Mills & Martyrs Pilgrimage

Mills and Martyrs pilgrimage

About the Walk

Our 21st-century pilgrimages have only recently been launched in the beautiful Peak District- now the base of Hope Walking- and are a wonderful way to discover the hidden history of the area. You will learn about nature, your journey companions and get a chance to experience some pilgrim practices along the way.

The vision of a previous vicar to link the Mother Church with her four Daughter Churches at Cressbrook, Litton, Millers Dale and Wormhill, this Parish Pilgrimage was created by a Tideswell Church member. As a keen walker who had walked every footpath in the area, he enjoyed mapping a safe and beautiful route through the Peaks, showcasing some of the country’s most glorious countryside.

On this Mills and Martyrs pilgrimage, we are walking around four of these fascinating buildings to discover their forgotten stories of the buried head of Glossop’s almost-saint and Litton Mill’s cruelly-treated orphan boy who inspired Charles Dickens.

Walk itinerary

We assemble at 10am to begin our pilgrimage at Tideswell church, an inclusive C of E church. Building started in 1320 during the medieval period, but construction of the Gothic Mother church took eighty years due to the Black Death. Your guide will share stories of the church’s connection with the Elizabethan Padley Martyrs and the tragic treatment of the Litton orphan child millworkers, some of whom are buried in the churchyard. Tideswell’s minister, Revd Fiona will send us off with an optional pilgrim blessing whenever her duties allow.

We set our intentions for the day, then make our way through the village and between houses for beautiful views of the church, then across quiet roads to Christ Church in the 17th century former lead mining village of Litton, built in the 1920s. It is also famous as the birthplace of prominent Non-Conformist William Bagshaw, The Apostle of the Peak. The post office and community shop is usually open for any forgotten refreshments! Your pilgrim guide will share the terrible tales of the treatment of orphaned workhouse children- ‘young, poor, easily replaced and anonymous’, who were brought from urban centres like London to work at nearby Litton and Cressbrook Mills, a practise described as ‘a shameful stain on British history’. At any given time up to the First World War, there were around twenty water mills working along the Wye Valley between Ashwood Dale and Bakewell

After a look at the picture-postcard village, we journey on to St John the Evangelist Cressbrook, where “a mission church with two bells seating 150” was enlarged in 1902 by Mary Worthington of ‘The Big House’, Cressbrook Hall.

We drop down into beautiful limestone Cressbrook Dale, in spring home to a stunning array of wildflowers, cowslips and orchids. The Dale is a National Nature Reserve where we walk by the river which powered Arkwright’s water wheel-powered frame which revolutionised the cotton spinning industry and earned him the name ‘Father of the Industrial Revolution’. Passing Ravenstor, now a Youth Hostel, we hear about the valley’s connection with great Victorian philanthropist, Alderman J G Graves of nearby Sheffield.

Reaching our third Daughter Church at Millers Dale, we are half way through our pilgrimage. The square towered St. Anne’s Church dated 1879 on the clock tower was designed to serve as both school and place of worship by the Vicar of Tideswell, Rev. Samuel Andrew. Sadly this church is now permanently closed, but pilgrims can admire it’s architecture, none the less.

Miller’s Dale gets its name from the abundance of water-mills that once flourished here, and there was probably a mill here at the time of the Norman Conquest. This beautiful dale was controversially transformed forever in mid-Victorian times by the coming of the railway in 1863 as a very important railway junction, where passengers for Buxton joined or left trains between London and Manchester on the old Midland Railway. Indeed, as Ruskin famously wrote:

“That valley where you might expect to catch sight of Pan, Apollo and the Muses, is now desecrated in order that a Buxton fool may be able to find himself in Bakewell at the end of twelve minutes, and vice-versa”.

Trains provided much easier access to the rich limestone deposits, so intensive quarrying began. Today’s pilgrims can still see remains of the batteries of lime-kilns being built alongside the track.

We continue on, shortly joining the famous Monsal Trail at the former Millers Dale Railway Station, thankfully still providing a loo and a brew! This is an ideal moment to eat a lunch we bring.

Refreshed in body, mind and spirit, we follow the disused railway track- a casualty of the Beeching cuts in the 60s- to ascend a track to St Margaret’s, Wormhill- our last Daughter Church where the medieval chapel was enlarged and altered in 1746. A walk largely downhill through field tracks brings us back to the peaceful haven of Tideswell once again, where tea and cake await us pilgrims at the various village cafes- a Mount Joy moment indeed!

We say farewell to our journey companions and depart revived and restored with some special pilgrim practices to bring peace and comfort into our everyday lives.

Walk Summary

Date: Saturday September 13th

Saturday November 1st *(particularly for those who have experienced grief and loss)

*Those attending the November pilgrimage may wish to extend their stay to include a service in memory of loved ones at 3pm on Sunday 2 November in Tideswell Church.

Description: 1-day modern pilgrimage walk starting 10.00 am, concluding around 3.30 pm open to women and men.

Grade: Moderate

Price: £39.50 per person, includes all church donations and guiding.

*Please bring your own lunch and drink.

Walk guide: Faye Smith

Payment: Full payment on booking please to secure minimum numbers of 6 persons- no bookings will be taken after 48 hours before the event. All monies will be returned in full should minimum numbers not be reached 48 hours before the event, or should the pilgrimage be cancelled by your guide due to dangerous weather conditions. We walk even in the wet!

What’s included:

• Services of pilgrim guide throughout your walk

• Pilgrim candle and scrip

• Donations to churches

What to bring: Please bring water and a packed lunch. Dress for the weather, stout footwear and walking poles may be useful. Cash may be useful for refreshments and there are toilets at the start of the walk and along the way.

Travelling to the route start:

We always recommend the greenest option of public transport where possible.

By train: The nearest train station is Sheffield, 3 miles away from the route start. The TM 65 Travel Bus offers five journeys a day- three on Sundays, departing from the Interchange opposite the railway station.

By car: Satnav postcode to the church is SK17 8PE. Free parking is available on the roadside. Please park safely and considerately.

• pilgrim guide throughout your walk

• Pilgrim candle and scrip

• Hot drinks at start and lunchtime

• Tea and cake at the end of the pilgrimage

• Behind the scenes church tour and art exhibition

Customer review

“I wasn’t a big walker before I met Faye. My first walk was joining her walking group for a Boxing Day stomp and boy did I love it.  The nature, the views, the company and not forgetting the pit stops, were all fabulous while we shared stories and put the world to rights.  

I also took time to walk quietly alone and to just breathe and observe the wonderful surroundings.  Since this time we have walked all over the Peak District, ensuring that I took time to exercise and enjoy Faye's insightful and inspiring company.”

ALEX

Why not start your journey today?