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Looks like a big access road but marked as a footpath. Will we get a b@llocking from an angry farmer half way up it?
Well, it's a popular redsock route so they will probably let you know their opinion
It goes through a farm yard about two thirds along it (heading towards Hathersage) and I’ve seen people milling about there before. It also joins an access track for some other properties further up too and from memory a holiday let. So not exactly a quiet lane. Or exactly exciting.
That's fine, not looking for excitement, just avoiding the tarmac at the end of a loop I've just put together.
I have a fair bit of local knowledge of that track, if you know what I mean - & it’s luck of the draw really. Of course, I’d never dream of riding it occasionally to miss out the narrow potentially dangerous stretch of the old turnpike road between Grindle & Hathersage.
However, I would imagine that on a sunny weekend day, there’ll be quite a lot of walkers, families with small kids, dogs etc. You might also be unlucky and meet the miserable Daily Fail/Express/Telegraph reading self appointed rangers who live in one of the houses at the Grindleford station end, and/or the other one that lives in the big house by the river towards the Hathersage end.
I would imagine that pre 10am or post 4:30pm might be quieter;) If you do decide to ride it when it’s busy, just use some common sense, ride really slowly past people, wave and say hello - spread the good karma😊
It’s a real shame that there isn’t a bridleway along the valley bottom between the villages now, especially as I think this track is one of the historic road/tracks that ran between the villages to avoid the toll road (now the narrow main road). I don’t know if there’d be any chance of getting it reclassified on the basis of historic use & road safety - I think the NT own the land, but have tenants farm it.
Just have an extra pie at Grindleford Cafe and catch the train back!
You could walk your bike on the short section past the cottages to avoid any busybodies who will be inevitably tending their hedges and looking for someone to tell off.
PDMTB have a project to revive lost rights of way. Might be worth a chat with them.
Are you on about the one that climbs up to the main road out of Hathersage? If so, I've ridden up it loads of time and never had any grief. Even ridden past a lost police car on it! If you can drive a car along a footpath, its fair game for bikes in my opinion 🙂
Ride footpaths, Just don't be a dick, if you get get confronted by a dick walk and carry.