Monsal Dale and Ashford in the Water, 20th May 2018

Gail's walk started at the White Lodge car park where Monsal Dale meets the A6 and went up the bottom of the valley to the Monsal Trail, the route of Midland Railway’s Derby to Buxton line, opened in 1863, closed in 1968 and now a well-used recreational route for walkers and cyclists.

After crossing the viaduct and passing through the now-open Headstone Tunnel below Monsal Head, the walk continued along the trail until leaving it just before Hassop Station and using a bridleway south to reach the Wye and the outskirts of Bakewell.  It then followed the river upstream to Ashford and then back to the start.
Evidence of a water mill in Monsal Dale.  There used to be around twenty water mills along the Wye between Buxton and Bakewell, the earliest being corn mills

Headstone Viaduct - Monsal Head up high
Routes everywhere from the Monsal Trail
Looking back down Monsal Dale
Entry to Headstone Tunnel (487m long), reopened in 2011
Coffee stop at Great Longstone for Ashford Station (1863)
Descent to the Wye Valley, Bakewell in the distance
Holme Bridge (1664) - a packhorse bridge used to avoid tolls in Bakewell
More evidence of water mills on the Wye
Lunch
Church of the Holy Trinity, Ashford in the Water
Sheepwash Bridge, Ashford, a packhorse bridge with an attached stone sheepwash
Water mill on River Wye
Wild garlic