Buxton signing workday Monday 3 September 2018

National Cycle Route 68, known as the “Pennine Cycleway” is a long-distance route running from Derby to Berwick-on-Tweed*, and our group looks after a significant stretch of this as it wends its way through Derbyshire from Etwall to Buxton and beyond. The almost four-mile section from Earl Sterndale to Harpur Hill, until a couple of days ago, has followed main roads much used by quarry traffic. Not nice! In 2016 Derbyshire County Council constructed a very fine multi-user path over Staker Hill and earlier this year completed a short spur from the Parks Inn to join with it. This has meant that the original alignment of that section of Route 68 has become redundant and the new route now proceeds from Earl Sterndale, straight on along a minor road, over Staker Hill on the new path, to Harpur Hill. We could not remove the old signage until this final Parks Inn link was built and the Staker Hill MUP fully accessible. Monday was our day to act!

We met at Earl Sterndale: David and Catherine, David G and Tom Aplin, our new Sustrans Volunteer Coordinator. After David G had outlined our tasks for the day, we slogged up one hill, then free-wheeled down to Brierlow Bar, and then climbed again to Harpur Hill (steep gradients in this area are unavoidable!), taking it in turns to scrape the old signage from lampposts (David and Catherine had already removed a couple in Earl Sterndale itself while waiting for the others to arrive). While riding these busy roads, we were reminded by the lorries thundering past us why this was not a good route and what an improvement the Staker Hill path is!

Having successfully achieved this important and somewhat overdue task, we renewed and added some signs at the road junction outside the Parks Inn. Next, we descended Harpur Hill Rd, still following NCR68, to the A515, checking as we went on the clarity of current signage and we made a couple of additions towards the bottom of the hill. Further improvements were made to signs along the quiet residential roads of Buxton, until we came to the town center. Final tweaks were employed at the junction of Manchester Rd, St Johns Rd and Water St, where we carried out several improvements, including the removal of tired old signage which was already peeling away and the addition of some Station signs. We also put some bracketed (68) signs (“leading to Route 68”) up at the station itself.  

That was a lot done, and we could have added more along the way, to make following the NCN even clearer – but that can wait till another time. And now it was time for lunch. We ate at “Upstairs at Charlotte’s Café” and exchanged tales with Tom. The Sustrans region for which he is responsible is enormous, stretching from Nottingham city (but not the county) westwards, past Birmingham, to Herefordshire and Shropshire, and as far south as Northants. He told us about the ranger groups he has already visited in the Midlands.

Just a little aside, concerning the signing of the National Cycle Network generally: while we were working in Buxton, two people – one an inhabitant of Buxton, today on foot, the other cycling from Bristol – congratulated us on the work we were doing. That would be gratifying in itself, but both said they had used the NCN to get to places and they found the well-signed routes really useful: the first chap had recently done the C2C and was preparing to use the Network to pedal from Land’s End to John O’Groats in a couple of weeks. The cyclist, David (another one!), was riding home to Leeds over a few days. He had also ridden the Coast and Castles Route earlier this year and was inspired to sign up as a ranger himself. He had received his welcome pack and was now hoping to hear from the local volunteer group. Good man!

Next, we investigated a footpath alongside the railway station, which could become part of the link between Buxton and the Monsal Trail, and forming an important part of the White Peak Link. The path is narrow and has a dog’s leg halfway along it, but recent demolition next to it and the consequent redevelopment which will inevitably follow could possibly bring with it some Section 106 money which could be used to improve and upgrade it to a MUP.

We regrouped again at the station and investigated a clutch of ten “Bike and Go” cycles on the station platform. These can be hired after first logging in on line (and giving bank details). A member of the station staff informed us that the bikes were hired from time to time, but Tom had a plan to increase their desirability for riding in the Buxton area and promote Sustrans at the same time; we will look into this.

At this point, the lure of a ride home in 2 hours with no hills was too great to resist, so I bade farewell to my friends and set off down the murderous A6 to reach that most excellent of paths, the Monsal Trail. The rest of the group (I’m told) retraced their steps to Harpur Hill, once again checking the quality of current signage, from there rode over the DCC’s brilliant Staker Hill MUP, making a few improvements en route, and thence to Earl Sterndale.

This was a highly fruitful workday with much achieved, and an opportunity to meet our new Volunteer Coordinator, Tom. Thanks to all for coming and thanks to David G for his leadership, keeping us all on the right track!

* NB There is a two-map set of the Pennine Cycleway published by Sustrans, price about £20. If you’re buying them, don’t forget your ranger discount!