The Manifold Valley and Dovedale

Saturday 10th October 2015

Two weeks before this walk I went over the Roaches and on the way there I’d driven through the village of Waterhouses on the southern edge of the Peak District. This had brought to mind a walk that I did back in 2003 along the Manifold Way in hot weather just a couple of days before going to the Lake District. Once my mind had started thinking about the Manifold Valley I felt a longing to return to the area and tie it in with a visit to the nearby valley of the ever-popular Dovedale so at the earliest opportunity I drove back to Waterhouses and set off along the Manifold Way. I hadn’t planned on starting the walk by going that way but I’d already realised that I’d forgotten to bring a map of the Peak District with me and I wasn’t sure of my route to the village of Ilam at the southern end of Dovedale. Assuming that I would find a shop that stocked maps somewhere in the Manifold Valley I set off along the Manifold Way.

The Manifold Way is a cycle-route and several bike-hire shops exist in Waterhouses to take advantage of this, so when I walked through the valley in 2003 I was passed by many people on bicycles. However, I was now walking on a crisp, cold October morning and all the cycle shops were closed leaving me with the cycle path all to myself. I was wrapped up warm with my gloves on and was having a relaxing and enjoyable stroll along the tarmacked track that passes through the valley along the line of a disused light railway. The Manifold Way passes over the River Hamps many times through a heavily wooded valley and when I was there the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn an autumnal golden colour. The delightful, sylvan scenery compensated for the flat, tarmacked surface underfoot. After passing the limestone crag of Beeston Tor the valley opened out slightly until eventually the thing that I had been looking forward to with a certain amount of trepidation loomed into view.

I first visited this valley in the mid-eighties and had quite an adventure in Thor’s Cave, a wide opening high above the valley. Ever since, this cave has had ominous overtones for me, but I didn’t let that deter me from climbing up the steep, heavily wooded slopes of the valley until I reached the cave opening. I had a little exploration of the interior of the cave that is well-lit due to various openings including the one that I went through all those years ago. Wisely I now returned to the mouth of the cave and made my way back down to the bottom of the valley and along the Manifold Way until I reached Wetton Mill. There I was finally able to buy a new Ordnance Survey Map of the Peak District and left the Manifold Valley behind to climb out of the valley passing by Wetton Hill and Narrowdale Hill to reach the River Dove at the northern end of Wolfscote Dale.

While having something to eat beside the river I was passed by many people who were walking through this popular valley. The weather had warmed gradually throughout the morning so that by this time it was a pleasant day and I was able to have an enjoyable walk south along the valley in sunny weather. The Manifold Valley was shamed in comparison with the valleys of the River Dove and is justifiably considerably more popular, if not the most popular place in the Peak District. These northern valleys are not as narrow or spectacular as Dovedale, further south, but I was already passing stunning limestone crags that could clearly be seen at this point due to a lack of trees in the valley. Eventually I reached Coldeaton Bridge and had to walk beside a road until I reached the picturesque hamlet of Milldale at the northern end of Dovedale, and now the delights came thick and fast in the most stunning place in the Peak District.

I have passed through this valley many times, at many different times of the year and through lots of different weather conditions. The last time I was in Dovedale was on a blind date with a lovely young woman, but unfortunately that didn’t go very well; it was raining. Now I was able to wipe away those memories with a fabulous walk through the stunning valley of Dovedale firstly stopping off to explore the caves of Dove Holes. Further south I passed Ilam Rock and Pickering Tor before I got to Reynard’s Cave, which is reached after climbing through a natural arch in the rocks. I’m sure I must have been to Reynard’s Cave before, but I couldn’t remember doing so, and so I eagerly climbed the steep hillside passing through the natural arch and into the short cave. I had tremendous fun scrambling up the steep, rocky hillside and it astonished me that something so fabulous could be just an hour and a quarter’s drive from boring old Leicestershire. Even Snowdonia and the Lake District would be proud of landscape like this.

Eventually I returned to the bottom of Dovedale and continued along the increasingly popular path through the increasingly stunning and narrowing valley past the limestone pinnacles of the Tissington Spires until the path climbs to the top of Lover’s Leap. With the crowds increasing exponentially I walked to the end of the valley at the famous stepping stones that lie at the foot of Thorpe Cloud. I briefly contemplated not going up Thorpe Cloud, but I was never going to miss out this hill so I quickly made my way directly up the hillside spurning the path in favour of keeping to the edge of the steep northern ridge. This involved some scrambling and was very tiring but it was also very satisfying route to climb up to the windblown summit. From there I had to come all the way back down and this time I kept to the edge of the steep western ridge. This was a fun little diversion but I still had a long way to go in order to get back to Waterhouses.

I passed through the village of Ilam and followed a road round to Rusley Bridge where I took a path that passes through Musden Wood at the bottom of a dry valley. This is a dark and dingy wood and I was walking along a footpath that is simply mud. I remember coming through this wood many years ago and it was even worse on that occasion forcing me to climb the steep sides of the valley. I was also becoming quite tired by this point and was regretting my excursion up Thorpe Cloud as the duration of the walk approached eight hours. Eventually, and with great relief, I emerged from the wood and entered the village of Calton from where a short walk along the road finally brought me back to Waterhouses. If I had done the walk in the other direction, as originally planned, I wouldn’t have had the tiring climb through Musden Wood up to Calton at the end of the walk, but that failed to ruin what had been a fabulous day. I had passed through some stunning limestone scenery that is without doubt the finest in the Peak District.