Hartington

HARTINGTON, BIGGIN DALE, RIVER DOVE, MILLDALE, THE GEORGE AT ALSTONEFIELD, GIPSY BANK, WOLFSCOTE DALE, BERESFORD DALE, MORSON WOOD AND THE CHARLES COTTON HOTEL IN HARTINGTON

Distance: 9 miles.

Difficulty: Mostly easy with one strenuous hill climb.

Weather: Blue skies and sunshine at start; two brief showers and cloudy finish.

Walkers: Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (sailing), Peter Beal  (Greek island hols), Chris Corps (w*^king), George Dearsley (w*^king).

Leader: Rooney. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Outside The Devonshire Arms, Hartington, Derbsyhire.

Starting time: 10.13am. Finishing time: 2.50pm.

Hartington is one of the farthest villages visited by the Wednesday Wanderers but it has charms which make the journey worthwhile. From it we were able to explore the banks of the River Dove where Izaak Walton spent many happy hours fishing.

Our day ended in The Charles Cotton Hotel, named after his great friend who helped Walton write his famous book The Compleat Angler.

Walton (1594-1683), born in Staffordshire the son of an innkeeper, published the tome which became the anglers’ bible in 1653. Its insights into the art of using rod and line spread around the world and from his celestial perch (no pun intended), the old boy must have been gratified to learn that he had been inducted into the US National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

On another historical note, we found a pub where the price of a pint was even higher than that charged in The Lantern Pike, Little Hayfield: more of that later.

Leaving our starting point at the Devonshire Arms, we walked past The Village Stores on our left and turned right into Hall Lane. We followed a public footpath sign for Biggin Dale (12mins). At a footpath crossroads (17mins) we continued to head for Biggin Dale, which we ultimately entered (31mins).

Library picture of Biggin Dale

After passing the sign we swung right and continued along the well-trodden path until we reached the River Dove (47mins). After going left through a gate we stopped for Pietime at a bank overlooking the river and the valley beyond.

Rain had been forecast to start falling between 11am and noon. It duly arrived as Pietime was ending at 11.20am, but the mere sight of your diarist’s magic waterproof pants was enough to drive the rain away.

We continued along the left bank of the Dove until we reached a road bridge which we used to cross to the far side (77mins). In the river Steve spotted a brown trout – possibly a descendant of those which gave Walton such pleasure four centuries earlier.

By reaching the opposite bank we had entered Staffordshire and turned left along a road marked “Unsuitable for Caravans.” Jock pointed out that this was why camels were rarely seen in these parts.

The road led us into the village of Milldale (84mins), where a 17^th Century stone cottage was for sale. This refurbished thee-bed property in an idyllic spot has just been sold for £375,000. Opposite the cottage is a road marked To The Chapel. We entered the road and after 30 yards we turned left up some steep steps (85mins).

Library picture of Milldale

This was the start of the most strenuous part of the walk, as we went through a gate into a field, turned left and walked up a hill which seemed to get steeper with every stride. As it levelled out we headed right through a gap stile. We walked left through a field to a gate (92mins) and followed the beaten path to reach a road.

Here we turned left and passed Alstonefield Parish Church on our left (95mins). The road led us to the welcome sight of a spreading chestnut tree in a circle of grass, behind which was The George (98mins). Pints of Marstons’ Pedigree here cost an eye-watering £3-45, prompting Tom to wonder whether he was letting his customers off lightly back at the Lantern Pike in Little Hayfield. His musings were confirmed when we opted for a second pint, regardless of expense.

Suitably refreshed, we turned left out of the pub and reached a junction. In the garden opposite was a giant plastic dinosaur, which may have been symbolic. We followed the sign right towards Lode Mill and Ashbourne, passing Wesleyan House on our left before turning left at a public footpath sign (102mins).

We walked along a lane until we reached another public footpath sign (107mins) and turned right. To do so we had to squeeze through a gap stile which caused Tom some discomfort because of his well-muscled thighs. The path led us through gates to the right of a farm (115mins). Just beyond the farm we turned left at a public footpath sign (116mins) and entered a field.

At a convenient grassy bank we stopped for lunch (120mins), and again our snacks induced rainfall. On this occasion the magic waterproofs (which had been removed in the pub) took 15 minutes to work as we resumed our walk and descended steeply down Gipsy Bank (126mins).

We crossed a footbridge over the Dove (134mins) and turned left. This led us through a gate (138mins) we had passed earlier on our way from Biggin Dale. On this occasion we carried straight on following the public footpath sign for Hartington.

After walking through Wolfscote Dale we entered Beresford Dale (162mins), passing Beresford Hall on our left. This was the home of Charlie Cotton, the aforementioned pal of Izaak Walton. We crossed another footbridge taking us back to the left bank of the Dove (166mins), turning immediately sharp right and crossing another footbridge back to the right bank of the river. 

After passing Morson Wood on our right (175mins) we passed Ash Tree Holiday cottage on our left (187mins) and reached the road into Hartington.

We turned right and reached our cars to de-boot (190mins). After discovering The Devonshire Arms was unexpectedly closed, we gave our custom to The Charles Cotton.  

B Walkers' diary

Wednesday 7th May B group
Walkers Lawrie, Terry, Ken
Route about 8miles round Alderly Edge

We were supposed to walk in Macc Forest but John our leader cried off.
Hence by a bit of coincidence we opted for a walk we have done many
times in the past. This in fact was the last walk Tony did with the
whole group and today he was having a pre op for a new hip.
We left Ken's at 10 am and passing many footballers houses reached the
Wizard at 11.15 sadly before it opened. We then took the long way
round to the NT Garden at Hare Hill There we enjoyed a fine display of
rhododendrons an Azaleas sadly in light rain. Leaving at 12.30 we
marched manfully down the roads to reach the Wizard at 1.15 pm
Here we met Geoff (looking quite sprightly -prob due to his hopes for
Man City) and Wally - giving a good imitation of a cat that got the
cream as he described his trip in June to the US first class all the
way!
Beer was good in taste but horrible in price £3.70 for Wainwrights
makes me nostalgic for Toms Landlords
Leaving at 2.10 we took the woodland route to Squirrels Jump and back
to Ken's at 3pm
Next week in the absence of any other offers we will meet at the
Unicorn and walk to the Admiral Rodney- we do like the posh bits of
Cheshire!



Next week’s A walk will start from the car park of The White Horse in Disley, where we have been granted permission to ignore the clamping signs. After climbing Black Rock we shall head past Hague Bar to The Fox at Brook Bottom, which we hope to reach around 12.15pm. After quenching our thirsts, we expect to return to The White Horse for further libations around 2.30pm.

Happy wandering.