The River Goyt starts it's life high in the hills on Axe Edge, and cuts its way down through the picturesque moorland arriving at Errwood Reservoir surrounded by forestry and Grazing meadows, Errwood was opened on the 14th June 1968 by the Duchess of Kent and you can find a plaque to commemorate this at the far end of the Dam. Below Errwood is the Fernilee Reservoir this was constructed in 1932 by Stockport Water Corporation and the combination of these two reservoirs give spectacular views and some interesting walks alongside the waters edge.

As you look out across the waters of both Errwood & Fernilee, take a while to think what the valley was like before it was flooded, it was in fact a vibrant community with The Great Victorian Hall, Errwood Hall and many farms which had been in the same families for generations, there was a school and a paint mills which is where Pickfords Removals operated from in their early years and a gunpowder mill, pictured here are some of the workers and management of The Chilworth Gunpowder Works in around 1905, The Mill supplied employment for many men in and around Fernilee and Whaley Bridge, this was a dangerous job and one spark could spell disaster unsurprisingly there are many accidents and fatalities recorded over the years.

Running through this portion of the Goyt Valley you can walk upon sections of the old Cromford and High Peak Railway Line, which follows the eastern edge of Fernilee Reservoir and also includes the Bunsall Incline which is now the steep road down into the valley at Errwood Reservior. This Railway was a true feat of engineering and was designed to link the Canals at Whaley Bridge and Cromford, a distance of 33 miles over some of the most exposed countryside in the UK. There were two parts to the Bunsall incline the lower had a gradient of 1 in 7 and the upper had a gradient of 1 in 7 1/2 over 1100 yards in total length, you can still see evidence of the railway, the small reservoir at the top of Bunsall incline is the water supply for the stationary steam engine that once stood here and used to haul the trucks up, there is a smaller reservoir closer to the bottom, which is now pretty much overgrown that served the same purpose for the lower section of the incline, if you take the path through the gate near the toilets at the bottom of the hill and look over to your left you can see that you are actually standing on top of an arched railway bridge. from the top of Bunsall incline you can follow the steep curves of the Railway until it disappears into the Burbage Tunnell, take note how much manpower must have gone into building the embankments over the steep gulleys. Goyt Valley was also a very important pack horse route with thousands of tons of salt passing through from Cheshire and there is still much evidence to be seen all over, one of the easiest places to see is standing at the top of Bunsall Incline on the old line facing the small reservoir you can see where the many travelers have worn a deep path up the hillside these are known as Holloways, there is more evidence where the road to Errwood meets the Long Hill Road to Buxton, if you look you can plainly see Holloways on both sides of the road worn out by the passing of thousands of hooves and feet. (Watch the traffic)!