Bugsworth Basins to New Mills

Having spent a week at Bugsworth basins, which has enabled me to finally sort out Hadars electrics, with the help of Kuranda by replacing the 10mm alternator cables with new 35mm cables, and installed and set up a Victron Battery Monitor, and rewired the batteries etc. so that the shunt required for the monitor is positioned to read all charge/discharge currents correctly.

We set off this morning having winded at the top basin, and topped up with water, and headed for New Mills. Brian on nb Alton had recommended a deep water mooring there so we thought we would try it out. it is near the Swizzles Matlow factory. We moored up and had lunch, before setting off to explore New Mills. As we passed the sweet factory you get a good whiff of refreshers, love hearts, etc. that they make, mmmmmm.

The Nicholson's guide mentioned the Heritage Centre and we though this was a good place to start. We were totally unaware of what we would find when we got there. The first indication was when we crossed the road viaduct in Union Road which crosses the River Goyt gorge. We found the Heritage Centre, which although quite small, has quite a lot of information and history of New Mills. We then headed down the path from the centre to the floor of the gorge, and from here we headed to the road viaduct we had crossed. Underneath the viaduct some climbers were starting to climb the crag. I knew there was climbing in this area, and the crag certainly looks quite interesting.

There are 40 climbs in all, graded from Very Difficult to E5, and vary in height from 25ft to 90ft. The particular climb the climbers were on is called "Honcho" and is graded at E4 6b with 1 star and is 45ft high, with one fixed peg. The lead climber soon gained the top and set about setting to belay the other 2 climbers.

The above photo was the lead climber starting up the rock.

And here he is almost at the top. This whole area is so hard to capture in photographs, you really have to visit it yourself to get the full effect, but Jo did take some photos which follow.

This is the full view of the viaduct, the climbers were under the right hand arch. The building in the foreground is part of the Archimedes reverse screw Torrs Hydro scheme which supplies electricity to the area.

This photo is taken from under the viaduct. The small building is at the top of the Archimedes screw, which is itself housed within the green cage sloping down from it. Although it was turning, it was not fast enough to actually generate any power, as there is a digital readout for visitors to see beside the building, which was showing 0kW. The weir is what was originally created for the Torr Mill, which stood where the hydro scheme is now sited in the remaining ruins of the mill.

This road viaduct is just a short distance above the weir, the lower arches were added later apparently. We then walked back under the viaduct and the climbers toward the new Millennium Way when we came across the ruins of Rock Mill.

 

This is the Millennium Way, a new walkway curving around the course of the river, alongside the railway stonewall embankment.

The mill in this photo is called Torr Vale, and only closed in 2000, the same year the walkway was built, although now having stood empty for 12 years, it is still in quite good condition, but needs some TLC, hopefully it will be used for something and not allowed to become another ruin. There is much more of the gorge to explore, that will be something to do another day when we come this way again. Jo was rather taken with this advert in the window of the local newsagents.

Keith.