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Pennine Bridleway - Kirkby Stephen to Ribblehead

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The Pennine Bridleway is a trail I have bumped into a few time on other walks - but today is the first time I'm heading out specifically to walk a section of this trail. The last of this trail was only completed in 2012, and it owes a lot to a literal Lady by the name of Mary Towneley - who launched the idea of a Pennine Bridleway (and highlighted the general need for improved bridleways) back in 1986, when she rode 250 miles from Corbridge to Ashbourne, along with two friends. The first part of the trail, the Mary Towneley Loop - named after Mary Towneley, who had herself died the year before - opened in 2002, with the final section following in 2012.  The route itself runs from just below Kirkby Stephen, to just outside of Wirksworth (south of Matlock) - and makes use of both old lanes, pack horse routes, drover's roads and part of the High Peak Trail (a disused railway line). An extension up beyond Kirkby Stephen was approved back in 2002, but has never been funded and for...
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Monsal Trail - Grindleford to Buxton (★★★★★)

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Today the plan is to walk the Monsal Trail to see if it is indeed worth all the hype. Access to the trail by public transport requires a bit of logistical planning - but in the end I came up with a plan to start at Gindleford, head down to Chatsworth House, and then cut along to Bakewell - where I could join the Monsal Trail (although it properly starts a bit before Bakewell).  From here I can simply follow that trail - and then continue on to Buxton. And for this final stretch into Buxton, I plan to use the Midshires Way - and I will use this route into Buxton again when I walk the High Peak Trail. But for now our first task is to head by train to Grindelford - and then from here we drop down to meet up with the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail .  And here we find a pretty, but still fairly wet, part of the world - where the people are friendly, and where everyone says hello on our way by. Heading out along the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail I have walked this route before, and a...
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