Pull up a Chair and Enjoy a Pyms.............The Goyt Valley

I was recommended a walk around the Goyt Valley by a work colleague. I will be returning for more walks around there. It's rich in history, steeped in character and full of views. Here is my first walk in this area.

The Goyt Valley was originally the location of a whole community including small industries and a railway. The word Goyt, according to the Goyt Valley website at http://www.goytvalley.co.uk/history.html possibly comes from the old English words gote or gota. Whether this is true, I cannot substantiate it, looking the words up on the Internet doesn't show any results, although I did only take a brief look. The valley is now the location of two reservoirs, Errwood Reservoir, and the larger, lower, Fernilee Reservoir.

 

My walk was planned so as to take in two of the peaks above the reservoirs, Cat Tor and Shinning Tor. My start point was a car park right next to Pym Chair. As the sign in the photograph below says, who was Pym?

 

The Car Park at Pym Chair

 

 

Pym Chair

 

 

The path heads across the road and onto firstly Cat Tor and then onto Shinning Tor.

 

 

Shinning Tor ahead.

Cat Tor left behind me.

 

The views from Cat Tor and Shinning Tor are great, taking in Kinder Scout and Jodrell Bank to name a few.

 

 

Jodrell Bank off in the distance.

 

 

It's clearly remained cold up here for some time as there are small clumps of  quite deep snow banks in places.

 

 

 

 

I captured a photograph of the Trig Point on Shinning Tor and some of the surrounding views.

 

 

 

 

 

I then headed east from the the top of Shinning Tor heading across to Stake Side and headed down the ridge, roughly north, towards the reservoirs.

 

 

 

 

Around half way down the ridge I turned off down and through Shooter's Clough, a fairly, if muddy walk through a small river valley. 

 

 

 

 

From the bottom of the Clough I took a slight diversion down to Errwood Reservoir for a break and to take some photographs of people sailing on the water.

 

 

 

My return to the car followed a path along the back of Foxlow Edge with more pleasant views and some interesting features.

 

 

 

 

 

I have only walked a small section of the interesting parts of the Goyt Valley. So further visits are on the cards.