It was while I put the final bits and pieces to April – Monyash edition and, mentioning in the text that it starts and finishes in Monyash, it struck me that there is another of my favourites also starting from Monyash old market square. It is only a little under four miles, but it leads to one of the Peak District’s prettiest dales, Lathkill Dale. Over the years, this dale has become one of my favourites and can be tacked on to any number of walks radiating from Monyash, such as the one I am about to describe. It is strictly in two halves, an upper and lower along Lathkill Dale, with the upper having the furthest views. This walk like the Monyash/Flagg walk, can form a figure-of-eight, radiating from the market square and back. In total, when combined with April’s walk to Flagg, the combined distance is just under nine miles. Although further than most of my walks published in Country Images, it should be well within the capabilities of the average fit walker on a day when the sun shines and all the wild flowers are in bloom.
There are three main features worth adding to the description of features seen along the way. The first is noted soon after leaving Monyash, where Peakland lead mining history can be traced from the records of Monyash Barmote Court. (The late C.H. Millington from Monyash, was the last of Peakland independent miners).
The mass of narrow, stone-walled fields indicate that the land hereabouts was being tilled by Saxon settlers long before the Romans came this way, in their insatiable quest for lead. The turning point of the walk is One Ash Grange farm. It was once a monastic outpost, so far from the parent monastery that it was frequently used as a kind of penitentiary for mis-behaving monks.
Water was and still is a rare commodity on the limestone uplands. It is partly cured by allowing rain water to be collected in dew ponds, and in man-made duck ponds on top of the clay bearing areas around Monyash.
Finally there is the beauty of Lathkill Dale as it winds towards the dale’s upper exit.
USEFUL
INFORMATION:
A 3.75 (6km) mile gentle walk on grassy paths with occasional loose stony sections.
RECOMMENDED MAP:
Outdoor Leisure Sheet 24 1:25000: Scale 1:25000. White Peak Area.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
Bakewell to Monyash Services
PARKING:
Jack Mere Public Car Park (Free)
REFRESHMENTS:
Bull’s Head
The Old Smithy Café
THE WALK
The walk starts at Jack Mere Car Park; 100yds round the corner from the Old Smithy Cafe. With the ancient Market Cross on your left, walk towards the staggered cross roads. Cross over the junction and continue ahead.
Ignoring side roads, continue forwards with Fere Mere, the largest man made pond on your left. Walk on past mainly fairly modern houses to your left and right, past groups of houses covering the village’s years of development.
When the road turns sharp right, go forward on to a cart track, following it towards a series of fields denoted by dry stone walls. Cross their boundaries stone stiles, or through field gates. Notice the dew pond about 60 yards on your right beyond the start of this section.
When the cart track makes a sharp left turn cross a stile and go forwards to where a stile ahead in the wall marks the end of the farm track.
Using stiles to mark the correct route, follow the path beside the wall, to your left and keep right beside a series of field boundaries until it reaches another dew pond.
Keeping to your right of a boundary wall, go towards a series of farm buildings, usually containing spring lambs in the early part of the year. PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP DOGS UNDER TIGHT CONTROL, EVEN THOSE ON LEADS.
Keeping to the left of the mainly stone farm buildings, go forwards past an ancient stone pig sty still in excellent state of maintenance.
At the end of the last farm building, climb down a flight of stone steps let into the wall. Continue forwards, downhill on a grassy path. The stream in the narrow dale runs down Cales Dale.
Do not cross the side stream, but turn left to continue walking downhill to reach a rocky outcrop guarding a rough path down to a footbridge. This is the River Lathkill. It issues from a cave about150 yards on your left. The way is marked by a narrow footpath and this is your route towards the top of Lathkill Dale.
Cross a wooden footbridge over the narrow River Lathkill and turn left to continue the walk along a narrow rocky path that will lead to the valley head.
Remains of lead mining activity can be found on and around the dale’s tree covered hillsides. Mainly small exploratory holes, there was once a mis-guided attempt to mine for gold lower down the dale. But the major source of any interesting remains can be found clustered around an abandoned aqueduct built to carry water about half a mile along the dale side. A curved wooden bridge reaches the ruins of the mine manager’s cottage. It was built on the east side of the dale and also built to disguise a unique water pump beneath the kitchen. Unfortunately the kitchen floor was not strong enough to bear the weight of the manager’s wife who much to her annoyance disappeared into the depths.
The narrow spike of rock spire towering to your right is where the Reverend Robert Lomas, vicar of Monyash fell from his horse to his death in 1776.
Amidst the remains of lead mining activity, the section of dale to be walked through has been designated as a Nature Reserve. It seems to specialise in flowers and shrubs that enjoy the conditions found in countryside based on the dry rocky, sun trapping limestone based conditions. Rare flowers only found in these conditions, such as the startling blue Jacob’s Ladder growing in the dry open part of the dale.. Also the startling yellow tennis ball sized flowers occasionally bloom in a combination of damp and shade on the south facing dale side.
Lathkill Cave, source of the river marks the eastern boundary of Lathkill Nature Reserve above and to your left.
A narrow rock-filled gap marks the end of Lathkill Dale, follow a grassy path and then onwards to the Bakewell to Monyash road. The opening on your left prior to the dale-end marks the beginning of Fern Dale, a short cut between Monyash village and One Ash Grange Farm.
On reaching the dale-end, cross the road (it runs between Monyash and Bakewell). Go down the track that starts near a lay by and follow it marked by a series of gates and stiles, downhill to the junctions of the Flagg and Taddington roads.
Turn left on reaching the road, then immediately left again, uphill past Jack Mere car park and then into Monyash old market place.
