Unusual stop for London tube train
WHAT was a London tube train doing stationed on a hillside in Derbyshire?
For that was the astonishing sight awaiting a party of East Cheshire Ramblers recently on a walk led by Ann Thompson, which explored some of the less-frequented limestone dales south of Buxton.
Starting from Poole’s Cavern, the route snaked up the wooded slopes on the southern outskirts of the town to Solomon’s Temple – a 19th Century folly standing 20ft high on the skyline at Grin Low.
Descending into the valley below, the group was surprised to see a river disappearing underground to re-emerge back at Poole’s Cavern. Yet even this was nothing compared to the sight of the London Underground train which they saw standing outside a simulated tube tunnel in the grounds of the Health and Safety Executive’s explosion and flame laboratory at Harpur Hill.
The route continued through fields and rough pasture to reach wild, open moorland on the boundary of the Peak District National Park at Leap Edge before heading back towards Buxton via Leycote and Harpur Hill. It was there the walkers passed one final strange spectacle: a solidified white lake of tufa deposits produced by lime making in the 17th Century.
For details of forthcoming ECR walks go to ramblerseastcheshire. org.uk. New members are always welcome.