Ghosts of Miller's Dale

The rural serenity of modern Miller's Dale belies its early role in the industrial revolution.

Distance 6 miles (9.7km)

Minimum time 4hrs

Ascent/gradient 690ft (210m)

Level of difficulty Medium

Paths Generally well-defined paths and tracks, path in Water-cum-Jolly Dale liable to flooding, quite a few stiles

Landscape Limestone dales

Suggested map aqua3 OS Outdoor Leisure 24 White Peak

Start/finish SK 154743

Dog friendliness Dogs could run free in dales with no livestock, but kept under control when crossing farmland

Parking Tideswell Dale pay car park

Public toilets At car park

Write a review of this walk

Directions
Background
Information

1 Follow the path southwards from beside the car park's toilet block into Tideswell Dale, taking the right-hand fork to cross over the little bridge.

2 On entering Miller's Dale, go left along the tarmac lane to Litton Mill. Go through the gateposts onto a concessionary path through the mill yard. Beyond the mill, the path follows the River Wye, as it meanders through the tight, steep-sided dale.

3 The river widens out in Water-cum-Jolly Dale and the path, liable to flooding here, traces a wall of limestone cliffs before reaching Cressbrook. Do not cross the bridge on the right, but turn left to pass in front of Cressbrook Mill and out onto the road.

4 Turn left along the road, then take the right fork which climbs steadily into Cressbrook Dale. Where the road doubles back uphill leave it for a track going straight ahead into the woods. The track degenerates into a narrow path that emerges in a clearing high above the stream. Follow it downhill to a footbridge over the stream, then take the right fork path, which climbs high up the valley side to a stile in the top wall.

5 Do not cross the stile, but take the downhill path to the dale bottom, where there's a junction of paths. The one wanted here recrosses the stream on stepping stones, and climbs into Tansley Dale.

6 The path turns right at the top of the dale, follows a tumbledown wall before crossing it on a step stile. Head for a wall corner in the next field, then veer right through a narrow enclosure to reach a walled track just south of Litton village.

7 Turn left along the track, which comes out onto a country lane at the crown of a sharp bend. Keep straight on down the lane but leave it at the next bend for a well-defined cross-field path to Bottomhill Road. Across the road, a further field path descends to the lane at Dale House Farm. Turn left along this lane, then right on a narrow lane marked unsuitable for motor traffic. Follow this road into Tideswell.

8 After looking around the village head south down the main street, then right onto Gordon Road, which then heads south.

9 Where this ends, continue down the stony track ahead, which runs parallel with the main road. Watch for a stile on the left, which gives access to a path, down to the road into Tideswell Dale. Turn right along the road, back to the car park.

It's all quiet in Miller's Dale these days, but it wasn't always so. Many early industrialists wanted to build their cotton mills in the countryside, far away from the marauding Luddites of the city. The Wye and its tributaries had the power to work these mills. The railway followed, and that brought more industry with it. And so little Miller's Dale and its neighbours joined the Industrial Revolution.

The walk starts in Tideswell Dale. Nowadays it's choked with thickets and herbs but they hide a history of quarrying and mining. Here the miners wanted basalt, a dark, hard igneous rock that was used for road building.

Litton Mill will eventually be modernised into holiday cottages, but today it lies damp and derelict in a shadowy part of the dale. The Memoirs of Robert Blincoe, written in 1863, tells of mill owner Ellis Needham's cruelty to child apprentices, who were often shipped in from the poorhouses of London. Many of the children died and were buried in the churchyards of Tideswell and Taddington. It is said that ghosts of some of the apprentices still make appearances in or around the mill.

The walk emerges from the shadows of the mill into Water-cum-Jolly Dale. At first the river is lined by mudbanks thick with rushes and common horsetail. It's popular with wildfowl. The river widens out and, at the same time, impressive limestone cliffs squeeze the path. The river's widening is artificial, a result of it being controlled to form a head of water for the downstream mill.

Round the next corner is Cressbrook Mill, built by Sir Richard Arkwright, but taken over by William Newton. Newton also employed child labour but was said to have treated them well. The rooftop bell tower would have peeled to beckon the apprentices, who lived next door, to the works. Like Litton this impressive Georgian mill was allowed to moulder, but is now being restored as flats. The walk leaves the banks of the Wye at Cressbrook to take in pretty Cressbrook Dale. In this nature reserve you'll see lily-of-the-valley, wild garlic and bloody cranesbill; you should also see bee and fragrant orchids. Just as you think you've found your true rural retreat you'll climb to the rim of the dale, look across it and see the grassed-over spoil heaps of lead mines. Finally, the ancient strip fields of Litton form a mosaic of pasture and dry-stone wall on the return to Tideswell Dale.

While you're there

Millers Dale Railway Station is a fascinating old site with a good deal of information on the railway, the wildlife and the walking. The station was built in 1863 for the Midland Railway. It was an important junction for the Buxton branch line, and in 1904 it was enlarged to provide a second platform and a second viaduct across the River Wye. The line went under the Beeching axe in 1967 and wildflowers now line the sides of the trackbed.

What to look for

There's a lot of wildlife on the route. Cressbrook Dale is part of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve. On the limestone grassland you may see orchids, cranesbill, mountain pansy, globeflower and spring sandwort. One of the many distinctive limestone-loving plants is the Nottingham catchfly (Silene nutans), which loves the dry, stony places which typify this landscape. The ragged white flowers roll back in daytime, but are fragrant at night. Small insects are often caught on the sticky stalks (hence the name) but in this case nature is being wasteful, for they're never devoured by the plant.

Where to eat and drink

The atmospheric Anglers Rest pub at Miller's Dale and the Hills and Dales Tearooms in Tideswell are both recommended for their warm welcome to weary walkers.