Skip to main content

The Churnet Way: bells at Alton

Alton village and Alton Towers are perched on opposite banks of the Churnet, with the river cutting a deep valley between them. Most people drive straight through the village on the way to the theme park. But I have a great liking for walks and no fondness at all for rollercoasters, so I found a large layby to park in at Town End, in Alton, and pulled on my boots.


The church bells were ringing as I set off. I vaguely wondered if there was an event. A wedding? Unlikely on a Tuesday morning. Maybe a funeral. I followed a footpath across a few fields to reach Saltersford Lane. This was the width of a single-track road, but mostly overgrown and muddy. I was grateful for the strip of stone flags (and some more modern concrete slabs) which provided a dry surface to walk on.



Presently I came out into some fields and dropped down a slope to the old railway line, at the point where I left it on my previous walk


bit of old rail
 

There followed several miles of walking along the railway path. Old railways always have a good flat surface, but they do get a little tedious. I was down in the bottom of the river valley now. Woods rose up on both sides of me, oaks and birch later giving way to tall straight pines. Occasional screams came from my right, which would have been alarming if I didn't know that Oblivion was hidden behind the trees.



 On my left, Alton Castle came into view. It's a Catholic youth retreat centre, apparently. I wonder if trips to Alton Towers are part of the program? 

I was surprised to arrive at a neatly-painted station, looking as if it were still ready for a train to stop at the platform. Alton station was busy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Alton Towers was already a tourist attraction. It closed in 1965, but is now a holiday cottage. I sat on the far end of the long platform to eat a bit of lunch.


 

A mile or two further along, I had just arrived at the less impressive remains of Oakamoor station when the rain came down. Hard. I quickly dragged on my waterproof trousers. There may not be much left of the station, but the old tunnel and crossing keeper's house were atmospheric in the rain.

Now that I was off the railway path, I had to climb the side of the valley. Taking a deep breath and mentally engaging low gear, I slogged up a steep woodland path with rain clattering on the leaves. A couple of large helicopters flew over, low.

At the top I met the Staffordshire Way and promptly dropped back down Ousal Dale, stumbling along a stony path with my glasses steaming up. At the bottom was a house and a lake, with a rowing boat pulled up on shore.



The Ramblers Retreat cafe would have been a tempting place to stop if I hadn't been so wet. I kept going, ascending high above the road and river, then dipping down to meet them again. Gradually the rain eased off, so I stopped on a mossy bench to finish my food. 

looking down to the river and Red Road

a very hollow way

From there it was a short climb through Toot Hill woods. Great hunks of sandstone stuck out of the ground. In Alton village, some of the houses (including the aptly-named Rock Cottage) had been built onto outcrops of rock. This blogger did a similar walk to me, with a more geological outlook.


build your house on a rock...

The bells were still pealing as I approached St Peter's Church. Had they been ringing for the whole three hours? I stuck my head through the church door and saw a group of people with very focussed expressions, along with a handwritten sign which said, "Please do not disturb the bellringers". I backed out quietly.


As I walked back to the car, the jangle of change-ringing changed to descending scales, and then silence. They'd finished! But no; a brief pause, and off they went again. I was sufficiently intrigued to investigate when I got home, and found this informative video. Looks like much harder work than a three hour walk, if you ask me!

8.4 miles / 13.5 km 

10 September 2024

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Limestone Way - the end! (for now...)

Bonsall is a pretty little village just up the road from Cromford. It was the centre point for my final Limestone Way walk. First I walked one way, back towards Ible, then I walked the other way to Matlock. I started at the fountain and climbed up to a tree in which a mistle thrush was singing loudly (helpfully identified by the Merlin app). A few fields took me across to the hamlet of Slaley. Then there was a pleasant walk through the woods, which dropped steeply to my left down to the Via Gellia. At Dunsley Springs the stream went right over the edge.  I made my way down more gradually, and then was faced with the long climb up again to the point near Leys Farm where I was rejoining the Limestone Way. Tree down! Rejoining the Limestone Way Once I'd reached the top, it was a very pleasant walk across dry grassy fields. There were signs of old mining activity, which suddenly made the ground feel less solid under my feet - how many holes were hiding under the turf? Back at Bonsall, ...

Limestone Way: Grangemill and Ible

It was getting mistier and mistier. As I drove past Carsington Water, the world around grew dimmer, and when I parked near Brassington, the nearby trees were hazy shadows in the murk. I was glad I was wearing a red coat as I started off along Manystones Lane. At least I had some chance of being visible. Fortunately it was a short road section. I navigated my way across a series of small fields, from one dry stone wall to the next, and crossed the old railway line which is now the High Peak Trail. I could just imagine a steam train emerging out of the fog. The next fields were larger. It was as if the landscape was being sketched around me as I walked across it. A tree or an electricity pylon would appear as a few faint lines, increasing in detail when I got closer, and fading away behind. Up ahead, the land dropped into a huge hole - Longcliffe Quarries. I couldn't see much, but the noise from the machinery dominated the next section of the walk.  I skirted the edge of the quarry a...

Baby Language

For some reason baby equipment is an area in which American English differs markedly from British English. As well as learning how to care for a baby, we had to learn a whole new vocabulary! Fortunately we are now fluently bilingual, and I have compiled a handy US-UK baby dictionary for you. Diaper n. Nappy Mom says if you can read this change my diaper. The first time you change one of these you will be all thumbs and stick the little adhesive tabs to yourself, the baby and probably the changing mat before you get them where they ought to go. A few years later you will be able to lasso a running toddler and change them before they even know what's happened (yes, I have seen it done). You will also get through more diapers than you ever thought possible, creating scary amounts of expense and waste. Hence we are now mostly using: Cloth diaper n. Reusable nappy Cool baby. No longer those terry squares, the main drawback is that there are now so many types it can be qu...