I thought I'd take the scenic route back from a visit to my parents in Cheshire to my home in Bletchley today and take in a few lanes. So here they are:
From near the Cat & Fiddle to Buxton.
A very nice lane, one steep descent just over 1/2 way that was quite fun and needed a bit of care to find the best route through the loose rocks. Otherwise a nice easy lane with a good stone surface and stunning views. Met a couple of walkers and several mountain bikers, all friendly and no hassles. If you're near Buxton I'd recommend you give this one a go - I suspect I'll now use it as my regular route from Macclesfield to Buxton. Should be drivable all year given the surface.
From Beely Lodge (South end of Chatsworth Estate) to Beely Moor
A good lane, very easy with an excellent surface. Probably doable in any vehicle, but good anyway. Again used by walkers and cyclists, but no problems. Worth doing if you're in the area but I wouldn't go out of my way for this one (but could be combined with the next two for a very nice hour or two).
3/4 of a mile East of the last one.A very short lane - anything could use this. I only included it to cut off the corner.
3/4 Mile south of the last one.A cracking lane - mostly pretty easy but the last 500 yards was washed out to such an extent I turned back (no problem - there's a gate just before the washed out bit where you can turn a 110). The washout's so bad that half the lane's 2' or more below the other and I feared for my diffs on the boulders. It was still worth doing with a nice mix of woods and more open countryside and a very good surface throughout until the washed out section. Fantastic views across the valley. The second lane's northernmost section was used as a route back to the "normal" roads.
Met 2 trail bikers and several walkers, again all friendly.
It all made a mundane trip home *MUCH* more fun and, strangely (added 2 hours on to my usual trip time), far less tiring.
Will