Country Images Magazine Derby Edition October 2016 | Page 10

by English Heritage, and even now it houses
one or two small industrial units.
Forwards on your walk, past the remains of
Rock Mill, the path crosses an amazingly strong
stone wall. It climbs high above the river in
order to carry the railway from Sheffield to
Manchester, which has tunnelled beneath
the town to reach New Mills station. There
was once a junction here with post Beaching
abandoned line to Hayfield, which is now used
as the Sett Valley Trail.
Crossing the wall is the most dramatic and
exciting part of the trip through the Torrs.
This is the Millennium Walkway, a cleverly
cantilevered bridge linking two sections of
riverside path. Opened in December 1999 and
costing £500,000, it was designed to be noticed,
carrying walkers above the foaming waters
of the River Goyt opposite Torr Vale Mill. A
triumph of modern engineering and design, it is
practical yet at the same time, highly attractive.
Not only does it give a spectacular view of
the river, upstream and down, but it offers a
close view of the massive wall that supports a
railway dating back to Victorian times. Part of
the Midshires Way, the 225 mile long trail from
Stockport to the Ridgeway in Buckinghamshire,
helps walkers follow the riverside, without the
infuriating need to climb steeply up to then
town and then back down, simply to manoeuvre

Diorama of New Mills when Union Bridge
was built in 1880.

a matter of a hundred yards horizontally. The
cost of building this magnificent structure
was paid for by grants from the Millennium
Commission and a number of local and
national businesses. It hardly goes without
saying, that the Walkway gained a whole swathe
of awards, both for its innovative design and
also the fact that in no way does it cause any
problems to the environment.

There are several cosy pubs dotted around
the town centre, most of which welcome
dogs. Rail access to New Mills is either by
the Sheffield/Manchester service via Chinley,
or from Buxton. Transpeak ‘TP’ Derby/
Manchester buses stop on the A6 at Newtown
near the railway station.

The Millenium Walkway
saves a long climb

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