Riding around Chinley

It’s the home of big beautiful rides with lots of lovely long downhills. Not a winch, fall, repeat area really.

It is also home to the finest section of cheeky single track in the Peak District. However Fight Club.

I’m more of a spend the day riding the trails around Ladybower woods (I’m aware of access issues so only actually been once) than a day doing distance covering a few of the “classics” type rider

It's definitely predominantly the latter (which I think is chuffing great, but different strokes for different folks).

There is absolutely tonnes of excellent riding of that sort though - there's Chinley Churn itself, you can get to Hayfield and into more of the 'big Peak' really easily, you can get over towards Lantern Pike and then Rowarth/Mellor pretty easily too. Chinley, for that type of 'riding around up and down' riding is an absolutely excellent place to be.

@chvck - assuming your talking about chinley in the high peak, yeh the ridings decent enough from the door

we moved hear c 4 years ago, and the riding form the door was one of the attractions. as above the ridings not winch and plummet enduro tracks in the woods - like winn hill / ladybower woods or wharnclifee over in sheffield, more longer natural stuff, but being in the dark peak there's enough techy rocky down hills. from my door there's probably 3 or 4 main loops that i do or variations there of, so plenty if you don't want to stick the bike on the car. easy enough to head east over towards jacobs ladder / mam tor / edale valley or head north over chinley churn and hayfield and the descents form the tops up there.

if you do want to stick the bike in teh care you are only 10 mins away from castleton and c 3o mins form lady bower one way, or head over to macc forest and riding round that are in the other direction.

riding aside, it's a great village - couple of really nice pubs in whitehough (the old village that joins into chinley to the south), all the local shops you would need (post office / deli, mini market, couple of take aways, couple of sandwich shops/ cafes. 2 supermarkets in chapel), direct line to Manchester / Sheffield, nice friendly village with quite a few outdoorsy types in the village

PM with any specific queries you've got on te riding, the village or anything else about the area

t is also home to the finest section of cheeky single track in the Peak District. However Fight Club

do tell more, after living here for 4 years i've obviously not found it - send me a PM if you would please?

Oh, and there's quite a few of us around there too (spread through Disley, New Mills, Buxworth, Marple etc) so no probs finding folks to ride with.

Oh, and there’s quite a few of us around there too (spread through Disley, New Mills, Buxworth, Marple etc) so no probs finding folks to ride with

i did not know that

 

@sofaboy73 - yeah, there are a few of us. I'm just down the road from you in Buxworth.
Not the fittest but enjoy getting out.
If you PM me then we can sort out getting in touch.

Si

If winch and plummet is your thing, and you enjoy Win Hill, the cheeky trails at Errwood Res would suit you. Very close to Chinley. You can't miss them on heatmaps.

As others have said the big day out stuff is great.

Great stuff, thanks all. Sounds like there's a decent variety of riding to be had which is good by me.

direct line to Manchester / Sheffield

This is certainly a part of the draw, my partner likes going into Manchester and has family in Sheffield. All of my family are in Shropshire so it'd cut out the crap around J12 of the M60 too (appreciate this might just be swapping that crap for different crap on a different bit of road).

I think a couple of weekends over Summer for recceing are in order then - I've only really ridden from Hope or Edale previously.

Yeah, there's loads of folk around, many of them emerging from hibernation about now... we have a sporadically active whatsapp group, shout if you do move this way.

I'm over the big hill - Chinley Churn - in dark, satanic, New Mills. I'm guessing the cheeky singletrack referred to is the very obvious edge above the village / A624. As folk have said there's plenty of riding round here and the tramway/canal/Sett Valley Trail mean you can get over to the Hayfield end of things with minimal effort or you can head over Chinley Churn. Lots of ace road/gravel-ish/back lane riding too.

Errwood would be a good call for Win Hill style stuff and not too much of a trek, though I get that's subjective.

Mates of ours used to live in Chinley and loved it. Two good pubs too and a few local shops and a caff. Supermarkets in Chapel and Whaley. Not huge, but always seems friendly and pleasant.

Yeah, I've always liked the feel of Chinley as I've driven/ridden through. The post office/deli is up for sale though, no?

Most of the things you need to know have been covered.
I love Chinley and looked to move there 16 years ago, however we couldn't find a house with a big enough garden.
The riding is superb (mtbike/road and gravel). Everything from pootling along an old tramway to the canal, to proper rocky gnarly mtbing.
Great community (the type where people get involved and support each other if needed).
Super eateries, Independent shops and even a green type refill shop.
You won't regret the move.

The post office/deli is up for sale though, no?

landlord is selling the building, but the post office / deli tenants are hoping to remain

m guessing the cheeky singletrack referred to is the very obvious edge above the village / A624.

the tack (footpath) along cracken edge is great fun. not one for with an ebike though as a couple of the stiles are a challenge!

Yeah, I'm over in Marple.
Loads of great riding from the doorstep. Other than the well known cheeky stuff already mentioned, there isn't much off-piste riding other than short cut-throughs here and there. Unless I'm still missing it after 13 years of living, riding and walking around here!
But there is tons and tons of great "legal" stuff to go at.

We've still not managed to move but it looks to be very much on the cards for this year. Chinley is still on the list but is looking like it might be a touch out of budget. Chapel appears to be an obvious choice with a lot more housing on offer and I guess also a slightly bigger town feel? We're also looking closely at Whaley Bridge which I think would land between the two in terms of feel? We went to visit last weekend and immediately saw some guys on emtbs which seems like a good sign... Looking at the number of Whaley Bridge new build estates it does appear to be growing at a bit of a rate though.

edit: We now also have a daughter, so things like schools suddenly matter to us...

Chapel appears to be an obvious choice with a lot more housing on offer and I guess also a slightly bigger town feel? We’re also looking closely at Whaley Bridge which I think would land between the two in terms of feel?

I'm not a huge fan of Chapel, it just feels like a bit of a traffic sewer with everything strung out along the high street or perched a short distance away on a roundabout off the A6. The train station is bloody miles away as well.

Whaley is nicer, seems more of a village, bit more connected. Yes there's a fair bit of house building going on at some of the peripheries.

I must have missed this thread the first time around cos I'm one of these people:

Oh, and there’s quite a few of us around there too (spread through Disley, New Mills, Buxworth, Marple etc) so no probs finding folks to ride with

Thanks @crazy-legs, Whaley or Chinley were already my preference so that helps to confirm that.

Long time Whaley resident here. Happy to talk/DM if helpful