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.

Longnor

LONGNOR, MANIFOLD VALLEY, BRUND, SHEEN, THE DEVONSHIRE ARMS AT HARTINGTON, BANK TOP FARM, DOVE VALLEY, PILBURY CASTLE AND THE HORSESHOE AT LONGNOR.

Distance: 10-11 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Dry with early cloud giving way to afternoon sunshine.

Walkers: Nigel Crank, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, and Jock Rooney with Tips.

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

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (hols), Peter Beal (narrow-boating), Tom Cunliffe (w*^king), Colin Davison (boating), George Dearsley (w*^king), Malc Halley (long-distance cycling), Julian Ross (w*^king), Ken Sparrow (entertaining), George Whaites (Cornish hols).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Main square in Longnor, Staffs.

Starting time: 10.06am. Finishing time: 2.50pm.

After a record turnout of ten A-teamers last week, we replaced quantity with quality for this walk through meadows full of wild flowers. Some of the fields were occupied by grazing cows, and for the second time in a month Tips showed her courage under attack.

It seems that cattle are genetically programmed to regard any relative of the wolf family as a potential predator and therefore form a stampeding herd to drive away the interloper. Tips was more than a match for the lumbering beasts as she showed her agility darting between their thundering hooves and demonstrating her bark, if not her bite.

Each time she escaped their attentions and skipped over a stile to exit their field, Tips turned to face her tormentors, barking enthusiastically while wagging her tail. It was the canine equivalent of George Formby’s mocking : “Never touched me.”

From the cobbled main square in Longnor we walked out of the village with the Crewe and Harpur pub on our right and the sadly-closed Grapes on our left. We walked along River View past Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on our left and entered High Street before turning right at a public footpath sign (3mins).

This brought us into a farmyard, where we turned left, climbed over a stone step stile and turned right (7mins). A gate took us to a bridge over a stream with the Manifold River on our right (15mins). We were now heading south through a series of fields entered by a variety of gates and stiles. As we did so, Tips was able to demonstrate her gallantry under fire.

The unoccupied fields showed England’s green and pleasant land at its best, with splashes of alternative colour provided by an abundance of bright yellow buttercups, interspersed with purple clover, white Queen Ann’s lace, pink ragged Robin, pale blue forget-me-nots and the stalks of daffodils whose blossom had been replaced with ghostly seed balls.

Our route along the beaten path was clear as we reached a wooden footpath sign for Brond, which later became Brund (39mins). Ahead of us was the distinctive hill called Whetton Hall and to our right was Swallow Moss. At a fallen tree in the shade we stopped for pie and port time (54mins) at 11am sharp.

Continuing, we passed a wooden public footpath sign for Brund and Sheen, crossed a road and followed a footpath sign for Hulme End and Longnor. 

We ignored a concessionary path on our right and walked on for 80 yards to reach a wooden public footpath sign, where we turned right then left to reach a road (71mins).

We turned right along the road and then crossed a stone step stile marked with a blue arrow (74mins). Another stone step stile brought us to a road (82mins), where we turned right then left across a stile to the right of a private drive. This took us to a field which we exited at the far left corner and crossed a footbridge over the River Dove (99mins).

A gate led us into woods (106mins) from where a path brought us to a road (108mins) with a former cheese factory on our right. We turned left along Stonewell Lane and reached the centre of Hartington, from where we could see The Devonshire Arms (111mins). Pints of Cumberland Ale cask bitter at £2-70 were in good form.

Resuming, we left the pub and made for the village duckpond and its surrounding benches where we immediately stopped for lunch (112mins). We left the village by passing the pool and Edensor Cottage on our left. We swung uphill (116mins) and followed a lane, passing Bank Top Farm on our left (126mins).

We reached the River Dove on our left (132mins), where Lawrie remembered his angling exploits some 40 years earlier with the Sheffield Fly Fishing Club. He recalled their neighbouring fisherman was the Manchester City and England soccer star, Mike Summerbee.

A gate brought us into the hamlet of Pilsbury (152mins) and we turned left to enter a public bridleway. This brought us to a mound on a limestone outcrop on our left, which a placard informed us was Pilsbury Castle.

Pilsbury Castle from the air

This had probably once been an Iron Age fortification but was believed to have been updated into a motte and bailey construction shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. One theory is that it was built by Henry de Ferrers on land given to him by William the Conqueror. It was one of a trio of castles built by Henry at Tutbury and Duffield as well. From such bases, the Normans carried out “the harrying of the North.”

An alternative suggestion is that it was built by Robert de Ferrers during a period known as The Anarchy, when the de Ferrers supported Stephen of England and the neighbouring Earl of Chester backed Empress Matilda. The castle may have been abandoned when the land on which it stood was passed to the Duchy of Lancaster after the 6^th earl was dispossessed.

What exciting times our ancestors enjoyed !

Continuing along the picturesque Dove Valley, with a kestrel hovering in hunting mode above us, we reached a road (191mins), where we ignored The Pack Horse pub on our right and turned left. A bridge across the Dove took us out of Derbyshire and back into Staffordshire, where we passed the sign for Longnor (201mins).

This took us past Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, which was just closing and back to our cars to de-boot (211mins). Nigel used his diplomatic skills to persuade Andy, the genial landlord of The Horseshoe, to remain open long enough to sell us pints of Deuchars cask bitter.

Next week’s walk will start from Hartington at 10am and will be led by Jock. He intends to take us on a figure eight route with a stop at The George in Alstonefield around 12.15pm before returning to The Devonshire Arms, Hartington, about 2.30pm.