Location: Thorpe is off the A515 Ashbourne to Buxton Road (SK157503).
Visit: The Dovedale stepping stones and walk to the other side, like millions of people have done. – Take a stroll along the Tissington Trail. The lovely village of Tissington is only a short distance to the north. – Walk around the village and pick out the points of special interest. The ‘Pipes of the Peak’ is a fantastic find for first-time visitors.
Refreshments: The Old Dog public house, Izaak Walton Hotel and Restaurant and the National Trust Café at Ilam. The Peveril of the Peak Hotel at Thorpe is an HF Holiday destination.
Walk: This exhilarating walk includes stunning views, one of the country’s best-known valleys, and a visit to the famous Dovedale Stepping Stones.
Special Places of Interest in the Locality: Look at Ilam with its alpine-style cottages, the National Trust grounds, and the Country Park. Ilam Hall is not open to the public, but there is a National Trust shop, café, and exhibition area. – Visit Ashbourne, one of Derbyshire’s finest towns, with a wealth of Georgian architecture and a cobbled marketplace. – Tissington Hall is a fine Jacobean Manor House in the heart of the village. It is open to the public on selected dates for guided tours.
Tissington Hall
Cottage at Ilam
INTRODUCTION
The pretty village of Thorpe is little noticed by many of the thousands of visitors who pass through in their cars on the way to explore the beautiful valleys of the Dove and Manifold, which lie just beyond. Many more walkers and cyclists also pass it by on the Tissington Trail, a short distance to the east of the village, but Thorpe, unlike Tissington, does not attract large numbers of visitors. Even the walkers, who pass through the centre of the village, anxious to reach the next beauty spot on their itineraries, rarely seem to slacken pace to fully comprehend what the village has to offer.
Thorpe Cottage
THORPE CLOUD
Approaching the River Dove from Thorpe, the distinctive cone-like hill, Thorpe Cloud, guards the entrance to Dovedale. The summit is a short, stiff climb from Thorpe village or along the path from The Peveril of the Peak Hotel, both somewhat easier than the longer climb up from the River Dove, which requires considerable effort. Whatever route you choose, the panoramic views from the top are fantastic and well worth the exertion.
ACCOMMODATION
As more visitors began to arrive, the demand for accommodation grew. The Dog and Partridge (now Old Dog), which at one time stood at the junction of two turnpikes, offered limited space. Also, the Dovedale Inn, a 19th-century coaching inn, provided lodging, refreshments, and a change of horses for the coaches. It is now a private, family-run guest house. In addition, there are several other guest houses and bed and breakfast establishments.
Two large popular hotels offer accommodation, the Peveril of the Peak in Derbyshire and the Izaak Walton, on the Staffordshire side of the River Dove. The Peveril of the Peak takes its name from a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott and dates to the 1830s. It hosted the German national football team for the 1966 World Cup, who practised between matches on the Recreation Ground at Ashbourne. Most readers will know that England beat Germany in the World Cup Final that year. There is a footpath from the hotel to the famous Dovedale stepping stones.
COLDWALL BRIDGE
Only a short distance from Thorpe, Coldwall Bridge crosses the River Dove. This long, wide grass-covered bridge arouses quite a lot of curiosity amongst visitors, until maybe they notice the milestone ‘Cheadle 11 miles’ that dates to the days when the coach-road ran between Ashbourne and Cheadle. Built in 1726, the bridge fell into disuse at the start of the motoring age, the gradients proving too steep for the cars of that era.
St. Leonard’s Church
ST. LEONARD’S CHURCH
St Leonard’s Church has a stocky little Norman tower and a tub font, one of only three in Derbyshire, a fine Elizabethan altar rail and a tomb to John Milward, who died in 1632. The marks made by the sharpened arrows remain outside the south porch. After the Black Death, the number of available archers needed to protect the king and country had been seriously reduced. Edward III, finding archery was being neglected, ordered men to stop playing football and other games to practice archery instead. The people kept their arrows at home, but living in wooden houses had no means of sharpening them and found the stone porch at the church the most convenient place. Shooting at butts took place after the Sunday service, usually at the bottom of the churchyard.
The sundial in the churchyard appears to be exceptionally high and cannot be adequately viewed on foot; this seems unusual until it is realised that it was designed for the benefit of horse-riders. It has likely been moved to the graveyard at some time, and the dial is no longer set at quite the right angle. As the distinguished craftsman John Whitehurst of Derby made it, it is inconceivable that such an elementary error was made in the design. Whitehurst’s business successors, John Smith and Sons of Derby, manufactured the clock in the church tower. The Old Rectory stands next to the churchyard.
Pipes of the Peak Entrance
THE VILLAGE
The school closed several years ago and has been converted into the Village Hall. On the Green stands a fine Wellingtonia tree, planted in the middle of the 19th century by Sir William FitzHerbert of Tissington in celebration of his purchase of the estate. A more recent tree-planting exercise took place to mark the Millennium and children born in the village that year. The Manor House stands on Digmire Lane, near the end of which is the village pump.
ST. MARY’S BRIDGE
A short distance from St. Mary’s Bridge, which is crossed on the way to Ilam, the farm’s name reminds us of the corn mill that once stood by the River Dove. The mill has been demolished except for a short section of walling. Sheep were formerly washed at the Stepping Stones and below Coldwall Bridge, but this practice was discontinued in the 1950s.
PIPES IN THE PEAKS
The Peak District is full of surprises, but to find a concert organ in a showroom at Dovedale Garage takes some beating. Every year a programme of concerts is held at the ‘Pipes in the Peaks’ which is located off the forecourt of Dovedale Garage, opposite the Old Dog public house. The showroom is home to the ex-Regal/ABC Derby Compton Cinema Organ and other musical instruments. The organ is played annually by Phil Kelsall MBE, the legendary world-famous resident organist at Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
St. Leonard's Church, Thorpe
Thorpe Cottages
TEN FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT THORPE
Thorpe CloudThe arrival of LNER’s Ashbourne to Buxton line really started the tourist boom. Many of the thousands alighted from the train at Alsop-en-le-Dale Station and walked the length of Dovedale before catching a train home at Thorpe Station.
Nowadays, thousands of visitors to one of England’s most famous beauty spots arrive mainly by car. They are undoubtedly enticed by the beautiful pictures of Dovedale in guidebooks, the press, the internet and television.
The railway is long since gone. The station closed to passengers on 1 November 1954 and goods on 7 October 1963. It has been demolished, and the disused track has been converted into the hugely popular Tissington Trail.
The trail runs 13 miles from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay. At this point, it joins the High Peak Trail, which runs from High Peak Junction to Dowlow near Buxton. Surrounded by beautiful countryside, the traffic-free trail is ideal for horse riders, cyclists, naturalists, walkers, wheelchairs, and pushchairs along the flat sections.
It has been a great success since opening to the public on an experimental basis in June 1971.
The Dovedale Dash, a four-and-three-quarters-mile cross-country running race held annually each November, was first organised here in 1953.
The Norman font in St. Leonard’s Church was reputed to have once been used as a cattle trough. It was eventually thoroughly cleaned and replaced in the church, but most of its intricate carving on the outside was lost.
Thorpe was a Danish settlement in the 9th century. Thorpe is a farm or hamlet in Danish.
Coldwall Bridge is Grade II listed, as is the milepost on the bridge’s southern side.
Thorpe Cloud on the Derbyshire side and Bunster on the Staffordshire side seem to guard the entrance to Dovedale. The former, the steeper of the two, has footpaths on three sides and is very popular with walkers. On a sunny day, you rarely have to wait long to see walkers climbing to the top to enjoy the magnificent views.
