Tackling the Tissington Trail
No need for Lycra or burning lungs, when there’s a much easier way to explore this pretty part of Derbyshire, as Peter Rosenthal discovers
CONFESSION TIME. I am a member of a local cycling club and have done all sorts of challenges, from cycling coast to coast (on-road covering 113 miles in a day and a 250-mile off-road route over four days) to trips around the Scottish islands.
However, none of these events has been relaxing and they usually involve a back-up vehicle, loads of logistics, helpers, trailers and garages. And bananas. Lots of bananas.
The thing is, on these events, you rarely have time to enjoy the ride, because you’re focused on getting to the next checkpoint. It’s a challenge, rather than fun. But for a family weekend, that’s the last thing you want. I’d rather chill out, enjoy the scenery and sample some great food and drink.
The good news is, there’s a way you can breeze along a cycle trail without having to load up your bike, mess about with pumps and chains, then worry if stuff is going to be stolen from the rack when you stop at services. The simple solution is to hire a bike on your chosen cycle trail – and sidestep the misery of burning legs and lungs, by opting for an electric bike.
Easy with an ebike
Ebikes take all of the effort out of cycling and allow you to balance cyclists’ different abilities by varying the pedal assistance. You’ll generally find a bike shop located near most popular UK cycling routes and they’re not that expensive to hire.
The only point to note is that it’s best not to mix a group of cyclists with electric and conventional bikes. This never works well and is a guaranteed recipe for friction – non-electric riders invariably get grumpy as you steam past them up the hills!
My wife, Helen, and I put this theory to the test with a round trip on the Tissington Trail, in Derbyshire. This used to be the Buxton to Ashbourne railway line, which closed in 1967, and it starts in the pretty town of Ashbourne, then carves its way through the Derbyshire hills and joins National Cycle Trail 54 at Parsley Hay.
This runs to the outskirts of Buxton before stopping near Dowlow Quarry.
You can hire bikes from various shops directly along the route and there are lots of campsites fringing the trail (we stayed at the Duke of York in Pomeroy), as well as plenty of tea shops, pubs and villages.
The area is very much geared up for cycling and walking, making for an easy, laid-back weekend. Ashbourne has a great choice of supermarkets, too, with all budgets and tastes well catered for.
There are two bike hire centres on the trail – one at Ashbourne, another in Parsley Hay. Both have car parks, so you can leave your car while you go off for a pedal.
We opted to use the bike hire centre at Ashbourne, because it seemed more logical
to start at one end of the trail and pedal the whole thing. The good news about this cycle centre is, you can’t pre-book bikes, just turn up early and take your pick.
This was music to my ears, as it means the Organised People can’t ruin it all for the Disorganised People by booking everything in sight the year before (like they seem to do with campsites…).
First hire your bikes
Simply arrive at the centre when it opens and you will have just as much chance of getting what you want. They have loads of ebikes, so its unlikely they’ll run out.
After sorting out the paperwork with the helpful chap at the counter (whose colleagues asked me to point out his resemblance to a certain bearded member of rock band ZZ Top!) we were shown to our steeds for the day. We were given a really good handover and full explanation of all the controls. It costs £38 to hire an ebike for the day (plus a deposit on your credit card), while non-electric bikes cost £19 for a day or £17 for four hours. It’s worth spending a whole day on the trail, because there is so much to see and do along the way.
Helen isn’t a particularly keen cyclist, but she took to the ebike straight away and was soon enjoying the effort-free assistance that they provide.
The models we hired were Raleigh Motus ebikes. They retail for around £2000, so hiring makes more sense for infrequent rides. Modern motors have very little drag compared to earlier versions of the ebikes and you can easily pedal them with the motor switched off. But with some 50 miles of range, there was little risk of our bikes
running out of power on the 13-mile trail. A digital display on the handlebars allows you to toggle through the bike’s power modes, from Eco (low assistance), via Tour and Sport to Turbo (maximum assistance).
The trick to maximising the range is to flick up and down the power modes and only employ the higher modes for short durations, such as going up a steep hill. Given that the Tissington Trail was designed for locomotives, it doesn’t really have much in the way of gradients, but if you decide to take a detour for a pub or a tourist spot, Turbo mode will take all of the effort out of any steep sections.
Both bikes rode really well, allowing us to settle into a comfortable pedalling pace without having to break into a sweat. Eco mode was fine for me, while Helen toggled between Eco and Tour.
This is one of the brilliant things about ebikes for a group of mixed cycling abilities – you can all average the same speed, by using power assistance at varying rates.
Tissington Hall
Heading out of Ashbourne, you pass the campsite of Callow Top on your left and within 3.5 miles, you’ll find yourself at a car park by a bridge in Tissington village.
There’s a snack bar here, which is open seasonally, and toilets. Head out of the car park and up the small hill, turn left when you meet the road and you’ll pedal into the delightful village of Tissington.
This historic hamlet is home to plenty of interesting craft shops – including the wonderfully named ‘On a Wick & a Prayer’ candle shop – but the star attraction here has to be Tissington Hall.
This fine 17th-century Jacobean mansion is Grade II listed and quite delightful, with a wide avenue running alongside and an ancient cobbled well. These days, it offers holiday cottages and a wedding venue.
Security guards at the entrance indicated that it was out of our price range – Russell Crowe is reputed to have stayed there while filming Robin Hood.
But forget about Hollywood A-listers, because there is a more important stop. Make a beeline for Tissington Hall’s café, Herbert’s Fine English Tea Rooms.
This is all set up for cyclists and walkers, with plenty of outdoor seating and a great menu. Delicious dishes range from spicy bean burgers, soup and jacket potatoes to wonderful Derbyshire oatcakes filled with cheese and ham. Or perhaps you’d rather have something sweet? Be warned, you will definitely be tempted…
We resisted and opted for coffees (we’d not long breakfasted) and then, suitably caffeinated, ambled back onto the trail, stopping to admire the village duck pond, where we met a very friendly local cat. He sidled up while I was busy with the camera, insisting on being fussed over before obligingly posing for photos.
As you pedal towards Buxton, the trail starts to elevate and the views begin to open up – the further up the trail you go, the better it gets. You’ll pass the former quarry of Rivendale on your right-hand side – now an excellent campsite.
We pedalled on and paused to have a drink and admire the view at Hartington. You’ll know when you arrive at this pretty village, because of its historic signal box, which has been beautifully restored and overlooks a stunning vista.
If you climb the steps to the box, you’ll see the colourful levers that used to control various bits of the track. I counted 15 and wondered how on earth you’d remember which to pull and when.
The Parsley Hay fork
Just before you get to Parsley Hay, you’ll find that the trail is joined by National Cycle Trail 54, also known as the High
Peak Trail. Officially, this is the end of the Tissington Trail – you’ll have covered about 13 miles by this time – but it’s worth pressing on to the end at Dowlow, which adds another 3.5 miles to the trip. Not least because there’s a great pub on the way!
At Parsley Hay, you’ll find another bike shop – where the staff helpfully added some air to the slightly soft tyre I had acquired – and another café.
This was packed when we visited, so we opted to carry on up the trail to our lunch stop at The Royal Oak. Although you can proceed to Buxton – which is well worth
visiting – the High Peak Trail itself peters out at Dowlow, near a limestone quarry.
Rather puzzlingly, there is no monument, or anything much else, to mark the end of the trail, other than a simple signboard displaying a map of the route.
A celebration lunch
Heading away from Dowlow, after about
1.5 miles back down the trail, you’ll find
The Royal Oak. It’s about two miles away from Parsley Hay, in Hurdlow.
It’s worth walking or cycling up to the pub – the scenery on the way is a delight. The Royal Oak also runs a small campsite (for tents only) – I had stayed here before and I knew the food was really excellent – so we opted to have lunch there.
This proved to be a good call, and as well as bike racks (everywhere along the trail is set up for cyclists), they provide plenty of covered outdoor seating and a beer garden.
The menu is stunning, with a superb selection of real ales, although I was driving later, so stuck to soft drinks. Food always tastes better after a little exercise, but even so, our meal really was exceptional.
The good thing about starting the ride in Ashbourne and heading to Buxton is that you go slightly uphill all the way, so when you head back, it’s mainly downhill. This makes for easier pedalling, which is how you want it as you get tired. It also means you’ll have no range anxiety with your ebike and can boost the power to make the trip back pretty much effortless.
All too soon, we were back at the bike shop in Ashbourne. Both ebikes still had about 20 miles left in their batteries, so the 34-mile round trip hadn’t been that intensive for them. It was great to hand them back and not have to worry about chargers, or strapping them to a bike rack.
This is definitely the easiest way to cycle – all we brought with us was our helmets, gloves and clothing (you don’t even have to do that – they can provide helmets).
Whether you’re an experienced rider or a novice, you really can’t go wrong with an ebike on the Tissington Trail.
‘As you pedal towards Buxton, the views begin to open up – the further up the trail you go, the better it gets’