Scugdale

About trip

Time: 2 Hours Terrain: Moderate. Description: If you had come into Scugdale about a hundred years ago, you would have found a very different state of affairs to this quiet backwater of today. For a start, there would hardly have been a tree standing; the Forestry Commission has planted most of the trees seen today. The biggest impact, however, would have been the number of people round and about, especially on Sundays, when all those engaged in mining were spending their only day above ground. Ironstone mining was an extensive industry both on the edge of Whorlton Moor and in pockets along the valley bottom. Near the start and end of this walk at Huthwaite, lie the spoil heaps of the Marquis of Aislesbury’s Scugdale Iron Mine. A light railway from the mine ran across the field beyond the post box- you can still see traces of an embankment.