Peak (Monkey Puzzle) District

Our break in Dorset was soon followed by a few days away in the Peak District staying in the incredible Shepherd's Hut at Gollin Farm near Flash. When Nathalie managed to dislocate and break one of her toes a week or so before we were due to leave, we were forced to reassess what we were going to on our holiday. The accident was caused by her trying to avoid kicking our lovely cat Anne-Marie. So as long walks across the Peaks were a no-no, I could looked forward to a lot of driving and not so much sightseeing, not to mention much less chance of me spotting any Monkey Puzzle trees!

Though, funnily enough, Nathalie turned out to be even better at spotting trees than I thought I was and driving through the spectacular countryside was much more fun than I'd thought it would be. Time and again whilst sitting in the back of the car, so she could keep her foot raised, she'd cry out "Monkey Puzzle tree!" The first she saw was the one in Macclesfield road that had to be a good half a mile away and only visible from the road for about 2 seconds as we were driving along.

We ended up spotting 11 trees 'in the wild' and a few more at Biddulph Grange (covered in the next post). We suspect the mature Monkey Puzzles at Biddulph is one of the reasons for so many trees, especially mature ones, in the area. The most spectacular tree would have to be the one at Manor Farm just outside Britain's highest village Flash, viewed from the road passing above the tree is quite breath taking.

Macclesfield Old Road - Buxton

Leek Road - Buxton

Flash

Manor Farm - Flash

Congleton Road 1 - Biddulph

Congleton Road 2 - Biddulph

Fold Lane - Biddulph

New Street - Biddulph Moor

Overton Road - Biddulph

Under The Hill - Biddulph Moor

Woodhouse Lane - Biddulph

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 587