Ashford

August 8, 2018.

ASHFORD-IN-THE-WATER, PENNY URK LANE, WYE VALLEY, DEEP DALE NATURE RESERVE, MAGPIE MINE, THE COCK AND PULLET AT SHELDON, SHEEPWASH BRIDGE AND THE BULL’S HEAD AT ASHFORD

Distance: Eight miles.

Difficulty: Easy to moderate.

Weather: Warm and dry with cloud and sunshine.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Steve Courtney with Luna, Tom Cunliffe with Daisy, Mark Gibby, Hughie Hardiman, Alan Hart, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney with Tip, and George Whaites.

Cyclist: Colin Davison.

Apologies: Micky Barrett and Steve Kemp (sailing off Turkey),George Dearsley (living in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (awaiting knee op), Julian Ross (family hols in Vietnam)

Leader: Beal. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road alongside Holy Trinity Church, Ashford-in-the-Water, off A6 east of Buxton.

Starting time: 9.57am. Finishing time: 2.22pm.

To lead a walk without hesitation or a backward step and reach the first pub on time is no easy task and a commendable achievement. To reach the final watering hole eight minutes ahead of schedule, thus avoiding a heavy shower, is pure genius. Take a bow, Peter Beal.

We had a record number of our canine chums for this walk with Jock (and Tip) making a welcome return after a prolonged absence, caused initially by painful knees and then a stay in his Isle of Man tax haven.

The route took us along a particularly picturesque part of the Wye Valley, passing an historic lead mine on our way to the first of two excellent village pubs. There was general agreement that we should visit the area more often.

With Holy Trinity Church on our right we turned right into Fennel St then continued straight ahead into Vicarage Lane (2mins). One our left was a wooden public footpath sign (3mins) where we turned sharp left and then swung right up a flight of steps. A gap stile brought us into a field (4mins)

After crossing a stone step stile (9mins) we turned left on to a track known as Penny Urk Lane. We went through one wooden gate (25mins) and after another we turned right following a sign pointing towards Monsal Head (31mins). After two more wooden gates marked with yellow arrows we turned sharp left (45mins) and started a gradual descent.

We went through a wooden gate and reached a stepped waterfall (60mins). We turned left and then right across a stone footbridge which took us to the far bank of the River Wye (62mins). On a grassy bank we paused for pies, port and damson gin kindly provided by Chris (63mins)

Resuming with the Wye on our left we crossed a wooden stile  (81mins) and a stone step stile (83mins) to reach the A6. We crossed this and turned left for a few yards along a lane before turning right up a flight of steps to head for the Deep Dale Nature Reserve and Ashford. The sign welcoming us to the park advised us to look out for columbine, meadow saxifrage, common knapweed, mountain pansy, common rock rose and green hairstreak butterflies.

As we headed uphill we reached a T-junction in the paths where we turned right towards Monyash (94mins). After a wooden gate (114mins) we turned left and left again over a stone step stile (115mins). This was the start of a steep climb. At the top was a stone step stile where Lunar slipped and scraped her shoulder. There were no human casualties.

It must have been my search for meadow saxifrage or the green hairstreak butterfly which made me overlook the site of the Magpie Mine, which has been preserved as an ancient monument. Its existence was first recorded in 1739 although historians believe it had been used for lead-mining for many years previously.

It stands 1,050 feet above sea level and the main shaft had a depth of 728 feet. The mine was drained by a sough (pronounced soff, meaning drainage tunnel) which emerges a mile away on the south bank of the Wye. Problems with water were alleviated in 1824 when a pumping engine was erected.

But there were also difficulties with rivalries among the pitmen  of Magpie, Maypitts and Red Soil Mines. Occasionally they would break through a vein of lead into another gang’s workings. One team would light a fire to drive the other team out. This ended in tragedy in 1833 when three Red Soil miners suffocated in a fire. Five Magpie miners were charged with their murder, but after a year in custody they were acquitted. The three Red Soil widows put a curse on the mine, which continued to have problems until it was finally closed in 1958.

We continued to a gate leading to a lane where we turned left uphill (129mins) and passed the sign for Sheldon (131mins). The main village street then led us to The Cock and Pullet on our right (138mins)

This freehold pub had been closed for some time before re-opening in 1995. It is one of the Wednesday Wanderers’ proudest boasts that we were its first customers, finding its doors open at 11.30am on its first day and persuading the new landlord to serve us. Jock recalls that the late Roy de Courcey, Ivor Jones, John Partington and Ian Price were among the walkers that day along with the still-living Tony Job.

When we arrived in the pub at the exact minute promised we discovered Colin sitting by the door tucking into lunch. He had used his electricity-assisted bike to arrive there. He later joined us in the beer garden where we were enjoying pints of Timothy Taylor Landlord cask bitter at £3-30.

Apart from its cosy pub and its tragic mine, Sheldon is also famous for its duck. According to legend, back in 1601 a duck flew into an ash tree on Sheldon Green opposite the former Devonshire Arms and was never seen again. Three hundred years later when a timber merchant felled the tree, he found the pattern inside the tree was remarkably duck-like in appearance. Subsequently segments were displayed in Ashford Post Office and postcards sold. Later the merchant used the boards as a mantelpiece at his home.

The only problem with this legend is that it would have been necessary for about 12 generations of villagers to pass down the unremarkable story of a duck flying into an ash tree and failing to reappear. Only in that way, three centuries later, would anybody have made the connection.

Leaving the pub we turned right downhill and as the road swung left we followed a wooden public footpath sign (144mins). The path took us through a gap stile (147mins) and we stopped for lunch in a wood (154mins)

Continuing we exited the wood and turned right following a yellow arrow (165mins). We went through a wooden gate (172mins) and reached the A6, where we turned right (176mins). We crossed the road and a stone-built bridge over the Wye (180mins)

This is called Sheepwash Bridge from the days of yore when sheep being herded into market were penned by the river and washed before being put up for auction.

After crossing the bridge we turned right to reach our cars and de-boot (184mins). We reached The Bull’s Head, just beyond the church on our left moments before heavy rain began to fall.

Next week’s walk of about eight miles will start at 9.50am from the road outside The Peak Cavern in Castleford. We will be climbing Mam Tor and Lose Hill before dropping down to The Cheshire Cheese at Hope around 12.20pm. We will head back along the stream, crossing the quarry railway to reach Catsleton’s Cheshire Cheese at about 2.20pm.

Happy wandering !