Kneedown
Established Member
Well with Mrs Kneedown in Ibiza with the girls, leaving me with a few days of peaceful bliss, i decided to take the old mountain bike and do a bit of the old Woodhead Route, which i'd never got around to doing before.
Parked up at Woodhead and had a blissful ride to Hadfield before returning and carrying on to Penistone, at which point the rain started, followed by the wind, a sudden gust of which put me into the kerb at Dunford Bridge (If anyone finds the skin from my kneecap could they please return it c/o EMT at Nottingham!) By this time i was soaked AND bloody, so a ride to the car back at Woodhead was in order. Even when i got to the downhill bit on the A628 i was getting almost blown backwards it was that windy!
Anyway, all along the route i was looking out for any old relics from the glory days. Apart from the obvious platforms and buildings, i found only a couple of rails in the trees just before Hadfield, a few signal cable supports at Millhouse Green, and rails in the road at the former two level crossings near Thurlstone.
It was nice to see these, but i was really hoping to find a discarded and forgotten mast somewhere in the, now prevalent trees, or some other relic of the lines electric heritage.
Does anyone who may be a little more familiar with the route than i, know if any such electrification relics are hidden away on the route still?
Anyway, it was a cracking day out even if i did sprain my wrist and skin my knee. I'd thoroughly recommend a ride along the route.
Parked up at Woodhead and had a blissful ride to Hadfield before returning and carrying on to Penistone, at which point the rain started, followed by the wind, a sudden gust of which put me into the kerb at Dunford Bridge (If anyone finds the skin from my kneecap could they please return it c/o EMT at Nottingham!) By this time i was soaked AND bloody, so a ride to the car back at Woodhead was in order. Even when i got to the downhill bit on the A628 i was getting almost blown backwards it was that windy!
Anyway, all along the route i was looking out for any old relics from the glory days. Apart from the obvious platforms and buildings, i found only a couple of rails in the trees just before Hadfield, a few signal cable supports at Millhouse Green, and rails in the road at the former two level crossings near Thurlstone.
It was nice to see these, but i was really hoping to find a discarded and forgotten mast somewhere in the, now prevalent trees, or some other relic of the lines electric heritage.
Does anyone who may be a little more familiar with the route than i, know if any such electrification relics are hidden away on the route still?
Anyway, it was a cracking day out even if i did sprain my wrist and skin my knee. I'd thoroughly recommend a ride along the route.
