Hartington

HARTINGTON, HULME END, BIGGIN DALE, WOLFSCOTE DALE, DOVE VALLEY, MILLDALE, THE GEORGE AT ALSTONEFIELD, GIPSY BANK, MORSON WOOD AND THE DEVONSHIRE ARMS AT HARTINGTON

Distance: 11 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry with early cloud giving way to sunshine.

Walkers: Nigel Crank, Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, John Laverick, Jock Rooney with Tips, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

B walkers: Tony Job, Peter Morrall, Geoff Spurrell and Mike Walton.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (hols), Peter Beal (narrow-boating), Colin Davison (boating),George Dearsley (hols), Malcolm Halley (long distance cycling) and Ken Sparrow (hols).

Leader: Rooney. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Hartington village square, White Peak, Derbyshire.

Starting time: 10.10am. Finishing time: 2.47pm.

The start was delayed after the Poynton contingent discovered that none of their five-strong group knew the way to Hartington. Nor, indeed, did we know that Hartington, though south of Longnor, the previous week’s starting point, was in Derbyshire while Longnor was in Staffordshire. Your diarist produced a road map and that quintet arrived five minutes behind schedule.

We then encountered the vagaries of the county boundaries as we skipped from Derbyshire into Staffordshire and back on several occasions through some of the prettiest scenery the White Peak has to offer.

En route we met an armed mink hunter and several youngsters taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. It is often forgotten that the polite well-disciplined behaviour of these young people is inevitably overshadowed by the publicity given to the anti-social antics of other teenagers.

Setting off from near the duck pond in the centre of Hartington, we passed The Devonshire Arms on our right as we entered Hall Street and headed uphill. When we reached the youth hostel at Hartington Hall on our left (5mins) we turned right following a wooden public footpath sign for Hulme End.

We went straight on over a stone step stile, ignoring a wooden public footpath sign pointing left, and straight on again at a wooden public footpath sign for Biggin Dale (20mins). We turned left at a blue arrow marker (35mins) to enter Biggin Dale and then turned right at a dew pool to follow a sign for Wolfscote Dale.

As we followed the clear track, the word STUDIO had been spelt with white rocks on the hillside ahead. It was decided that as this word derived from Italian, it had probably been left by the Romans some time after 55BC.

We reached the River Dove at 11am sharp (50mins) for pietime and met a mink hunter who had just arrived on a quad. He explained that wild mink had become the curse of the environment, depleting fish stocks and indigenous water voles.

These American mink, who had escaped captivity in farms where they were bred for their valuable black pelts, are fiercely aggressive. When caught in traps, they are still dangerous and have to be shot with air rifles.

The mink hunter, who is employed by Beresford Fisheries and Derbyshire Angling Club, pointed out a crag on the far side of the Dove where a pair of peregrine falcons had built a nest. He had recently seen the male carrying a pigeon home for dinner.

Despite a lengthy 25-minute stop, we hadn’t see the falcons’ aerial display by the time we resumed by turning left with the Dove on our right. After passing a large house on our left (80mins) we went over a bridge across the river, thus entering Staffordshire. We ignored the upper route to Alstonefield and took the lower route with the Dove now on our left.

This brought us into Milldale (94mins) where we turned right and immediately right again following a sign for the chapel. We headed uphill, passing the chapel on our right, before arriving at The George in Alstonefield (112mins). After ordering pints of Marstons’ cask bitter at £2-95 we all found them to have a sour after-taste.

The George

Tom declared this, and a lack of fizz, to be an indication that it was stale. To her credit the landlady took them back without a quibble, other than to say her undiscerning regulars hadn’t noticed anything wrong the night before, and changed the barrel. There was a massive improvement, which caused second pints to be ordered.

We left the pub by turning left and followed a road sign on our right for Lode Mill and Ashbourne (113mins). After passing The Wesleyan Chapel, rebuilt in 1879, we turned left at a green public footpath sign (114mins). 

We followed the sign for Narrowdale, Gipsy Bank by Pease and Rocks.

At a public footpath sign we turned right (121mins) and walked to the right of a farm before following a yellow arrow through a gate (127mins). We plunged steeply down Gipsy Bank and crossed the river by either a bridge or stepping stones (144mins).

On the far bank we turned left along the path with the Dove on our left, stopping for lunch at the same spot where we had paused for pies (147mins). Continuing, we ignored the path on our right for Biggin Dale and followed the sign for Hartington. We passed a cave on our right quickly followed by a bridge on our left (171mins).

We crossed a footbridge over the Dove (176mins) into Staffs, then turned right with the Dove on our right. We then re-crossed the river by another footbridge (181mins) to return to Derbyshire and enter Beresford Dale. With the Dove now on our left we walked through Morson Wood (185mins) and through gates on either side of a stony track (196mins).

When we reached a road we turned right and arrived at our final destination, The Devonshire Arms, on our right (200mins). Here we enjoyed pints of Jennings’ Cumberland bitter at £3-20. The more extravagant wanderers drank Marstons’ Pedigree at £3-40.

B Walkers

Logistics By Geoff Spurrell:  Meet with 2 cars at Prestbury free car park. Car 1 to Hare Hill with walkers.

Walk back to Prestbury via Leigh Hall.  Arr. 12.15 forRobbies bitter in top form at the Admiral Rodney, £2.85 a pint. Car 2 with walkers back to Hare Hill, then on to the Wizard N.T. car park. Walk back to Hare Hill for car 1. Both cars to Thief's Neck at Woodford for more Robbies, this time not so good, and £3.10 a pint. Nice beer garden, uncomfortable chairs, but open all day.

Distance walked: 5.3 miles.  Height gained: Zero, thanks to fine planning by Geoff.

Next week’s walk will start from The Queens Head at Taddington, near Buxton, at 9.50am. We intend to stop for refreshment (and possibly lunch) at the Church Inn, Chelmorton, around noon, returning to the Queens Head about 2.20pm.