A Walk in the Goyt Valley – Peak District Holiday

Tags

Bakewell, bridge, Butterbur, Canada Goose, Coot, donkey, ducks, eyebright, Fernilee Reservoir Dam, Field Scabious, Goosander, Goyt Vallry, Great Burnet, Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil, gulls, harebell, marble galls, Peak District, River Goyt, River Wye, sheep, St James' church Taxal, Taxal, Water Mint, watercress, Whaley Bridge, White Beak-sedge

The day after our walk on Ramshaw Rocks we met Alice and Elinor in Bakewell so that we could see how they were and have a meal with them.  They travelled to Bakewell on the bus after Alice had finished work for the day in Sheffield.  We went for a coffee together and told them the sad news of Richard’s mum’s death.  They were both upset but were grateful that we had waited so that we could tell them face-to-face.  We then went for a walk through the town and ended up by the river – our favourite spot.

The attractive old bridge over the river Wye.

There is always plenty to see on the river. This duck sitting on her nest, for example.

A female Goosander (Mergus merganser)

A Coot (Fulica atra)

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Gulls

A duck – partly Mallard I think!

After a pleasant meal together Richard and I saw the girls onto their bus and then we returned to our caravan.

The following day we went for a walk along the valley of the River Goyt.  We left the car in a lay-by just south of Whaley Bridge and followed a track, steep at first, from the lay-by down through woodland towards the River Goyt.

Richard on the track through the wood.

The day was very cloudy and there were frequent showers of rain but they weren’t heavy and didn’t diminish the pleasure of our walk.  Richard had walked here very often when he was younger, either with the Scouts or with friends but the area was new to me.

A Field Scabious flower (Knautia arvensis)

A meadow between the track and the river (which is under the trees).

The River Goyt

Cattle

R. Goyt

R. Goyt

The meadows next to the river were pleasant to walk across.  You can see from this photo how gloomy the day was.

Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis agg)

Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia)

Greater Bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus)

A little cascade

The River Goyt with a wooden bridge just visible under the trees.

River Goyt

Richard walking along the track next to Wild Rhubarb/Butterbur (Petasites hybridus). It was about as tall as me (5′ 4″)

We were making our way towards some water-works buildings.  I took some photographs of them and some plants I saw but (fortunately for you!) they didn’t come out.  The light wasn’t good enough I think.

We walked up the very steep drive belonging to the waterworks and then, at the top, turned towards the road that crosses Fernilee Reservoir Dam.

The reservoir

I liked the look of this old bridge from the road to a maintenance building.

Richard told me that this bridge is probably an original one for the dam and therefore quite old.  Bridges aren’t built this way any more.

We then walked back along the other side of the river which is down in the trees below.  There were some lovely views from the path.

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A variety of plants and textures

We saw some beautiful Great Burnet flowers (Sanguisorba officinalis) in the field next to the path.

Great Burnet – these plants are becoming increasingly rare as water-meadows are drained.

This could be Water-cress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum)

Water Mint (Mentha aquatica)

White Beak-sedge (Rhynchospora alba)

Marble Galls on Oak.

Sheep

Sheep

We eventually got to the hamlet of Taxal where we had a look at the church dedicated to St James.

We found a very friendly donkey in the churchyard wearing a rather fetching veil.

This donkey had a job to do – eating its way through all the overgrown grass and plants in the yard.  The veil kept the flies out of its eyes.

I like donkeys!

St James’ church

River Goyt

River Goyt

We crossed the river by a wooden bridge, walked up the steep path to the lay-by and found our car again.

Thanks for visiting!