ALSTONEFIELD AND MILLDALE WALK
THE WALK
A lovely walk down quiet Hall Dale, with superb views of the River Dove before crossing the river from Staffordshire into Derbyshire and walking along the dale to picturesque Milldale.
From Alstonefield, the path drops steeply before climbing up to the tiny hamlet of Stanshope, little more than a cluster of farms and Stanshope Hall standing on a bend on the road to Ilam. Hall Dale is a delightful dry dale leading down to Dovedale, covered with beds of snowdrops in the spring.
Dovedale and the pretty hamlet of Milldale, swarming with visitors at weekends and on sunny, summer days, are the highlights of the walk. Milldale is reached by crossing Viator’s Bridge, a packhorse bridge named after a character in the bestselling book The Compleat Angler. The walk ends with a long, steady climb up Millway Lane back to Alstonefield.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 5 Stanshope Hall dates to the 1500s, but it was not always as well-kept as it is today. William Manley, a money lender with two mistresses who lived nearby, went bankrupt in 1799. Over the next 50 years, the house fell into disrepair before being rescued from dereliction in the 1850s. Today, the Hall is a listed building and provides stylish accommodation for holidaymakers.
Point 6 After leaving the tiny hamlet of Stanshope, Hall Dale is approached across an area of grassland. It is a lovely, quiet, peaceful place compared to Dovedale, which on a sunny day attracts hordes of visitors. The route is easy to follow as you head for the gap in the hillside in front of you, leading down Hall Dale, which is relatively narrow.
Point 8 Dovedale, described by Ruskin as ‘An alluring first lesson in all that is beautiful’. The building of the Midland Railway in 1863 made the Peak only three hours from London. Many were the thousands who got off the train at Alsop-en-le-Dale Station and walked the length of Dovedale before catching a train home at Thorpe Station. The railway is no longer there, but cars still bring thousands of visitors to one of England’s most famous beauty spots.
Point 9 The ancient packhorse bridge over the River Dove at Milldale is known as the Viator’s Bridge and was made famous in the English classic ‘The Compleat Angler’ by Izaak Walton. In the days when the two travellers (Walton and Cotton) would have approached the narrow bridge at Milldale, it would not have had any walls. It must have looked frightening to cross, and Viator (Cotton) commented on seeing the bridge: ‘Why! A mouse can hardly go over it: ’tis not twelve fingers broad.’
Point 10 Milldale is a delightfully positioned hamlet at the northern end of Dovedale. It attracts walkers like few other places of its size in Britain. Most come to explore the beautiful Dove Valley, with its famous Stepping Stones and strange rock formations. But there are many other excellent walks in the area that either start or pass through Milldale.
Point 11 There has been a church in Alstonefield since at least 892. Parts of St Peter’s Church date back to about 1100, but most of the church was rebuilt in 1590 and restored nearly 300 years later. The church is noted for its fine woodwork, particularly the grand Cotton family pew, which features the Cotton coat of arms on the back.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 4.5 miles.
Start: The car park and public toilets are in the centre of the village.
Location: Off the A515 Ashbourne to Buxton Road.
Terrain: Hilly, the descent from Alstonefield is quite steep and can be muddy.
Refreshments: The George at Alstonefield, a former coaching inn and the Watts Russell Arms at Hopedale, named after the wealthy businessman James Watts Russell, who lived at Ilam Hall.
THE ROUTE
1. From the car park, turn left to reach the road leading towards Hartington and then turn sharply left. Just past the next road junction where the road starts to bend right, bear left between two houses and enter a grassy lane.
2. Where the lane curves sharply right, you continue straight ahead, through a squeezer stile by a gate down the field with the wall on your right.
3. Bear right at the gap in the wall to locate a stile in the corner of the field.
4. Keeping close to the wall on the right, carefully descend the steep hill to a stile leading onto a minor road. Go over the road and walk up a grassy lane that climbs steadily up to Stanshope.
5. At the junction with the main road, adjacent to Stanshope Hall, turn left down the farm lane. Just before it starts to ascend, turn right through a stile and walk to another stile a short way along the wall on your left.
6. The path leads across fields and stiles to the obvious gap in the hillside leading down Hall Dale, which you follow all the way down to the River Dove.
7. On reaching the river, turn right to walk through woodland to the footbridge at Ilam Rock.
8. Go over the bridge and turn left to follow the path up Dovedale.
9. Cross Viator’s Bridge and walk in front of the toilet block with the Old Mill Building on your left.
10. Cross the road at Milldale to enter a narrow lane leading upwards, in front of the cottage café.
11. The lane climbs up quite steeply past St Peter’s Church back to Alstonefield.
