Peak District Walks, Monsal Head (1)

For a picture take 17 years later in May 2006, from the far side of the Headstone Viaduct see here... www.ipernity.com/doc/2254674/43910288/in/album/947462 Headstone Viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, over the River Wye, immediately after the 533-yard (487 m) Headstone Tunnel, travelling north from Great Longstone. The viaduct, usually incorrectly called Monsal Dale Viaduct, is 300 feet (91 m) long, with five 50-foot (15 m) span arches, some forty feet high at the centre. The sight of the viaduct outraged artist and writer John Ruskin, who fumed: “You might have seen the gods here morning and evening, walking in fair procession on the lawns, and to and fro among the pinnacles of its crags, but the valley is gone and the gods with it, and now every fool in Buxton can be in Bakewell in half an hour, and every fool in Bakewell in Buxton.” Monsal Head seems to have been used instead of Headstone Head sometime between 1900 and 1910. Around the same time the Bull’s Head changed to the Monsal Head Hotel.

Cressbrook Dale is a SSSI consisting of calcareous and acid lowland grasses, with broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland on the upland. For a picture taken 17 years later, in 2006, see here.. www.ipernity.com/doc/2254674/43910340/in/album/947462 It is believed that the children who worked at the mill here fared better than those at Litton Mill. Cressbrook Hall... "
Set in 23 acres of the Derbyshire Peak District, the Hall has been home to the Hull-Bailey family since 1978 and we hope that you will agree this spectacular venue is perfect for a quiet restful break amid stunning scenery.

The Hall occupies a magnificent location, overlooking a natural limestone gorge created by the River Wye. Designed by Thomas Johnson of Lichfield in 1835 the hall has remained in private ownership and had most of its original features are remarkably well preserved. The grounds and gardens presently being restored to the original planting plan are open to the public during the summer."