I’d arranged to meet up with friends for coffee at the head of the Manifold Way, which was the Leek and Manifold Light Railway until 1934. Interestingly it became a footpath back in 1937, making it one of the very earliest such uses of disused railways. We actually met at Hulme End where the old station buildings form a visitor centre and the engine shed is a great tea room.
It would have been silly to go there and not get the bike out so I arrived early and did about 2/3 of the route before turning back. I didn’t have the most comfortable of rides as the screw on the saddle rails came loose after a few miles; of course because I was only going for a potter I hadn’t put the back bag on which had the bike multi-tool in it. I’ll do a little bit of rearranging to avoid that in the future. I survived, and the repair has been done now I’m back on site. Coffee and a long chat ensued once my friends arrived and we made plans for a joint ride later in the week.
The way itself is tarmac, but done many years ago so it’s a bit rough in places. It’s easy going though and unlike most trails in the area it’s quite low level and flat, following the rivers Manifold and Hamps (information from Wikipedia) in the valley bottom. I met quite a few cyclists, walkers and horse riders, all pleasant and responsive to a good morning or a “how do”. I was quite a bit faster than one other cyclist but he was probably older than me, was laden for touring and I have a 250w Bosch motor for assistance! 😊
After coffee, and once I’d loaded the bike back on the ‘van, I realised it was about lunchtime so returned to the tearoom for a delicious hot pork and stuffing bap. I needed a quick shopping trip so I popped in to the CoOp in Ashbourne (I’m planning a longer visit to the town later in the week). My brother will remember the car park, we once deposited a large lump of mud on it! We were at Hartington steam fair with the Green Lane Association* and had been out in the Range Rover on some of the local lanes. They were mostly hard surfaces but there’d been one really muddy bit. Losing the mud off the inside of a wheel made a huge difference to the handling!
People watching on site:
A newly arrived couple took well over an hour to put up their porch awning, well I say couple, actually he did all the work! He even had a bit of string round a pulley that enables him to pull the awning through the track while feeding it in, while she stood watching. Having finally got it fed on it took another 20 minutes to blow up the air beams (no poles these days on posh awnings) and about 30 to bang in the pegs. 20 minutes later there was another session with the electric pump to put a bit more air in.
*Shortly afterwards we decided green laning wasn’t sustainable due to a combination of irresponsible idiots and council rights of way budgets being pared to the bone so we gave it up. It was a good way to enjoy the countryside but not at the risk of creating permanent damage.
A typical view of the Manifold Way:
Hulme End Station:
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