Sunday Mirror

Hope Valley Line, Sheffield to Manchester

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Many of the Peak District’s former rail routes are now cycle paths, but the Hope Valley Line persists, carving out a wonky smile as it threads through cliffs and dales from east to west.

Hathersage stop is a great walking base, under the long rocky frown of Stanage Edge, super popular with rock climbers. Hope Valley itself is one of the Peak District’s most pastoral corners, if you ignore the eyesore of its giant cement factory.

Long-distance hikers get off at Edale station to pick up the famous Pennine Way, which runs up the spine of England all the way to the Scottish border. And New Mills is a slice of industrial archaeolog­y, where tumbling rivers once powered 19thcentur­y cotton mills (scenicrail­britain.com/lines/ hope-valley-line).

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