Toddbrook Reservoir, The Dipping Stone & The Peak Forest Canal

Introduction

With the possibility of heavy showers in the forecast, I chose not to venture too far today., and I was interested to see how the Canal and river Trust had progressed with the repairs to the dam, which had caused the risk of calamitous flooding into the town of Whaley Bridge a couple of years ago.

The weather threatened early on the walk, but the shower risk decreased and it turned into a lovely warm , and often sunny, day.

The walk was almost 8 miles with a total ascent of 1475ft, 450m, never getting really high but having three distinct sections as shown in the sectional profile below..

The walk took about 3hours 45 minutes to complete, plus a lunch break. The drive is around 30 minutes each way.

For dog walkers, the walk isn’t great as there are plenty of sheep in the fields, a few minor roads to take, and major ones to cross.

OS Explorer MapOL1.

On road parking is plentiful on Bridgemont, the road on the right immediately after turnng right off the A6 towards Whaley Bridge town centre.

Bridgemont to Toddbrook

After passing under the Manchester – Buxton railway line, and past some light industrial activity, the first uphill section starts in earnest after a small fishing pool, belonging to Bill.

There was a bit of rain in the air and dark clouds looming – Bill’s mother must live near here, I thought! (Google “Black over Bill’s mother’s” if you’re confused).

The fields soon revealed fine dry stone walling and excellent views of the hills and Whaley Bridge below.

I skirted a field adjacent a housing estate – lovely spot to live. After crossing Whaley Lane and a couple more fields, the first uphill section was done and I descended to cross Reservoir Road and through a pleasant wood before arriving at the reservoir.

Toddbrook Reservoir

I included this spot in my Picture Quiz a couple of weeks ago. Here’s what it looked like from the dam in 2017.

After the near-collapse of the dam and evacuation of Whaley Bridge in 2019 work has been ongoing to repair it, but right now, it is a shadow of its former self.

The leat which runs alongside the reservoir was gushing today, as seen in the first picture, and again here:

Just beyond the dam, and on the other side of the road, is a pretty fishing pond, Brookfield Pond. It has a bench and was a perfect spot to stop for lunch, the heavy clouds having now drifted away.

The dam and paths near the reservoir were all closed, but I negotiated my way past a Sports Centre, some housing and a short stretch of the B5470 to cross some fields. These fields were fenced off and a large scale housing development was is about to wipe away another few acres of our green and pleasant land.

Taxal Edge and Kishfield Bridge

I was well into the second uphill section now, and more lovely views emerged before I rounded the northern end of Taxal Edge and headed back down to the B-road where some cottage dwellers had planted flowers on the roadside.

The path passed Gap House a handsome property.

The house had magnificent views down the valley to Toddbrook Reservoir, which must be beautiful when it has water in it!

The path descends through a beautiful wood to Kishfield Bridge.

On To Furness Vale

The next section is the final ascent, and it begins on what the map shows as a normal minor road. However most roads don’t say “Unsuitable For Motors”! As I approached the house at Pennant End, the road turned to stone!

After leaving the road via a track I crossed a cattle grid, and rather than stay on the track I headed straight up Hawkhurst Head where the views are memorable.

And so are the foxgloves against the dying, and freshly sprouting gorse!

At the top of the hill is an ancient feature, “The Dipping Stone”.

A bit of Googling revealed that:

“The rectangular stone is 4′ long and from 21″-32″ wide, and is considered to be the base stone of a pair of Saxon crosses, probably not later than the 10th century.”

From here it’s downhill all the way back, over Whaley Lane and down to the A6 at Furness Vale. After crossing the road I continued downhill over the level crossing at the station to join the Peak Forest Canal.

Peak Forest Canal

I noticed that there is no shortage of water in the canal despite the loss of the feeder reservoir, Toddbrook. Having recently seen the other feeder, Combs Reservoir, I can vouch that it is full. With so little traffic passing along the canal compared with its heyday, I assume less water supply is needed, as the main loss of water, apart from leaks is the opening and closing of locks. It begs the question as to whether Toddbrook Reservoir needs to be repaired and refilled?

Anyway, never mind my musings, how about a couple of lovely canal pictures to finish an excellent varied walk that can be broken down easily into some shorter strolls!

And Finally….

How about this cool trombone man, Rico Rodriguez, with a song called X. Just chill for 5 minutes!