Yorkshire Walks

I spent the bank holiday week with three friends in a holiday cottage on the edge of Ashbourne in Derbyshire where the footpaths have been open since the beginning of June. The weather was very hot with clear blue skies, much more like the Mediterranean than grey damp Derbyshire.

View from the balcony of our cottage in Ashbourne

On Thursday 30 August 2001 we drove to Longnor and parked in the square in the middle of the village in front of a combined furniture shop and cafe. An interesting mix with both the furniture and the cakes being home made (to a very high standard). From the cross roads in the centre of the village we took the road heading east to the edge of the village and turned left onto a lane called Top o'th' Edge. We followed the lane down the bank and then the bridle way to Beggar's Bridge. After the bridge we took the path to the right, through Crowdecote to Pilsbury, about two and a half miles. About a third of a mile before Pilsbury are the ruins of Pilsbury Castle (Motte and Bailey) where we stopped for our lunch (I had a superb pork pie from the Bakewell Pudding shop in Bakewell which we visited yesterday). From Pilsbury we took the path straight up the hill to the road on the ridge and crossed the ridge road onto the road down the side of Sheen hill.

After about a third of a mile on the road we turned right onto the path at Hill End to Lower Boothlow Farm and then onto the path by the River Manifold to return to Longnor via Folds End. As usual we called for a cup of tea, this time at the combined furniture shop and cafe, but beware the very attractive hand made oak furniture could make it a very expensive cup of tea. The whole route was about 7 miles and took us about 4 hours including a long stop at the castle.

Chrome Hill from Beggar's Bridge