Walk Derbyshire – Pentrich to Crich
When Country Images magazine was first launched in 1994 we were pleased to be able to include walks from ‘not so’ Old Perce. Over the following months he traversed the Amber valley and provided delightful walks that, as all walks should, start and finish at the local pub. With many village pubs closing that has become harder to do but in true style for 2019 ‘a little older and wider!’ Old Perce is back. Yes, he’s still around and walks incessantly around Amber Valley which is great news for us. So this month he shares with us one of his favourite walks. 1. From The Dog Inn Pentrich go up the main road towards Swanwick, then turn left onto Riley Lane, signposted Fritchley and Crich. 2. At the bottom of Riley Lane cross Chesterfield Road onto Park Lane to Wingfield Park, past Weir Mill farm and eventually turn left onto Lynam Road signposted Fritchley and through the hamlet of Boden. 3. Go past Boden House and Boden Farm and straight up the steep lane that veers to the right. A short walk up the lane gives fine views of Wingfield Manor to the right. 4. Go to the top of the lane and follow the beaten path through the woods. At the stile follow the directions on the yellow arrow left as it marks a pathway through the second part of the woodland. 5. Eventually you will reach a stone stile to cross. Turn immediately left and go through the second stile. Turn right and walk to the end of the lane 6. At the end of the lane turn right. Fifty yards before the hat factory follow the footpath sign to the right and through the woodland for just a short distance and then cross the stile on the left marked by a yellow arrow. Keep to the right hand side of the field by the hedgerow via a stile and metal gate. Follow the pathway and keep the woodland to your left. 7. Keeping the woodland to your immediate left cross over the gated stile and continue a short distance on and cross another stile. Turn left and immediately right over a metal gated stile and continue onto the top of the lane and into Crich Market Place. 8. Cross over the Market Place and up by the Baptist Chapel and onto Sandy Lane . After 100 yards turn left up by the pathway marked Derwent Valley. Walk as indicated by the yellow arrow on the post. Follow the metal sign marked Chadwick Nick and continue on this pathway for approximately half a mile. The views to the right show spectacular views of the Derwent Valley. The pathway via a set of stone steps leads to the tarmac road of Chadwick Nick where we turn right. 9. After 200 yards turn left at the signpost with the orange sticker on it. At the end of the pathway turn left. 10. Continue on the pathway ahead, don’t be tempted to veer off to the right or left. This pathway slowly meanders through some beautiful woodland for about a mile and leads to a stone bridge that crosses the Cromford Canal. Go over the bridge and cross back under it as though heading for Ambergate 11. Follow the towpath all the way to the end and cross a white painted bridge. Follow the path ahead keeping close to a wired fence all the way until it goes through a canopy of trees then follow the path inclined upwards. 12. After 3/4 of a mile or so the path will lead to a stone stile with barred wooden gate . Cross onto the lane which leads to Chadwick Nick and turn left up the lane. 13. Follow the lane to the top up the stone steps on the right and turn right on the pathway which leads us back into Crich. (At this point I recommend a pint or two in the Black Swan or coffee and cake in The Loaf and then wander our way back). 14. Turn left out of the Black Swan or straight out of The Loaf and walk down Dimple Lane and follow it to the end where it forks left and then turn left. 15. After half a mile or so ahead cross the stile on the right, marked Buckland Hollow and cross the field through the gate to the stone wall on the left. Cross here and turn right. 16. Follow the lane through the farmyard and left down the hill. At this point the pathway becomes ill defined, so at the property marked The Hall Gardens cut left over the fields and follow closely the contour of the river 17. At the end of the path, cross a small bridge and turn right onto a busy road. A few yards ahead on the left is a signpost and a path to Pentrich which we take. 18. A gated stile needs to be crossed ahead at the right hand side on the top of the field. Continue on by the side of the hedge and cross the next gated stile. At the very end of the hedgerow turn right and follow the footpath veering left through cemetary yard and back to the Dog Inn. 10 miles (16km): Moderate trails, field-paths and country lanes. With some muddy sections. RECOMMENDED MAP: Ordnance Survey 1:25000 scale OS Explorer, Chesterfield & Alfreton. CAR PARKING: Parking on the main road in Pentrich . REFRESHMENTS: Various pubs, cafes and shops along the route. 00
Walk Derbyshire – Walking Above the Canal – Cromford
The car park at the Cromford end of its namesake canal is a popular starting point for at least five walks to my reckoning. Most weekends and days in between, well-clad walkers will be congregating, busily pulling on their boots and at the same time, chatting to their friends. This walk starts, like all the others at the Cromford Wharf car park, before making its way over the river and under the railway, to join a path climbing steeply left up on to Bilberry Knoll. Almost immediately pleasant woodland tracks lead down to Lea Mills, before joining the long abandoned Lea Mills arm of the Cromford Canal. Turning right where the arm joins the main canal, the tow-path leads back to the car park by way of the information centre and railway workshops that once serviced trains hauled up and down Sheepwash Incline, on their way across the limestone moors to Whalley Bridge. You can get a coffee at the information centre, or more filling meals at the canal’s end. Despite being short in length, this walk is long in interest, especially historical. Right at the start, the old buildings dotted around the wharf’s car park, once acted as warehouses and offices for the canal company. The canal itself once linked the growing commercial interests of Arkwright’s Cotton Mills to the outside world, carrying raw cotton in, and finished yarn out. Alongside this, limestone from nearby quarries was shipped out in horse-drawn barges and coal from Nottinghamshire carried back. The Cromford Canal drove its way eastwards, passing beneath Ripley through a now abandoned tunnel, before running south at Langley Mill to link with the Trent and Mersey Canal. Since its abandonment, the Cromford Canal has become a wildlife haven, one of the few places where you might find water voles ‘ratty’ of the Wind in the Willows. Pleasure trips, some horse drawn, can enjoy a gentle cruise along the water in summer. However the navigable section ends where it is joined with the remains of the Lea Mills arm. There is deep, but not dredged water for a mile or two as far as the outskirts of Ambergate, but beyond there will be impossible without major engineering work – the gas depot fills a massive hole cut into the line of the canal. Furthermore, the Butterley Tunnel became dangerous as far back as the 1920s, cutting off any route beneath Ripley. What is left of a navigable Cromford Canal remains as a wildlife sanctuary. The Lea Mills Branch serviced the mill and also a lead smelter owned by Florence Nightingale’s uncle. When the Derby/Rowsley section of the London/Manchester Railway was built in 1849, it cut through the Lea Mills canal, effectively closing it for evermore. There used to be a pretty, now ruined cottage at the junction. It probably housed the family of the man who stoked the boiler providing steam to power the massive pump that lifts water from the river, up into the canal in order to keep the level high enough for traffic. The pump, incidentally operates on advertised days (usually Bank Holidays), throughout the summer. Much of the history of both the canal and Cromford and High Peak Railway is displayed in a simple, but effective display at the High Peak Junction Information Centre at the foot of Sheepwash Incline. Even though the first part of the walk is along the road, it is full of interest. Look out for the Fishing Temple to your right of the bridge. Beyond and below it are the scant remains of the medieval chapel where pre-bridge travellers prayed before crossing the dangerous Crom Ford. Look also over the bridge parapet on your left for the sign briefly telling the story of a horse and rider who jumped into the river from this point. The entrance to Willersley Castle is to the left beyond the bridge. This was to be Sir Richard Arkwright’s manorial home, but building was delayed due to a fire and he died before it was finished. Continuing along the road in the direction of Crich, a narrow footpath leads under the railway and in about 60 yards, an awkwardly narrow stone stile climbs up into fields leading up to the ridge-top track across Billberry Knoll. On the way it crosses an unsurfaced track leading to two farms on your right. The first is Meadow Farm and the second is Castletop, one time home of Allison Uttley a famous children’s story writer in the 1920s. From the top of the hill, the track leads through woodland where bluebells will flower in spring, down to Lea Mills. Still manufacturing high quality knitwear, it is the last still operating mill in the Derwent Valley. A dog-leg will take you to the towpath of the abandoned canal. Follow it, over the railway as far as the main which will lead you back to the car park. The Walk with Rambler From the canal-end car park walk out on to the road and turn right. Cross over the river and go past the entrance to Willersley Castle. Continue ahead where a side road bears left. Go forwards to the railway bridge. After about 50 yards on the far side of the bridge look out for a narrow stone stile on your left. Climb through it and begin to walk directly up the steep hillside. Cross a farm track and continue on your way to the top of the hill, passing the boundaries of two stretches of woodland along the way. Go through a pair of old stone gateposts and then turn right to follow a woodland bridleway, downhill alongside the boundary of more woodland. In the corner between open fields and the woods, take the furthest left of a pair of footpaths and enter another section of woods. This is Coumbs Wood, famous along with its neighbour, Bow Wood for its bluebells in spring. Follow the path, winding downhill. Where there is a break in the woodland, take
Walk Derbyshire – A Winter Warmer Around the Longshaw Estate
I have to make an apology before embarking on the text for this walk. In July I acquired a new hip, this was after upwards of ten years trying to ignore an ever growing problem. Fortunately I had the sense to build up a stock-pile of walks, which kept Garry and Alistair happy at Images HQ, making it possible for them to publish my walks as and when necessary. Feeling a lot better since my session with Mr Williams, one of the osteopath surgeons on the staff at Calow Hospital where, I must add, I didn’t feel a thing, and was much entertained by what sounded like the opening bars of Giuseppe Verdi’s Anvil Chorus from his opera il Travatore! Deciding it was time to put my boots on again, I chose this walk mainly because it is short and finishes with the alternative of a pub lunch or the excellent soup and sandwiches on offer at the National Trust tea-room next to Longshaw Lodge. Using easy to follow paths through what was once a sporting estate, the walk drops down into the upper valley of Burbage Brook. Here it joins one of the ancient Pack-horse tracks that once linked Sheffield to the salt wells of Cheshire, and carried finished metal goods such as scythes on the return trip. With far reaching views throughout, the walk starts by skirting the front of the lodge, along a path between it and the open moors now grazed by sheep, but once the realm of sportsmen and their guns in search of game. Going through a swing gate, the path splits with one going south towards Big Moor, and the other bearing right, drops down to the Grindleford road. This is the one we took, going past an attractive pond, the haunt of wild geese. The path crosses the road by way of a stone stile and then finds its way down to Burbage Brook. An ancient stone packhorse bridge crosses the brook which is followed upstream to another stone bridge. Here a right turn joins a cobbled track winding its way up to the Grindleford road again. Diagonally right across the road there is a gate house and behind it a footpath through woodland back to the car park. Longshaw Estate and its lodge was built in the early 1800s for the Duke of Rutland as a sporting estate. During the Great War of 1914-1918 it became a military hospital, mainly for Commonwealth soldiers. From old photographs it looks as though many of the fitter soldiers managed to enjoy the heavy snowfalls that seem to have been more regular then than now. In the 1920s Longshaw was bought by Sheffield Corporation as an amenity for the city whose boundary cuts through part of the estate. While the lodge has been turned into private residences, the rest of the estate having been gifted to the National Trust, is open to all. The now famous Longshaw Sheepdog Trials take place annually in the large field below the main house. The Walk : From the National Trust car park, follow the path down to the National Trust tea-room and Information Centre. Bear right and then left on to the path running between the lodge surrounds and open fields. Follow this path up to a swing gate next to wild rhododendrons. To your left as you walk along the first path, the raised wall apparently supporting the ground above it is called a ‘ha, ha’, or ‘haw, haw’. Its purpose is to prevent stock from encroaching the built-up area surrounding the lodge, but without spoiling the extensive moorland view. Reaching the gate, go through it, bearing right alongside rhododendron bushes, where pheasants are often sheltering. Wooden signs at the side of the path point to where children might find places where friendly boggarts live. Continue along this path until it reaches a large pond. Skirt round the pond with it on your right and then bear left past the second stone barn before you reach the road. It usefully serves as a shelter in wet weather, as well as offering information about the surrounding countryside and its wildlife. Cross the road and go through a stone stile and then drop down to a stone pack-horse bridge over the narrow brook. Cross the bridge and turn right, upstream for about a quarter of a mile, as far as the next bridge. Turn right and cross the narrow bridge. Follow a cobbled path, winding steeply uphill and through woodland as far as the road Go diagonally across the road, heading towards a gate house. Follow signs past the gate house and onto a woodland track. Continue along the track back to the National Trust car park Useful Information : 3miles (5km) of easy walking on well-maintained estate paths and riverside and woodland tracks. Recommended map: as the walk cuts through the northern and southern edges of both the OS White Peak (Sheet OL24) and OS Dark Peak (Sheet OL1) maps, it can make map oriented navigation rather difficult, but hopefully my poor quality sketch map and written instructions will be sufficient. Public transport: Regular service between Sheffield and Grindleford stop at the Fox House Inn a few yards from the entrance to Longshaw Estate. Parking: Inside estate (National Trust members free). Refreshments: Fox House Inn and Longshaw tea-room and Information Centre. Annual sheep dog trials as advertised. Guided walks and seasonal children’s events throughout the year. +10
Walk Derbyshire – A walk around Ilam Hall
Tucked away on a bend of the Manifold river, Ilam Hall village was built in the 1820s on the instructions of Jesse Watts-Russell. The original Victorian houses of the village echo the fairy-tale image of the hall, built at a time when skilled labour was cheap. It was also a time when tenants could be moved at the whim of their landlords if, as in this case, he wanted more space or privacy. The Ilam Hall we see today, with its Tudor-style chimneys and mock Gothic architecture, is only part of the original building; the central tower and most of the formal rooms were demolished in the 1930s. The rest of the building was due to suffer the same fate when it was bought by Sir Robert McDougall, a Manchester businessman. He had the remaining parts of the hall made habitable and presented it, together with the grounds, to the National Trust, instructing that the hall be used as a youth hostel. Hall and village replaced dwellings of a much earlier vintage, whose history can be traced back to Saxon times. St Bertram, an early Christian missionary, hid himself in a cell near where the river bubbles to the surface below the hall. By his pious example, he persuaded the locals to abandon their pagan beliefs. It is possible he preached at the foot of the rough cross which now stands by his church. Carving on the cross is Viking, dating from around AD900-1000. The church was ‘improved’ by Watts-Russell and its original 17th – century lines are broken by an octagonal mausoleum. The shaft of another stone cross, known as the Battle Cross, was found in the foundations of a cottage during the rebuilding of the village. It now stands to one side of the riverside walk and is thought to commemorate a battle in AD1050 between local Saxons and invading Danes. The walk starts by following a riverside terrace where the 17th -century dramatist Congreve wrote part of his comedy ‘The Old Bachelor’, then climbs above Hinkley Wood on the opposite bank of the river. Crossing pasture, the walk then joins the abandoned turnpike road from Cheadle (Staffs) to South Yorkshire via Thorpe. The barely discernable line of the old road is followed to Coldwall Bridge where a left turn follows the river back to Ilam. The Walk : From the car park walk down steps towards the river and turn right along a terraced woodland and riverside path, passing St Bertram’s Well along the way. St Bertram lived in the little cave below which the river bubbles out from a rocky overhang. The water, part of the River Manifold, has travelled about 5 miles (8km) underground from Darfur Bridge near Wetton to emerge at this point. The trees being mostly beech are magnificent in their autumn colours. Battle Cross is a little further on along the path. Ignore the footbridge on the far side of a field as you pass, but turn left and cross the next and which starts almost next to the path you have followed. Go over the small field as far as a stile. Climb this and bear left, steeply uphill on a faint path close to the side of Hinkley Wood until the path joins a grassy track. Turn left along this and follow a boundary wall on your right. Pausing for breath, look back for the view of Ilam Hall seen through its sheltering trees. Beyond it rise Bunster Hill and Thorpe Cloud at the southern entrance to Dovedale. Cross the dip of a dry valley and aim for a broad track which curves uphill around wooded Hazelton Clump. Climb over an awkward stile and turn left along the metalled by-road. Follow it across Blore cross roads to Coldwall Farm. Turn left away from the road; go through the farmyard and into a field. Walk downhill, tracing the curving route of the abandoned turnpike road. The 16th-century farmhouse, which is set back from the road, was formerly Blore Hall. Walk down to the bridge, but do not cross and turn left keeping to the west (Blore side), of the river. At first follow a fence above the hawthorn-covered slopes until a gap gives access to the river bank. Follow the river upstream from Coldwall Bridge. Sturdy buttresses show how this long-abandoned bridge over the River Dove has outlasted its need. On reaching the road into Ilam village, climb the short flight of steps beside the bridge and turn right, past the memorial cross and into the village. Ilam village. The elaborate cross is a memorial to Mrs Watts-Russell, a constant reminder to the villagers of this not over-popular lady. Admire the attractive cottage gardens of the ‘ginger-bread’ styled cottages of Ilam Village. Turn left into the drive leading to Ilam Hall, then left again past Dovedale House and along a path to the church where a right turn reaches the hall. There is a National Trust shop and café in the grounds. [wpgmza id=”44″] Useful Information 4½ miles (7.2km). 393 feet (120 metres) of easy woodland ascent, with fieldpaths throughout. Refreshments at Ilam Hall. Nearest pubs at Thorpe and Alstonefield. Parking in the grounds of Ilam Hall near the youth hostel. 00
Derbyshire Walk – Elvaston Castle
This walk, around the parkland of Elvaston Castle, is one of my occasional excursions from some of Derbyshire’s grand houses. Unfortunately it could almost be described as from one of Maxwell Craven’s ‘Lost Houses’. Financial constraints on its present owners, Derbyshire County Council, make it impossible to fund the necessary £6.1 million needed to restore the building’s fabric; something that has put it very firmly on the list of ‘Buildings at Risk’ register. As a result of the house being unsafe, it means that it has been closed to the public since 2008, but the 200 acres of parkland around which this walk goes, are still freely accessible. There is also a programme of events in the park throughout the year, ranging from an Easter egg trail, to a night time guided nature walk – for further details check www.derbyshire.gov.uk/countryside events. Until Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the estate was owned by Shelford Priory, after which it was sold in 1538, to Sir Michael Stanhope of Rampton, Notts. Following his death in 1611, the whole estate, including Elvaston, was inherited by his second son, also called Michael. He became High Sheriff of Derbyshire and died in 1638, but not before he built the Elizabethan-styled house at Elvaston on the outskirts of Derby in 1633. With little change, Elvaston passed steadily through generations of Stanhopes until the 19th century. This was when Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington employed the architect James Wyatt to extend and re-develop the castle in the then popular Gothic Revival style. During this time a new wing and the great hall were added. Further modifications on the Elizabethan-styled south front were carried out in 1836 by the architect Lewis Nockalls Cottingham, leaving the building very much as we see it today. Vacated by its original owners, Elvaston Castle became a teacher training college until 1950, after which it remained mostly empty, slowly declining through intervening decades right through to the present time. Elvaston Castle Gardens Probably still the only truly cared for section of the estate, the gardens were laid out in 1830 for Charles, 4th Earl of Harrington by the relatively unknown gardener, William Barron. The earl had caused something of a scandal by marrying the actress Maria Foote who was seventeen years his junior. Very much a love-match, the couple kept the gardens for their private retreat while Barron spent the next twenty years building their now Grade 2 listed Gothic paradise. Following the 4th Earl’s death in 1851, his brother Leicester Stanhope became the 5th Earl. It was he who opened the gardens to the public for the first time. Along with the castle and its gardens, the estate covers some 200 acres of parkland, including several cottages and gate houses, along with an ice house plus a boat house. Ideally the property could be owned by the National Trust, but by confining their interest to acting in as a Consultancy Body, even they baulk at the thought of funding the £6.1 million required to restore the fabric of Elvaston Castle. Elavaston Country Park In 1969 following the Countryside Act the previous year, the estate including the castle was sold to Derbyshire County Council by the 11th Earl of Harrington. The council opened the estate to the public in 1970 as a Country Park under the terms of the Act. Since then it was used for country fairs and other major events, but latterly lack of funding has meant that even such things have been abandoned. Nevertheless the park is popular with up to 350,000 visitors a year, offering a wide range of activities alongside self-guided walks and cycle rides, or just for a day out in the popular children’s play park. . The Future Threatened with closure due to lack of funding, the council would like to remove its immediate financial liabilities amounting to around £500,000 a year simply to keep it open. Since closure of the main building to the public in 1990 when it was deemed unsafe, the castle and estate have attracted the interest of golf club developers, but this could well restrict the sort of access currently enjoyed by the public at large. The Walk : From the car park off the Borrowash/Elvaston road, follow the woodland track to the left of the children’s play park. Within sight of the lake, turn right. The huge mound of white rocks, an imaginative adventure playground, is made of tufa (naturally reconstituted Derbyshire limestone). The rock was used extensively throughout the park to decorate William Barron’s garden lay-out. Cross the bridge over a narrow neck of the lake and make your way up to the courtyard at the back of the castle. Bear left from the courtyard and then right into the ornamental gardens. Work your way up to the lodge and boundary wall. Join the tree-lined formal drive for about 50 yards and then angle left away from it and on to a path heading towards modern houses in Thulston. Bear right past the newish housing estate and on to a road passing the Harrington Arms. Turn left to join the Borrowash road for a few yards. Cross the main road and bear right on to a side road, bearing right again where it forks. This is Ambaston Lane, follow it for about a mile into Ambaston village. n.b. although this is a minor side road, it can be busy at times, so walk on the right-hand side, facing oncoming traffic. At the ‘T’ junction turn left on to a side road through Ambaston. At the road end turn left past the last houses and follow a grassy field path over a series of fields and as far as the river. Walk along the river bank until the path reaches the Borrowash road. Climb up to the road and bear left along it for about 100 yards. Drop down a side track on your right and regain the river bank. The path here is part of the Derwent
Derbyshire Walk – Tissington
I had visions of Michael Fish, the man whose forecast about there being no danger of hurricanes, went as his Scots forebears would have put it; ‘gone aft a’gley’. In my case it was a completely wrong interpretation of the forecast. According to a weather map in the Guardian a day or so before the planned walk, the weekend weather should have been dull at first, then sunny. Perfect I thought but after the first hour’s walking, instead of sunshine, we had snow, not much, but enough to make us wonder if we had done the right thing, but by then we were well into the walk, and had to plod on regardless. This walk rather than be between two grand houses, aims for just one, Tissington Hall as its high point. Starting from the little known village of Parwich, the way is across the valley of Bletch Brook, then by way of a short length of the Tissington Trail to the estate village of Tissington. The return follows a more northerly route, across fields and then over Bletch Brook once more. It then travels back to Parwich where Robinsons’ a renowned Stockport brewery supplies the Sycamore – their ‘Old Tom’ was a warming respite at the end of a bitterly cold and damp walk. The two villages visited on this walk are built on ancient foundations. Parwich can almost be classed as a hidden outpost. Its secluded stone-built cottages sit around a pleasant village green filling a sunny hollow and can claim to be one of the least known Peakland villages. The church is built on Saxon and Norman foundations, but like many of its kind was ‘improved’ during the Victorian zeal for modernisation. Its hall though dating from 1747 is not built from the plentiful local stone, but from bricks that were made on site in temporary kilns. Standing on a south-facing terrace overlooking the village, the house and its gardens are only opened to the public on advertised days. To the south on the opposite side of Bletch Brook valley, Tissington is an estate village clustered around its Jacobean hall. Both have been owned by the Fitzherbert family since Elizabethan times. Although not on the route of this walk, the village is entered by a side road off the Buxton/Ashbourne highway, along an imposing avenue of lime trees. With its attractive duck pond at its centre, Tissington is popular with visitors throughout the year. Some may come just to sight-see, or picnic beside the pond; others seeking more energetic pursuits make for the old station car park on the Tissington Trail in order to cycle or walk along the all-weather track. Whatever it is that brings visitors to Tissington, the majority will be arriving in May around Ascension Day when Tissington is the first Peakland village to dress its wells. Tissington Hall is open to the public at advertised times and fulfils everyone’s idea of how an ancient house can still be a pleasant family home. Cream teas are usually on offer and the rose garden is a must throughout the summer months. The Walk : From the village green in Parwich, follow a side lane southwards towards rising ground. Look out for a shallow cave on your right and go through an awkward squeezer stile next to a farm house. Follow the line of a hedge, down to the slopes leading into Bletch Brook valley. Walk down four fields into the valley bottom where it can be muddy. Cross the stream by a footbridge. Climb uphill, following the route indicated by a Limestone Way signpost, crossing stiles in the walls of three fields until you reach a farm lane. Cross the railway bridge and, on its far side, turn sharp left and go down to the track bed of Tissington Trail. Turn right and follow the all-weather trail. Tissington Trail follows the Ashbourne/Parsley Hay stretch of the old railway from Uttoxeter to Buxton via Ashbourne. Never economical, it was closed following the Beeching report. Walk along the trail for about ¾ mile (1.2km), as far as Tissington Station car park and picnic site. From the car park, go left into the village, then right opposite the duck pond. Go past the café and then Tissington Hall on your left. The attractive Hall Well on your right opposite the hall entrance, is just one of the Tissington wells dressed each year. Turn right at a road junction and a group of cottages beyond the hall at the far end of the village. Turn left by the last cottage and follow a signposted, waymarked field path across five fields, crossing walls by stiles, or go through field gates. Low ridges in the fields crossed by this section of the walk are the remains of medieval field systems when ploughs were hauled by teams of oxen. Keeping to the right of Crakelow Farm, cross a railway bridge over the Tissington Trail. Keeping slightly to the right, walk downhill into the valley by a pathless route crossing four fields. Keep to the right of an old field barn. Cross Bletch Brook (muddy on either side) and climb the hillside by following a boundary hedge. Cross two more field boundaries along the way. Drop into and follow a sunken track. Go through a squeezer stile, moving away from the sunken track and over a field. Aim to the right of a ruined barn, then climb over another stile in a boundary hedge. Walk downhill towards the bottom corner of a field. Go through two gates and then join a minor road. Turn right and follow the road back into Parwich village. Useful Information 3¾ miles (6km) of moderate field path walking. Gentle climbs on either side of the Bletch Brook valley. Some muddy sections in the valley bottom. Recommended map: Ordnance Survey: 1:25,000 scale Outdoor Leisure Sheet 24, the White Peak. Refreshments: Tissington café. Sycamore Inn, Parwich. Public transport. Although the Derbyshire Connect service could be used; telephone bookings, (01332)
