HOGNASTON AND CARSINGTON WATER WALK
THE WALK
An easy walk through pleasant countryside with excellent views over Carsington Water, one of Derbyshire’s newest and most popular tourist attractions. The walk along the dam wall affords good views over the reservoir, often busy with sailing craft, particularly at weekends and during the summer.
After visiting the attractive little village of Hognaston, the route climbs steadily through a series of fields to Upper Town. The view over Carsington Water, where Severn Trent has planted half a million trees and shrubs in woodlands, copses and hedgerows, is stunning. As a consequence, a wide range of wildlife has resulted. Carsington Wildlife Centre is a particular favourite for both wildlife enthusiasts and interested onlookers.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 1 – The project to build Carsington Water started in 1980, but four years later, with the work at an advanced stage, the dam collapsed. Following a lengthy period of consultation, rebuilding commenced. The new dam contained more than twice the material of the old dam and doubled the width at the base. It was completed in the autumn of 1991, and the first water entered the reservoir on 16 October.
Point 2 – The Control Tower operates the pumping system from the River Derwent at Ambergate. Water is pumped from the River Derwent at Ambergate Pumping Station and piped to Carsington Water when the river level is high. Then, it is stored in the reservoir and released when the weather is very dry.
Point 4 – The charming little village of Hognaston is sheltered from the north wind by Hognaston Wynn, which rises above the village to almost 1000 feet. Many of its traditional limestone houses in the centre of the village date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Despite the arrival of Carsington Water, it remains a relatively sleepy backwater.
Point 8 – Carsington Wildlife Centre is a short walk from the Visitor Centre Car Park. Here, you can watch Carsington’s birdlife in warmth and comfort, with helpful posters on the wall to assist you in identification. The weight of the turf-covered roof holds the building together without the need for screws or nails.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 4 miles.
Start: Carsington Water Visitor Centre is the preferred starting point, as there are plenty of car parking spaces for those who travel by car. For those who wish to start the walk at Hognaston, please go to route point 5 and follow the walk around from that point.
Location: Off B5035 Ashbourne to Wirksworth road from the north and off the A517 Ashbourne to Belper road to the south.
Terrain: Undulating ground but very wet in places.
Refreshments: The Red Lion Inn, Hognaston, is a traditional 17th-century, family-run inn in the heart of the village. – Carsington Water Visitor Centre has a first-floor Restaurant and Courtyard Café. – Knockerdown Inn is a short diversion from the walk.
THE ROUTE
1. From the Visitor Centre Car Park, follow the signed path towards Millfields, passing the sailing club on the way and walking along the dam wall.
2. As you near the southern end of the reservoir, you will notice the control tower on your left. A short distance from Millfields, keep to the right to go through a gap in the bushes to reach an opening in the fence by the road. Go across the road and walk down the service road opposite.
3. Follow the winding road down the hillside to join a gravelled path leading past some Severn Trent settlement tanks on the right. Continue along the track until you reach the bottom of a dip, turn left through a gate up a tree-lined path with a stream on the left.
4. Go right at the top into a lane and follow it around past a ford and several cottages to the main road through Hognaston. Turn right up Main Street past the Red Lion. Take the second footpath sign on the right by a house named Longacre. The path bends back behind the houses before following the hedge down a field to cross a stile close to the right-hand corner.
5. Continue up the field, going through a stile near the top corner on the right and through the gateway on the right in the following field. Keep quite close to the hedge on the left and go up the field to cross a stile. Still keeping close to the hedge and maintaining roughly the same direction, continue up the next field until it widens, where you carry straight on to a stile.
6. In the next field, aim to the right of an electricity pylon to a stile by a gateway, turn right down a rough track to the ‘old road.’ (Here you can take a diversion to visit the Knockerdown Inn – continue straight ahead to the Hognaston By-pass, and cross two further fields before returning by the same route.)
7. Walk down the ‘old road’ and, within about 100 yards of joining the by-pass towards Carsington Water, turn left at a stile by the side of the road. Angle to the right across two fields and then keeping close to the fence on the right, cross two more fields to go over a stile in the bottom right-hand corner.
8. Turn left along the gravelled track for a few yards and then fork right to the Carsington Water Wildlife Centre. Retrace your steps back along the track to the Visitor Centre and the start of the walk.
HOGNASTON
