Monsal Westwards - 14th September 2019

A little over a year ago, myself and Darrell headed west on the Monsal Trail. I'd walked part of the way but never to the western end which is about 6 or 7 miles from Monsal Head. And as we'd enjoyed the walk there and back, I decided that we should do it again today, but this time with Tony and Nigel.

We all met around 8:30am not far from Monsal Head, and we were soon heading down the steep path to the picturesque viaduct at Monsal; very well known and visited if you're from around the Peak District. Always good to get here early, still a little busy but nothing like it will be later in the day with walkers and LOTS of cyclists. Especially as the weather forecast for today is very good. The walk along the trail itself took us around 2.5hrs, easy walking and plenty to experience along the way with old railway tunnels and bridges, views down into the gorge and up high onto the hills. We stopped at the newly opened cafe which used to be a railway station in the past, three of us tucked into our packed lunch, and Nigel bought a coffee and sausage roll which cost him over £6; he was not impressed and I was glad that I didn't pop in to buy some flapjack as I was tempted to do.

After reaching the end of the trail it was now for the slightly more arduous walk back. The route follows the River Wye, so through some undergrowth, a couple of miles of very slippy rocks as you have to walk through a significant amount of mud along the heavily shaded riverbank. Tony started to struggle a little walking over the rocks, he developed a hip injury which slowed him down. So much so that with a couple of miles or so to go, Darrell and Nigel set off ahead whilst I meandered along the paths with Tony. At around 1:30pm I was arriving back at the car as I had left Tony with about a mile to go as he was going to sit and wait for Darrell to come and pick him up. Our walk was a little over 12 miles and I must admit that at the end I was glad to sit down as my ankles with really aching - age does creep up on you more quickly than you know. A great walk though with  lots of banter.