Day 8

Day 8 - Sunday 5th August - Much Wenlock to Buxton

Weather - Showers in the morning - Cold on high hills - Sunny later

Distance - 72.4 miles

Camp Site - Buxton Football Ground, The Silverlands, Buxton

We left the camp site this morning as usual at about 8.30 am. and spent the first part of the day riding through country lanes and rather boring fairly flat scenery. We were actually riding around the southern and eastern sides of Telford on our way north east towards Stone. The map shows a lot of main roads and built up areas across the middle of England but we managed to avoid most of them other than crossing over or under them. There were a few showers but nothing very serious although by the time we got to Stone the weather seemed quite a bit cooler. From Stone onwards the road was much more hilly and we were glad to stop for lunch at the suggested pub, the "Isaac Walton" in Cresswell. The usual long drink and filled roll with salad was very welcome and while we were having lunch we enjoyed some sunshine although most people kept their waterproofs on to keep warm.

As we passed through Ipstones we came to the serious climbs into the hills of the Derbyshire Peak District where there were some tremendous views across to the west. Today we did not have good weather and there were often very dark stormy clouds. Because it had recently been wet the air was very clear when it was not actually raining so we did have some benefit from the bad weather. If it had been very hot it would also have been hazy and there would not have been the wonderful distant views framed by the dramatic skies

(Picture) Lunch at the Isaac Walton

Once on the high ground it became very cold so we had to keep moving and soon passed along Axe Edge and down the long steep hills into Buxton. On the edge of Buxton the main road traffic was diverted around a road on which we as cyclists were able to continue. There was a large hole right across the road surrounded by a high fence and we had to walk on to the pavement to go around it. As we were doing so we noticed that there was also a hole in the drive way to one of the houses and the house owner who was in his garden told us that the road had disappeared into the large hole and that within the last few days the second large hole had appeared in his front garden. There are mine workings underground around here and he was worried what might happen to his house! We quickly carried on down the road joining the other traffic which had been diverted around the hole!

The camp site tonight was at Buxton Football Ground up out of the town centre and here the toilets and showers were slightly better than average for a football club. Today's ride had been the longest so far at 72.4 miles and there had been some steep climbs with cold weather on the high ground so a warm refreshing shower was very welcome.

Then we started to hear some bad news. One of our group was cycling out of the road where the repairs to the hole in the ground were when he was knocked off his bike by a car coming in from the side road. Luckily another person in the group was close behind him and was able to call for help. He had to go to hospital and we eventually heard that he had dislocated his shoulder. Unfortunately he had to leave the tour as the shoulder needed some time to recover. The car driver said that she had not seen the cyclist as she was leaving the side road!

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