Peak Forest Tramway Walk.

Before I start on today's adventures, yesterday finished with me waiting for a Tesco delivery. Now because we were unsure which way the driver would come, Keith walked up to the canalside cottages to wait in case he came that way and I waited by the boat. He was due between 4.20 and 5.20pm at 4.50pm I got a phone call from Mr Tesco Man, asking "where are you"

I said "We are in Bugsworth Basin".

He said "Where is that, my sat nav tells me I have found you, but I am in the middle of the bypass, which cannot be right"

I laughed then said "Ok lets try The Navigation Inn's postcode, see if that works". I gave him the post code and he came back with.

"It tells me to go to Brookside lane, but no pub and no addresses"

Arghhhh I thought we would never get our shopping, but then he said " I will go to Brookside Lane and you see if you see me.

So I ran, ok no I did not run I walked as fast as my little legs would take me up to the pub and waited for any sign of a Tesco van. Whilst I waited I rang Keith to tell him what was happening, just as I put my phone in my pocket I saw the front of a Tesco van, so began waving furiously, if anyone had seen me other than the driver, they would have thought I was a mad woman (nothing new there). The driver did see me, and so I directed him down to our boat. The poor man had been driving around for 10 minutes before he rang me, he kept getting told to stop in the middle of the by-pass.

As I walked back to the boat, I rang Keith to say we had been found yayyyy. Mr Tesco man was actually fantastic and did go beyond the call of duty to find us. He bought the crates down to the galley doors and I unloaded the food on to the work tops, job done. I thanked the man for being such a star. He said "Your only the second boat I have ever delivered to in my 5 years of driving for Tesco". At least he now knows where to come if anyone else orders to Bugsworth Basin, as he had come from Stockport. After all that excitement, we had a quiet evening on the boat in front of the TV until bed time.

Now to today's adventures. We had thought that Keith may have to go to Kuranda to collect two wires, but having not received any indication that they were ready, we decided to go walking instead of sitting around on the boat, so having done the usual morning stuff, plus putting a gammon joint in the back cabin stove and getting coal in from the hold, we left the boat at 10.30am to walk along the Peak Forest Tramway Trail.

 

In length it is a 1.6 mile walk to the end and then of course another 1.6 miles back, but very pleasant it was. We had not gone more than a few hundred yards when a woman walking towards us with her brown Labrador said "Good Morning" to which I replied the same and we went on our way. I said to Keith "You know who that was, don't you". We had said good morning to Edwina Currie, who was enjoying a stroll with her dog. Little did we know we would see her again as she walked back to her home. For those who have never heard of Edwina Currie, she served as MP for South Derbyshire from 1983 to 1997.

 

Whilst we looked at the Black Swans at the old Whitehall Works, which once a paper mill, it was also cotton-weaving mill, bleach works and dyeing works, these days it is home to Stephanie Works, Edwina came back past us, we were greeted by her dog and so got chatting to her about our visit and her life. She was really pleasant to chat too.

Further along the tramway trail we came across what is left of Forge Mill, Chinley. The Mill used to manufacture paper, it was also a bleaching works and a bed linen factory, its destiny is now in the hands of the developer, who are planning to build 200 homes on the site. Black Brook, a tributary of the river Goyt, runs through the site from east to west and the old mill pond is still there. I am guessing that the chimney is to stay amongst the new development as it has not been flattened.

Along the trail there is still evidence of the old tramway. The tramway from Forge Mill used to carry bleached cloth down to the canal for transportation. The tramways were also used to transport limestone from the quarries to be burnt in the kilns or to be transported by canal.

Our walk ended at Charley Lane. Instead of taking the same route back we walked down the lane to a bridge and followed a footpath which took us alongside the Black Brook back to Forge Mill.

We both enjoyed the walk and so decided we would end it with lunch in The Navigation Inn.

Keith had Cottage Pie and Vegetables and I went for Liver and Onions.

We followed that with Sticky Toffee Pudding with Custard and I had Chocolate Fudge Cake with Ice Cream, which was sublime. Our tipple of the day was Doctor Morton's Duck Baffler.

After a very nice lunch, we took a walk up to Buxworth. It was once an important centre for the limestone industry, became the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal. The village was originally called Bugsworth, but in the early 20th century some residents began to dislike the name of their village and so in 1930 it was renamed Buxworth after some campaigning.

In 1898 John Cotton was the last man to be hanged in Derby Gaol for murdering his wife in Bugsworth basin after drinking heavily in the Rose & Crown, which no longer exists at Bugsworth.

Buxworth church St. James is a pretty little church, with a grave yard which is still in use. The church is c1874 and stands very proudly on the bank.

Whilst looking at the headstones, this one got my attention purely because of the unusual names. So on returning to the boat I did a little detective work on the Wildgoose family. Septimus Wildgoose was born in Doveholes, Derbyshire and as far as I can tell was a clerk. He married Sarah Elizabeth Brooks on the 12 December 1898. Sarah Brooks was born 20 May 1876, Dreacot in Clay, Staffordshire.

As we continued our walk we found this old Methodist chapel, but is now a private residence, complete with gravestones in the back garden!

We walked back to the basins, via what used to be the arm below the lime kilns between the basins and the village, unfortunately there is very little sign that the lime kilns were ever there, which is a real shame.

Back on board and the smell coming from the back cabin stove suggested that my Gammon joint was cooking nicely. Marmite and Paddy were very happy to see us. The sun is out as the low cloud has finally been burnt away. Two boats that had been moored near us have now gone, so we are pretty much on our own. I have done all I am going to do today, apart from the usual feeding mog and dog, sorting out fires and general tidying. So I am off to watch a bit of TV.

Chat soon.