Guided Walking with Sightseeing at Dovedale

Up to 5 miles with some ascent.

This provisional programme shows some of the finest natural scenery available in the Peak District with the minimum of coach travel. The walks will be leisurely and will allow sufficient time to also view places of architectural, historical and industrial interest.

Please note, with the recent acquisition of the Peveril of the Peak Hotel we’re taking the opportunity to review and improve the walks for 2012.  Your leader will inform you of any changes to the programme at the start of your holiday.

Admission fees are not included in the cost of your holiday; please allow £30.  If you have a National Trust card, remember to bring it along. 

Alstonefield to Milldale via the River Dove

We explore the village of Alstonefield, high on the Staffordshire moorlands before descending Sunny Bank and heading up to the scattered settlement of Stanshope. A pleasant descent of Hall Dale brings us to the River Dove and the towering limestone outcrop, Ilam Rock. We follow the river upstream to two large caves known as Dove Holes and arrive at the hamlet of Milldale with its picturesque Viator’s Bridge. Then to Shining Tor and we walk across fields high above the River Dove looking down to Lode Mill Bridge and Wolfscote Dale.

Distance 4½ miles with 450 feet of ascent.

Cromford, railway history, and Arkwright’s Mill

We begin at Middleton Top Engine House on the disused Cromford and High Peak Railway, visiting the National Stone Centre. Continuing along the Cromford and High Peak Trail we pass the towering gritstone outcrop of Black Rock, popular with generations of rock climbers, before descending Sheep Pasture Incline to join the Cromford Canal at High Peak Junction. Here is a visitor centre and old railway workshops with much original equipment. This is believed to be the oldest railway line in the world still in its original position. After a visit to the Lea Wood Pump House we continue along the canal towpath to Cromford Wharf and Arkwright’s Mill.

Distance 4 miles with negligible ascent.

Below Birchen Edge to Chatsworth

We cross the moor high above Baslow in northeast Derbyshire, below Birchen Edge and the more adventurous may enjoy the short ascent to Nelson’s Monument and his ‘Three Ships’ before we descend to the Chatsworth Estate and the Hunting Tower, high above Chatsworth House. A zigzag path through the woods brings us to Chatsworth House where we spend the afternoon visiting the House and gardens or the estate’s model village of Edensor.

Distance 3 miles with 200 feet of ascent.

Lathkill Dale to Bakewell

From Middleton-by-Youlgreave we follow the infant River Bradford downstream before it merges with the larger River Lathkill at Alport. A walk up Lathkill Dale brings us to Raper Lodge which featured as ‘The Vicarage’ in the 1970 film of D H Lawrence’s novel ‘The Virgin and The Gypsy’, starring Franco Nero. Field paths bring us to Bakewell, the largest town in the Peak District National Park, famous for its Bakewell Pudding.

Distance 4½ miles with 200 feet of ascent.

Baslow Edge and the plague village of Eyam

We return to the moors above Baslow passing Wellington’s Monument and the large Eagle Stone as we walk high on Baslow Edge to Curbar Gap. Here we can look down on the impressive Calver Mill which featured as Colditz Castle in the TV series ‘Return to Colditz’. We visit the plague village of Eyam, passing the boundary stone where money was left soaked in vinegar to be exchanged for food and other essentials for the beleaguered villagers. We may view the Magpie Mine high on the moors above Sheldon, which is the best-preserved 17th-century lead mine in Derbyshire.

Distance 4 miles with negligible ascent.