walking – Tyler's Travel Tales

Setting the scene

Living in Manchester UK, I am blessed with the opportunity to visit the Peak District regularly as it is right on the door step. This mini series will be covering the best places in the Peaks to visit that are easily accessible by train & gentle on the purse strings (One day I will learn to drive 😂). It is one the most verdant & ineffable places in the UK, with some truly incredible day trips!

This post covers New Mills, one of my favourite towns! It has all of the useful information you need to know to make the most of your trip alongside a customary tale or two.

About New Mills…

Whilst New Mills is in the Peak district, it is a more lively town & much less rural than some places I have written about. New Mills was a powerhouse during the industrial revolution & also had the longest continuous running textile mill in the UK, in operation for over 200 years. Whilst no longer an active mill, the building is beautiful & is perched on a glorious gorge, with a stunning waterfall.

The mill used to be powered by the water & then later moved to steam & finally electricity.

Within New Mills there is a plethora of cute little independent shops, several scenic walking trails, countryside pubs, rock climbing walls, unique towering architecture & there are even alpacas you can see! For the science nerds, be sure to check out the man made hydro energy generator type of thing, that provides free electricity which is community owned & funded, providing power to lots of houses by the force of the water 🤓

Story time ⛈️

Whilst I hesitate to cast aspersions on the weather forecasting people, on this trip I definitely called into question the validity of their analytical proficiency. New Mills was supposed to be glorious sunshine with a gentle breeze (which was certainly the case when I left Manchester). However, it ended up being a storm of biblical proportions! Although, you can’t let the weather determine your fun, so I powered on through. It was too wet to take any photos on this visit, but I am a regular attendee of New Mills, so have used older photos from Winter time. Soaked to the bone, I set out on my wanders!

The Torr Vale Mill & Millennium walkway are really resplendent, once you get over the fear of how high up the bridge is, it’s very scenic & peaceful. The Mill building now has a bar/restaurant in it & some smaller things. I had been a couple of times, but never realised it doubled up as an incredible wedding reception venue on occasion (if you happen to know anyone single, I am taking applications, hit me up, we might as well get this booked in advance 😂). I was attempting to go into the bar to escape the rain, but I was covered in mud & all sorts, the bridal party was hitting me with a barrage of vociferous verbal abuse to get out. There was not any signs up or anything, completely honest mistake!

Given that the Gorge is so peaceful, whenever I visit I love to just stand on the bridge watching the waterfall go by. However, I must have looked really lost & broken, as someone asked me if I was okay & planning to jump in. The thing is, I love open water swimming & jump into water often, so before I could really process what the lady had said, I replied with “no the water isn’t deep enough” (In my head thinking of open water swimming, the water being shallow would cause me an injury & not what she meant). Once I had understood her concerns, it was a deeply profound moment. I’m very, fortunate, humble & grateful for the opportunities I have had in life, taking nothing for granted. I’m just a happy go lucky guy, wandering through life enjoying myself. In that moment though, it may have been a person who was struggling with mental health issues or just having a really bad day & that random lady checking in with them would have made all of the difference to someone. There are awesome people out there who really care for others, sometimes the internet would make you think otherwise, but they are out there! If you know of someone having a tough time or you haven’t heard from that friend in a while, check in on them from time to time ❤️

Some photos of the trip… 🤳🏼

Artificially created waterfall for the Hydro
Alpacas
Torr Vale Mill
Torr Vale Mill Gorge
Upstream from waterfalls
Hydro electricity generator
Railway Viaduct
Streams in every direction
Information board
Rock climbing wall
Torr Vale Mill

Where to eat & drink? 🍻🍽️

So long as there isn’t a mental bridal party trying to dice you up, I would highly recommend the bar/restaurant in the Torr Vale Mill, the food is lovely! If the weather is respectable there is also a massive beer garden to catch some sun. There are also plenty of little cafes, bars & delis on the main street in New Mills so you have plenty of options to choose from. It may have just been an anomaly because there was a football match on but the Royal Oak New Mills Pub had free pizza going when I was there, so definitely recommend stopping by for a beer!

Useful information 🧑🏼‍🎓

There are lots of different walking/running trails around New Mills but it’s also got a hustle & bustle small town vibe to it, therefor it’s busier than a usual countryside retreat. You can use all trails or hiking apps to map out routes & there are plenty of websites with routes. New Mills isn’t huge, so I wing it whenever I go but I believe there are a range of circulars for every ability & fitness level.

Given that I don’t drive, I am at the mercy of the train companies to get around. It’s generally the case that you have no issues, but the last thing you want is to get stuck in New Mills! A useful tip is that there are actually 2 train lines that run through it, the Buxton line & the Sheffield line. The stops in New Mills are a 15 minute walk apart. Therefor if something causes a delay or cancellation to New Mills Central, you can walk to New Mills Newton & vice versa. If you visit on a Friday or Saturday, they have a mini market with all fresh food etc that is worth checking out, it’s positioned opposite the Sainsburys. If you are going to try the rock climbing wall, make sure & strap in & use an instructor, don’t try to climb it bare like I did 😂

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting travel guides for some more domestic places during Summer! The UK is awesome when the sun comes out, for that whole week once a year. There will be more spots in the Peak District, then more historical places like Chester, Edinburgh & York. I would love to take any recommendations in the comments, if I can get there by bus, train or plane, I will go 🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Setting the scene

In spite of its problems (brutal weather & expensive chip shops), the UK is an awesome place to live with so much to do & see. Given that we have to hibernate for most of the year, I wanted to do a mini series on some wonderful trips you should consider for this Summer that won’t break the bank. From beautiful scenic sprawling countryside to incredible historic towns & cities, the UK has something for everyone! Plus I am more likely to make a nuisance of myself on a domestic trip, which should make for a more interesting blog post. Todays post is about Knutsford & Tatton Country Park, with a very important poll at the bottom, please do vote, even if only anonymously 😊

A bit about Knutsford

Knutsford is a cute little town in Cheshire, England. The name actually goes all the way back to King Canute, if you’re a Viking history nerd, the name will be familiar to you. The town has an interesting history & was very important during the second world war. Unfortunately, it is one of the most expensive places to buy a house in the UK!

There is a famous TV show about bored rich housewives based in the Cheshire region, I haven’t see it but I am always on the lookout for a rich sugar mumma! Alas, I haven’t managed to find one whilst visiting Knutsford 🤭

Story time 📔

Whilst I was sauntering around the town on route to Tatton Park, fortunately by sheer dumb luck I stumbled upon a wine store offering free tastings. Given that it was around 25 degrees & I was melting, a lovely refreshing glass of wine was just what the Doctor ordered. However, I outed myself as a chancer almost instantaneously, it transpires that I in fact have a rather miniscule bank of knowledge pertaining to wine. Some free advice, if you are ever in Majestic wines for a free tasting, you have to at least pretend to be interested in making a purchase. When the worker asks what type of wine you usually like, you don’t have to be a seasoned connoisseur, but at least attempt something more believable than ‘that Red badboy out of Lidl, the £6.99 one’ (I panicked & couldn’t think of anything more realistic!). I was unceremoniously turfed out.

Tatton Park was the real reason for my Knutsford trip, it is the most stunning picturesque country park. All sorts of animals roam freely, there is a cool mansion you can visit & a great little farm with funky animals! Dogs are supposed to be kept on leads, so as not to scare the animals but a dog had escaped it’s constraints. A whole herd of deer came running towards me, which was mildly terrifying & I could hear the dog before I saw it. Suddenly, I was looking for a tree to climb thinking it was an XXXXL Bully coming to eat me for supper, turned out it was the tiniest poodle type dog just trying to play with the deer. Maybe it was a sheep dog in a previous life. Eventually the dog started getting too big for its paws & the deer decided to chase it off, it was a rather amusing sight to behold!

Whilst watching the baby pigs roaming around, I managed to land myself in a live episode of Jeremy Kyle Family Feuds. A pig was snoring loudly, the guy said “Oh it sounds like Grandma”, all hell broke loose. The Grandma was annoyed with the Dad, the Mum was annoyed at Dad for laughing, the toddler was in hysterics at the whole episode!

You should stop by The White Bear, it is the Oldest pub in Knutsford, really cool & authentic, feels a little like a time warp. The building has a lot of the original features, however that means there are a lot of low ceilings & no matter how many signs there are you still club your head on something. So either be really small or make sure & crouch down when entering. I managed to bang my head 3 times, I think that has reduced me to a single digit IQ now. Sometimes it is okay to drink sewer water lager, you don’t always have to go for something new. I decided to be exotic & pick something random, ended up with a Theakston bitter, which was more shambolic than exotic. If that is for you, each to their own, but you won’t catch me on the bitter again! Lesson learned the hard way!

Some cheeky snaps 📸

A big day ahead…
Lovely Lake in Tatton Park
Very expensive photo
Where are the T&C’s?
The absolute guvnor
Beautiful scenery
Very expensive photo
Very expensive photo
Beautiful scenery
Nap time!
Beautiful scenery
Just goating around
Old houses you can go inside
Blurb on White Bear
Inside the White Bear

Useful information 🧑🏼‍🎓

If you walk or cycle to Tatton, entry is free but you have to pay if in car (Around £10 I think per car). Thousands of animals all roam freely in the park, but if you want to go in to see the pigs, lambs, goats, horses & chickens you have to pay extra. This is a little expensive (£10 for an adult), but is well worth it as there is a little play park (although you look weird if you go on it alone & don’t have kids with you). You also get a chance to hold lambs & chicklets, but the events are all on at different times & dates so check ahead.

If you are susceptible to midge bites, I would highly recommend bringing some insect repellent. There are plenty of places to eat & drink, or you can bring a picnic, however if you share your lunch with the sheep you will get a shake down from the park ranger (I did this once & the ranger appeared out of nowhere, like some mad apparition). Tatton park has a variety of events on, ranging from flower shows, to concerts to classic car shows, even if you don’t go for the animals, I highly recommend looking at upcoming events, there is plenty of fun to be had.

The most important poll of all time… 🐷

There are a few different Pigs at Tatton & some of them are rare breeds. All of them are super cute, but each with their own funky personality, one thing they all have in common is they are fat & smell 😂. I am going to make a donation / sponsorship of one of the Pigs on behalf of this blog. Please let me know in the comments or poll which one sounds most like you or that you want me to sponsor. I want to say I am like Lola, although being realistic I am probably closer to Bonnie, slow & lazy!

What is coming next? 🤔

I am going to be posting much more regularly. Next up I will be posting travel guides for some domestic places ahead of Summer! The UK is awesome when the sun comes out, for that whole week once a year. There will be a mini series on spots in the Peak District, then more historical places like Chester, North Wales, Edinburgh & York. Would love to take any recommendations, if I can get there by bus, train or plane, I will go 🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️