DAY 2: THE MONSAL TRAIL

A BIKE RIDE FROM BUXTON TO BAKEWELL

The family-friendly MONSAL TRAIL is one of the finest bike rides in the Peak District, a fairly flat 9-mile cycle route that follows a disused railway line from Blackwell Mill Junction to Coombs Viaduct – roughly Buxton to Bakewell – past old mills, through cool, dark tunnels and across a river-spanning viaduct. Depending on the ages of your children, the ride could easily be an all-day activity. Pick up your bikes at Blackwell Mill Cycle Hire [open daily from 9am to 5pm | £17, £10 for children, child seats, tagalongs and trailers also available], a short walk along the river from Wyedale car park, around 3 miles east of Buxton. After about half a mile of easy riding along the trail you’ll come to RUSHER CUTTING, the first of half a dozen echoing tunnels, all lit until dusk and blissful respites on a hot summer’s day. Immediately after emerging from Cressbrook Tunnel, four tunnels further on, take a moment to look down into the valley to your left at CRESSBROOK MILL, built in 1779 by Sir Richard Arkwright to create cotton for the lace-making industry, and now private apartments. About a mile from here, you’ll come to the highlight of the ride, soaring MONSAL HEAD VIADUCT, its arches straddling the River Wye as it weaves through Monsal Dale, and adjoining HEADSTONE TUNNEL, at 533 yards the longest tunnel on the trail. As you ride towards the end of the line, the grass-sided trackbed curves between the old platforms at GREAT LONGSTONE STATION; it closed in 1962, although one train continued to stop here in order to take a local nursing sister to and from her job at Buxton Hospital each day. The Monsal Trail peters out at Coombs Viaduct, but it’s worth backtracking to Bakewell Station and heading half a mile down Station Road into BAKEWELL itself for a well-earned treat before starting back on the return journey to Blackwell Mill Junction.

TOP TIP You could hardly come to Bakewell and not have a Bakewell tart, right? Well, the original confection from these parts is actually the BAKEWELL PUDDING, a buttery puff pastry that is topped with strawberry jam and a custard of eggs, sugar and almonds – legend has it that they were made by a mistake in around 1860 (the tart came much later). You can try one at several pudding shops around town, although you can’t go wrong with the plate-sized portions at The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop, which are big enough to share between 4 (£11).

WHERE TO STAY

MOORLAND VIEW FARM