It might seem a little extreme to cycle a 37 mile round trip to the pub for lunch but whilst the Ploughmans lunch at the Royal Oak was exceptional, the bike ride was truly spectacular.
The Royal Oak, Hurdlow
Leaving the CMC site at Carsington Water, we headed clockwise around Britain’s newest reservoir, Carsington Water, opened by the Queen in 1992.
At the village of Carsington we left the cycle path and headed north to the HIgh Peak trail.
The High Peak Railway line first opened in 1831 and was mainly designed to carry minerals and goods between Cromford Canal and the Peak Forest Canal. Following the closure of the line, the Peak District National Park bought the route in 1971 and turned it into a traffic free trail for walkers and cyclists.
The High Peak Trail runs for 17 miles from Dowlow (53.2059°N 1.8349°W) near Buxton to High Peak Junction at Cromford (53.1004°N 1.5354°W).
High Peak cycle ride…
The evening was spent at the Barley Mow pub, Kirk Ireton. It is still owned by the same elderly couple but much of the day-to-day operations are carried out by their daughter. We chatted to both Jen and her father Tony, who’s still as bright as a button!
See our previous visit here: