Upper Goyt Valley

The Upper Goyt Valley is the southern section of the valley of the River Goyt in North West England.

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Windgather Rocks

The Windgather Rocks (416 metres/1,365 ft a.s.l.) is a gritstone crag on the Derbyshire–Cheshire border in England. It is in the Peak District National Park and is a popular site for learning the rudiments of rock climbing. As the name suggests the area is exposed to the prevailing westerly winds. The rocks lie above Taxal Edge and are part of a north–south ridge that starts between Kettleshulme and Whaley Bridge and culminates at Shining Tor. The crag was featured in the first guide to rock climbing in the Peak District, Some Gritstone Climbs, published in 1913 and written by John Laycock.

Hiking Landmark

Shallcross, Derbyshire

Shallcross is a small village in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. It is 15 miles (24 km) south of Manchester, at the edge of the Peak District, on the eastern side of the River Goyt. Located between Whaley Bridge and Fernilee, it is now administered as part of the larger community of Whaley Bridge. The area attracts many outdoors enthusiasts, especially hikers, because of the beauty and variety of the scenery. It rises steeply as it ascends the Goyt valley from the canal terminus at Whaley Bridge, past Fernilee Reservoir, and onto the highlands of Axe Edge Moor.

Hiking Landmark

Randall Carr

The Randall Carr brook is a river in Derbyshire, England. It starts at Combs and flows to Whaley Bridge where it ends in the river Goyt. Its headwaters were dammed to create Combs Reservoir which supplies the Peak Forest Canal.

Fishing Landmark

Cats Tor

Cats Tor is a Peak District hill on the border between Cheshire and Derbyshire, between the towns of Macclesfield and Buxton. The summit is 518 metres (1,699 ft) above sea level. Tor is an Old English word for a high, rocky hill. The higher peak of Shining Tor is about 2 km south along The Tors gritstone ridge. The ridge continues to the north past Windgather Rocks and Taxal Edge towards Whaley Bridge. On the west wide of the ridge, water drains into Todd Brook which feeds Toddbrook Reservoir. East of Cats Tor are views of the Goyt Valley, Foxlow Edge and Fernilee Reservoir. The moorland ridge on which Cats Tor lies is designated "Open Access" land for the public, following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The closest access is from Pym Chair car park, from where a public footpath, laid on large stone slabs, runs south across Cats Tor and continues south along the ridge to Shining Tor. A local legend tells that Pym Chair is the spot where a highway man called Pym robbed passers by on the packhorse route. Another story is that Pym was a preacher who gave sermons there. The open gritstone moorlands of the Upper Goyt Valley (Wild Moor, Goyt's Moss, Burbage Edge, Shining Tor to Cats Tor ridge and Hop Moor) are a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Heather is the main plant but the heathland is habitat for a variety of native grasses, rushes, sedges and shrubs including bilberry, crowberry, cowberry and cross-leaved heath. Hare’s-tail cottongrass and sphagnum moss are common along The Tors ridge. The area is important for upland breeding birds including a large population of golden plover, as well as red grouse, curlew, lapwing, whinchat, snipe, twite, ring ouzel and merlin. On 30 September 1943 two Republic P-47D Thunderbolt planes crashed on Cats Tor. Both pilots were killed. The USAAF aircraft were from the 2906th Observation Group. The planes were on a training flight from RAF Atcham. Both aircraft flew straight into the hillside in cloud in the mid-afternoon. Cats Tor is a popular location for paragliding, used by the Derbyshire Soaring Club and the Peak Soaring Association. Oldgate Nick, on the northern slope of Cats Tor, is a gritstone buttress with 15 graded rock climbing routes.