High Peak - Part One

Late last week we decided to visit the town of New Mills to take another look at and photograph the Millennium Walkway.  We took a break at Chinley which is a lovely village just beyond Chapel-en-le-Frith.  As I took the photo below I turned and saw two goldfinches perched on the cow parsley in the lane; they were too quick for me to photograph  We have a pair visit our garden, in fact they are on the nyger seed feeder as I type this post but I only ever see them through the window so it was great to see them close to and out in the open.

Below is a photo of a little architectural gem the Chinley Independent Chapel, which is in fact just outside the village near the smaller hamlet of Chapel Milton.

It is one of the country's oldest non-conformist chapels and was built in 1711 but the group of dissenting worshipers who founded the chapel first started meeting in 1662,  led by the Rev William Bagshawe who was known as 'The Apostle of the Peak.'

Apparently it cost about £126, raised mostly by donations from sympathisers, to build and is two stories high. I peered through the windows and inside I could see galleried seating and box pews.  There was a huge central pulpit.  The two rows of windows let a lot of light into the interior.

In 1908 the chapel was almost completely renovated.  The walls were dismantled and rebuilt so the chapel looks the same as it did when first built.

The chapel will celebrate its 300th anniversary this year with a series of events to be held later this month.

Across the graveyard and cemetery is another architectural gem.   A bifurcating viaduct which carries two railways lines across the valley.

We'd passed under this viaduct many times on the main road on our way to Glossop or New Mills but had no idea there was an adjoining viaduct or that the delightful little building of the chapel was so close by.

When you actually stop to look instead of passing by it is the most amazing architectural feat.

Our next stop was New Mills,  a walk amongst the remains of the old  cotton factories in the Torr Valley and a visit to the Heritage Centre.  I'll tell you more in my next post.