TANSLEY AND RIBER CASTLE WALK
THE WALK
Tansley and Riber Castle Walk is relatively short, but a very enjoyable one. It combines a visit to the charming little village of Riber with some outstanding views over the surrounding countryside. The route back to Tansley can be quite slippery in wet conditions, and the walker needs to be well shod.
The gentle climb up from Tansley brings you to the ancient hilltop village of Riber. The Manor House of 1633 and the Elizabethan Riber Hall are particularly noteworthy. The village, though, is best known for its castle, seen for miles around.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 1 – The Anglican Holy Trinity Church, built in 1840, saw the Reverend J Brodie Mais made rector 52 years later. He was in poor health and not expected to live many months; his predecessor had died within twelve months of appointment. The rector before that had not been a strong man. The omens were not good, and the future seemed rather bleak for both church and rector. Fortunately, the rector’s health improved, and 50 years later, at over 80 years of age, he was still in office!
Point 4 – The small hamlet of Riber is part of the Matlocks and sits high above the spectacular limestone gorge of Matlock Bath; it has a castle, a hall, a farm, a manor house, and a small collection of delightful cottages. The views, particularly from the castle grounds, are some of the finest and most dramatic to be found anywhere in Derbyshire. Around the end of the 15th century, the Wolley family acquired the Riber estate. Nicholas Pevsner described the Manor House as ‘a most felicitous picture.’ Pevsner wrote a series of 46 volumes of county guides, under the title of ‘The Buildings of England’ (1951-1974).
Point 5 – Riber Hall, with its lovely walled garden and wooded grounds, extends to two and a half acres. It was once the home of the Wolley family; a stone on the front of the house bears the date 1633. However, the family had lived at Riber since the 15th century, and the present house may stand on the site of a building of that era. For several years, the Hall was used as an up-market hotel, but is now a private residence.
Point 6 – The village, though, is best known for its castle, seen for miles around. Standing 853 feet above sea level, Riber Castle, built by John Smedley in 1862, dominates the Derwent Valley from its lofty perch on the edge of the hill above Starkholmes. Smedley’s original idea was to build an observatory tower. But he found too many practical problems and decided to create a retirement home instead. The castle’s construction involved massive blocks of local gritstone extracted from a quarry near the castle. They were hoisted up the hillside by a series of pulleys. Smedley employed skilled artisans, including plasterers from Italy, to work on the interior.
Point 7 – As you walk along, you will get some great views of Matlock. John Smedley, often referred to as the man who made Matlock, suffered a serious illness whilst on honeymoon, which was cured by water treatment. Determined to share his good fortune with others, all his employees had to undergo the water treatment, whether they were ill or not! Nor did he stop there, but started to offer the treatment to outsiders at his own house. In 1851, Ralph Davis opened a small hydropathy on Matlock Bank, and Smedley acted as his medical adviser. In 1853, he bought the business from Davis and immediately started to expand. He built the Hydro, commonly known as Smedley’s Hydro, to his own design, which soon catered for more than 2,000 patrons per year.
Point 8 – Lumsdale, with its fast-flowing stream, brought industry to the locality, and the building of several mills in the valley between Matlock and Tansley. Much of the valley is now owned by the Arkwright Society, having been bequeathed to the Society by the previous owner. As a result, the Lumsdale Project was launched to preserve the valley’s industrial heritage, which is recognised to be of national importance.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 3 miles.
Start: Follow the A615 from Matlock towards Alfreton, and at Tansley, turn left along Church Street. The road widens out between the church and recreation ground to provide a suitable parking area (SK323599).
Terrain: All the ascents are gentle, but the descent from Riber is uneven and can be quite slippery underfoot after wet weather, when care is needed.
Refreshments: The Tavern at Tansley and the Gate Inn are popular public houses in Tansley. Matlock Garden Centre on the A615 has a café located a short distance east of Church Street at Tansley.
THE ROUTE
1. From the Anglican Holy Trinity Church, walk back along Church Street to the A615, turn right, and walk down the pavement for 100 yards, before crossing the road and ascending Alders Lane.
2. Opposite a house named Dickins Place on the edge of the village, turn right at a footpath sign and walk along the access road towards Daisy Bank Farm. Before reaching the farm, take a stile on the left into a field, turn sharp right, and continue straight ahead past the farm.
3. Cross a stile on the right by a metal gate, maintain the same direction, but now with the field boundary on your left. With Riber in view, continue in the same direction along an obvious path, soon crossing a stile and continuing straight ahead with the fence on your right. Shortly after passing a farm, go over a stile on your left and across the farm access road to another stile.
4. Follow the wall on the left up the field until you are nearly at the top. Then go through a stile and turn sharp right to reach the road through Riber village. Here you can take a short diversion and walk to the left past The Manor House.
5. On reaching Carr Lane and Riber Hall, turn around and walk back through the village to route point number 4.
6. From route point 4, walk another 20 yards along the road, and where it divides, turn left close to Riber Castle. Almost immediately, go to the right down a rough track by the side of a telephone and a post box. Keep to the right past a house and enter a field, and walk along the bottom of two small fields to reach a moorland field.
7. Turn sharp right from where you can enjoy fantastic views over Matlock as you walk along the well-trodden path close to the wall on the right, soon going through a stile.
8. Follow the distinct path that eventually leaves the wall and starts to descend zigzagging down the hillside to a stile into another field, with views of Lumsdale across the other side of the valley.
9. Walk down the field a short distance, but before reaching the bottom, take the stile on the right. Cross the following two fields angling about 45 degrees to the right. In the next field, follow the path just to the left of Hilltop Farm.
10. On reaching a footpath sign, turn left, along the farm drive, but only remain on it for a few yards, until you enter a field and are clear of all the buildings. Do not follow the farm track that winds downhill. Instead, keep to the right and follow the wall of the field around. Ignore the first stile you come to and continue to the far corner of the field, where you go through a stile by a farm gate onto a track.
11. Maintain the same direction along a track that soon starts dropping down quite steeply to the A615. Cross the main road to a footpath sign, follow the path down to a footbridge over a stream.
12. After crossing the stream, keep straight on to reach the top of a field, where you turn right into Tansley. After a few yards, turn left along Church Street back to the start of the walk.
TANSLEY
