The Upper Goyt Valley is the southern section of the valley of the River Goyt in North West England.

Position

The source of the Goyt River is on Axe Edge Moor above Goyt's Moss to the south. The western side of the valley is a long ridge, running from Shining Tor to Windgather Rocks, which forms the county boundary between Derbyshire and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

; the boundary formerly followed the river itself. The eastern side of the valley rises to Burbage Edge, overlooking Buxton, and Combs Moss. The old stone Derbyshire Bridge gets its name from it being at the historic boundary from Cheshire into Derbyshire. The road south out of the Goyt Valley is one-way and crosses the bridge.

History

The Street The Street may refer to: Geographical *Wall Street in New York City's Financial District *The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England *The Street (Heath Charnock) The Street is a historical property on a bridleway of the same name in Heath Charnock ...

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

runs alongside Errwood Reservoir and to the west of Fernilee Reservoir. The disused

Cromford and High Peak Railway The Cromford and High Peak Railway (C&HPR) was a standard-gauge line between the Cromford Canal wharf at High Peak Junction and the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built to carry minerals and goo ...

line (which connected the High Peak canal at Whaley Bridge with the River Derwent in Cromford since 1831) runs along the east side of the reservoirs. This stretch of the railway line was closed in 1896. The Fernilee gunpowder mill operated in the valley from about 1800 at the site of Fernilee Reservoir. It was acquired in 1888 by Chilworth Gunpowder Company and expanded before closing in 1920, after numerous fatal accidents.

Errwood Hall The ruin of Errwood Hall is a popular tourist destination in the scenic Upper Goyt Valley within the Peak District of England. History Errwood Hall was built in the 1830s by Samuel Grimshawe, a wealthy Manchester businessman, and was occupie ...

was the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

mansion of the Grimshawe family, built in about 1840 but it is now in ruins. Below Foxlow Edge there is a Spanish shrine, built in 1889 in memory of Miss Dolores (a friend of the Grimshawe family). The shrine is a designated Grade II listed building. A local legend tells that Pym Chair is the spot where a highway man called Pym robbed passers by on the packhorse route. However another story is that Pym was a preacher who gave sermons there.

Reservoirs

The valley floor is now dominated by two drinking-water reservoirs, fed by the River Goyt. Both reservoirs were built by the Stockport Corporation Waterworks (after they acquired the Grimshawe estate) to provide drinking water for

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

town and the surrounding area. Fernilee Reservoir was completed in 1938 and the hamlet of Goyt's Bridge and Errwood Hall were destroyed to prevent any pollution of the water. Errwood Reservoir was completed in 1967. A spectacular suspension bridge once crossed the river but it was demolished to make way for Errwood Reservoir. An old packhorse bridge was saved and reconstructed near Goytsclough Quarry. The reservoirs and much of the surrounding land is currently owned by United Utilities.

Moorland

The open gritstone moorlands of the Upper Goyt Valley (Wild Moor, Goyt's Moss, Burbage Edge, Shining Tor to

Cats Tor Cats Tor is a Peak District hill on the border between Cheshire and Derbyshire, between the towns of Macclesfield and Buxton. The summit is above sea level. ''Tor'' is an Old English word for a high, rocky hill. The higher peak of Shining Tor i ...

ridge and Hop Moor) are a designated

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI). Heather is the main plant but the heathland is habitat for a variety of native grasses, rushes, sedges and shrubs including bilberry, crowberry, cowberry and cross-leaved heath. Hare’s-tail cottongrass and sphagnum moss are common along the Shining Tor ridge. The area is important for upland breeding birds including a large population of golden plover, as well as

red grouse The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes consider ...

, curlew, lapwing, whinchat, snipe, twite, ring ouzel and

merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

. Along Goyt’s Clough (by the River Goyt from Derbyshire Bridge down to Errwood Reservoir) there are

common sandpiper The common sandpiper (''Actitis hypoleucos'') is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (''A. macularia''), make up the genus ''Actitis''. They are parapatric and replace each other geographical ...

and dipper and the old commoner woodland includes oak, birch,

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

and alder.

Tourism

The valley has been a popular tourist destination since the 19th century. Errwood Sailing Club operates at Errwood Reservoir. The Peak District Boundary Walk from Buxton follows the disused railway line into the Valley from the south east, crosses the Errwood Dam and then tracks along the west side of the Fernilee reservoir. There are two large car parks in the central valley at The Street and Errwood Hall. There are smaller car parks at Derbyshire Bridge to the south and at the northern end of Fernilee Reservoir. There are extensive footpaths through the valley.

References