The Transpennine Express

The Transpennine Express is a two day (or really hard one day) route that starts at Sheffield railway station and heads over the roof of England and back.

From the centre of one of the UK’s largest city the route heads westwards and makes it’s way up into the Peak District. It doesn’t take long to leave the urban sprawl – a third of Sheffield is inside the national park boundary. From there it’s across wild moorland and down into the pretty village of Baslow.

There’s a few miles of road and the route picks up the Monsal Trail which is part of the disused Derby – Manchester trainline. After enjoying a few miles of meandering through the Wye Valley we head up to Tideswell with it’s impressive church.

From here we drop down to the western side of the Pennines and New Mills. The route follows a selection of quiet lanes before joining the Transpennine Trail just outside Glossop. It’s virtually all off road from here back to Sheffield.

This is a tough route that I’d recommend doing over a couple of days unless you are planning for an ultra distance event. The return leg is particularly exposed so make sure you have a few spare layers and a waterproof whatever time of year it is.