Dove Dale and Tissington Trail

Friday 29th May 2020

For this walk in the Peak District at the end of May I parked at the site of Thorpe railway station on the Tissington Trail, which runs along the course of the old railway line between Buxton and Ashbourne. I was initially inspired by a walk that I did about eighteen years ago and followed that route south along the Tissington Trail for a short distance before taking a footpath that climbs into the village of Thorpe. Leaving the village I was confronted by the highly distinctive hill of Thorpe Cloud and I couldn’t resist climbing the steep, craggy slopes to the short summit ridge that runs along the top where I had great views up Dove Dale from the far side. However, the views at my feet were less pleasant as the top was covered in litter and I felt compelled to get a bag out of my pocket and start filling it. I was also surprised to see that there are now many signs around Thorpe Cloud saying that many of the paths that I had previously taken from the river up the hill were now closed to prevent erosion and rockfall. The signs recommend following blue marker posts, but I could not see any from the summit although there were blue posts on the route I had taken up, so I think the National Trust want everyone to climb and descend Thorpe Cloud from the same direction, which is on the far side from the river.

Coming back down I had to make my way along Lin Dale, collecting litter as I went, to get to the iconic stepping stones over the River Dove, but I didn’t cross the river at that point and instead followed the riverside until I reached a footbridge on the other side of Thorpe Cloud. After depositing the rubbish that I had collected in the bins at the car park I decided that I would not walk up Dovedale as the valley was very busy, so to keep away from other people I headed up a steep path from near the bridge that climbs steeply up the hill opposite Thorpe Cloud. This path is signpost as heading to the village of Ilam and follows the edge of the access land, but I was more interested in climbing to the top of the hill. When the path reached its highest point I came off and attempted to climb the steep hillside, though with little success. I remember trying to come down this hill, in 2007, with a lot of difficulty and it was no easier in ascent. Occasionally slender paths appeared that may actually have been sheep trods and these eased my way but refused to keep climbing so I had to abandon them, at one point using a loose scree slope, until eventually I managed to crawl up to the top of the ridge.

My reward for reaching the top of the ridge was a Tesco shopping bag full of empty beer cans, which I picked up and from there proceeded to follow the lovely, craggy ridge towards the top of Bunster Hill. On reaching the edge of the wood that lines Dove Dale I noted a stile across the fence into the wood and followed the narrow path beyond to the tumulus that marks the highest point on Bunster Hill. I thought this slender path through the woodland vegetation might be an interesting route to follow and at first it was fun but eventually I came across a new fence that now blocks the route that I was following and although I tried to keep to the woodland side of the fence the terrain became increasingly steep and treacherous. Eventually I climbed over the fence and almost immediately I found a clear footpath that must be the right-of-way into Dove Dale. I had followed this path in 2007, in the opposite direction, and this now gave me a clear route above Dovedale Wood before plunging steeply through the woodland to eventually arrive beside the River Dove not far from Ilam Rock. Turning left I followed a clear path to reach the turning up Hall Dale, but I kept on going beside the River Dove on a narrow path that is very difficult to follow, which just made it more fun to walk along and meant there was no one else on the path.

The tricky path eventually improved with stunning views along the valley before steeply descending into the tiny hamlet of Milldale where I was finally able to put the bag of beer cans that I had collected into a bin. Continuing north I was astonished at how late in the day it was as it hadn’t felt like a lot of time had passed, but maybe picking up litter on Thorpe Cloud and the narrow, tricky footpaths delayed me, so it was now about one o’clock and I had to start thinking about turning around soon to head back. I remembered that on my walk eighteen years ago I had left Dove Dale at Coldeaton Bridge, so likewise I now followed the river up the gorgeous valley until I reached the footbridge where I took the narrow branching valley that gradually climbs out of Dove Dale until I reached a path that crosses Bradbury’s Bank and brought me onto the Tissington Trail. The weather on the previous walk, eighteen years ago, had not been great (it was February), but now it was hot with gorgeous blue skies as I was slowly made my way along the old railway line back to the site of Thorpe railway station. This was a curious walk that often followed narrow, tricky paths to the west of the River Dove keeping away from the crowds in the popular valley and ended with a gentle, relaxing stroll along the Tissington Trail.