and adds on nicely to the Red Deer I saw on my last major walk.
Reaching a bit of Y-junction, I took the path sticking to the right side of the river following it round to a bench with a view over Eerwood Reservoir. The path then went along the right of the reservoir before meeting up the road. Going left at this point took me down to the reservoir dam wall, which I crossed over and then made my way back up the other side of the reservoir. I then followed the road alongside the Goyt River, briefly venturing off to follow a path running closer to the water but eventually joining back up with the road.
A short distance after passing the reconstructed Goyt's Bridge, moved when reservoir was created, I turned off the path passing a metal sign pointing to Buxton, and then going right after after walking over river on a bridge following a sign for Berry Clough. Another fork in the path saw me sticking the right again. This then led all the way up onto the moors where the amount of snow increased again. Upon reaching a wooden signpost, I went in the direction signed for Burbage, eventually crossing into a field via steps over a wall, which I went downhill and diagonally across. reach the far corner the path turns round the left, and eventually meets up with the Macclesfield Old Rd. Following this led to the A53, which then led into the centre of Buxton.
Overall the walk was about 9 miles in length and with the relatively poor conditions underfoot in places took about 4 hours, although I did stop for photos and lunch. Luckily the weather held out so it wasn't that bad despite the cold, but it would be great to do this walk again in the summer. In future walks, I think I might explore more around Buxton as its an area I haven't done much in yet.
Thanks for reading!!
