I was booked to give a talk to a group in Blackburn but as there’d been snow in the morning they’d phoned me to cancel. My original plan for my cycle tour was to catch the 16:35 direct train to Buxton but now I decided to go for an earlier train. I cycled to Chorley rail station to catch the 13:54 train to Manchester Piccadilly. I bought a Wayfarer ticket which will get me to Buxton and is considerably cheaper than the ordinary fare. It was £6 and last March only cost £5. The train was showing 13 mins late on the board. That would have still given me enough time to get my connection but as always with delayed trains they are later that they display. This was no exception and I arrived in Manchester 35 mins late and missed my planned Buxton train. I had to wait for the next at 15:54. I had difficulty finding out which platform it was due to leave from as it wasn’t showing on the departure board.

Waiting for the train at Chorley

Eventually I got on the train at platform 10 and by the time we left the train was packed. Approaching Buxton I could see there had been a lot of snow. By Buxton the train was almost empty and it was a dull snowy scene that greeted me. The roads were covered in slush and my main concern was the wind. I rode through the town heading east along the A6 on the Bakewell road. The first mile or so is slightly downhill as the road follows the river. Then the climb out of the valley follows and this is where things got difficult. I was climbing steadily but the snowy conditions meant I couldn’t get close to the kerb and the traffic was generally driving with caution. Near the top of the climb the fierce cross wind was blowing me all over the place. At slow speeds it is desperately difficult to keep control of the bike.

Approaching Buxton

I was constantly being blown into the verge and at one point was blown off the road straight into a bank of snow at the side of the road. It took a while to sort myself out before continuing. One motorist must have taken pity on me as they stopped to ask if I wanted a lift. It was a good gesture but I don’t think they’d thought through the logistics of getting my bike into a vehicle. On the approach to Taddington I reached the side road where I’d originally planned to camp. The road was snowed up so I had to continue on the A6. There was a wall on my left and I continued till there was a gate I could get through into the field. It was difficult getting my bike through the snowdrifts but eventually I madde it and got my tent pitched on the snow with some shelter from the wind behind the wall.

Dull and snowy Buxton