Above: The old C&HP Railway track alongside Fernilee Reservoir at 5 on the map.
Click for a pdf with stage-by-stage details of the route including photos and a map, as well as links to car parks and public transport. A walking app GPX file is also available.
Length: 7.6mls | Av. time: 3.20hrs | Ascent: 564ft
Start: The Street car park | Google Map
Walk description, map & GPX | Download
A 7.6-mile circuit of both Goyt Valley reservoirs from The Street car park, beside the dam between them. You could also start from the foot of The Valentine at the northern end, or from Errwood Hall car park to the south.
The route heads north along the western shore of Fernilee Reservoir, completed in 1937, and crosses the dam at its northern end. A short distance away, under the water, lie the remains of the Fernilee gunpowder mill.
It returns south along the old Cromford & High Peak Railway track beside the reservoir, then climbs the Bunsall Incline – the steepest on the line, where wagons were hauled up and down – before crossing moorland above Errwood Reservoir.
The hamlet of Goyt’s Bridge once lay halfway across the water, opposite the modern bridge. The path passes the foot of Old Goyt’s Lane (walk 10), once the main route into the hamlet, and an old lime kiln.
Goytsclough and Errwood Hall
The path then heads above the Goyt towards Goytsclough Quarry. This section can get muddy, and overgrown with bracken from late summer, but it’s usually easy to find a way through – walking shoes or boots are recommended.
It reaches the river at the packhorse bridge, which once stood in the heart of Goyt’s Bridge and was moved here in 1965, before the valley was flooded.
Goytsclough was once a hive of industry, with a mill powered by a huge waterwheel, and a quarry from which the original Mr Pickford is said to have carried stone slabs to pave Regent Street.
The return follows the river and woodland paths to the ruins of Errwood Hall, home to the Grimshawe family. Steps from the hall gardens lead up to the family’s hilltop cemetery – a short detour. (Turning left after the hall leads up to Foxlow Edge – walk 17.)
The path then drops down to the road beside Errwood Reservoir, with a footpath alongside it back to the car park. Errwood was completed in 1968, some 31 years after Fernilee – the delay was said to be due to a lack of money and manpower after the Second World War.
Click for a pdf with stage-by-stage details of the route including photos and a map, as well as links to car parks and public transport. A walking app GPX file is also available.
Route photos
Stages 1-6 of the route. Click any to enlarge and scroll through.
Relive video
Click to play and use the expand option to view in full-screen. More Goyt Valley Relives.
