Last weekend 8 of us (John, Gary, Kate, James, Andy, Another Gary, Mark and myself) set off from Hassop Station and headed north on the newly opened Monsal Trail.  This is a 7½ mile cycle and walking path in the Peak District that used to form part of the Midland Railway route from the Midlands to Manchester.  The line was closed down after the Beeching cuts in 1968, and despite being bought by the Peak District National Park, parts of it have been cut off for the public for over 40 years.

Being an ex-railway line, the route is very strait and flat. Due to the very unflat nature of the Peak District there are long tunnels and fantastic viaducts which offer either no views or fantastic vistas of the surrounding land. All in all, it was a great day out and much fun was had by all.

View Monsal Trail 5-6-11 in a larger map

Thanks James for sorting out a very fine video archive of the day.