Hartington - Sheen - Longnor - Pilsbury Castle Hills - Hartington

Paul John Bridgett

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This walk crosses and follows both the Dove and Manifold Valleys to join the two 'once main' market towns in this area. Much of the walk follows field-paths and tracks, though some road-walking is required approaching the towns at either end of the walk.
Longnor was the last town used as Cardale in the TV medical drama series 'Peak Practice', which was produced in the late 90s-01, though this route by-passes the market square which was used. Hartington too featured in some episodes.

The return route takes you to the remains of the Iron Age fort at Pilsbury Castle Hills, which protected the then important route between Longnor, Crowdecote and Hartington. Nothing remains of the mainly wooden fort but natural defences and mounds where motte and bailey would have been. There are several other former fortified remains along the valley route to Hartington.

The pub used on this walk is the Cheshire Cheese Inn, just beyond the market area and close to the chip shop. Walkers are welcomed and have a display sign 'muddy boots and all' on the gable wall. Serving Robinson's beers, there is a choice of hand-pulled beers. The food menu has a good choice and is reasonable value.

England - Central England - Staffordshire - Peak District

Features

Ancient Monument, Birds, Church, Flowers, Hills or Fells, Pub, River, Toilets

1/14/2011 - Sid Marks

An excellent walk, lovely scenery, highly recommended. The actual route is more like 12.5 miles than the stated 10.5 miles.

5/26/2009 - Chris Cully

Did this walk over the bank holiday weekend - excellent weather! A couple of points. At waypoint 9 the step stile is about half way between the stile to the road and the post box, and a little obscured. The section from here down to waymark 10 was very boggy. Also from 33 all the way to the stepping stones the ground was extremely water logged. As with the previous person to leave a comment, the instructions at 41 were a little confusing. We found that the path actually goes straight ahead through the gate to a gap in the wall then veers to the right to a stile by a gate.

8/27/2008 - Adrian Fieldhouse

I walked this with my wife and two children (aged 9 and 11) on Sunday 24 August taking around 6 hours with stops for lunch and a drink in Longnor. We all thouroughly enjoyed it although the two children did find it tiring. On the upside, the walk takes in a variety of countryside and was very quiet, we only saw a few other people all day. Some of the terrain on the return from Longnor was quite boggy and rutted making walking difficult and requiring care to not turn an ankle. At waypoint 41 we could not find the stile despite spending around 15 minutes looking. Instead, we headed straight ahead and through the opposite gate, turning right up the hill and using a gap in the wall, gained access to the field beyond. From here, we headed diagonally across the field to another gap in the wall and picked up the path from there. Even from here and looking back at the wall, we still could not locate the stile described in 41. All in all a great walk and throughoughly enjoyable.