Carsington - Hopton - Kirk Ireton - Carsington

David and Lesley Fowkes

You need to log in as a member of Walkingworld to access the details for this walk and have an active subscription. Please join, or log in above if you are already a member.

Starting from the Sheepwash Car Park, this route takes us first to the village of Carsington, which lies between Ashbourne and Wirksworth. As we enter Carsington the Church of St Margaret, of 12th Century origin and rebuilt in 1648 in Gothic style, is found on the left side. A little further along is the Miners Arms Pub which serves meals, snacks and various real ales and lager.

As we continue into Hopton the hall is found on the right-hand side. This is where from early February to March every year the hall is open to the public for the display of snowdrops, of which they have 75 different species (for admission charges contact the hall on 01629-540923). Hopton Hall also opens for a display of roses during the summer, but the grounds are not normally open to the public otherwise.

Continuing along the road, we pass the crinkle-crankle wall surrounding the gardens, then on the left side after a short distance is a mound of stones in the field; this was the ice house once used by Hopton Hall. We clear the village and make our way onto the banks of Carsington Water for a short distance before leaving to make the climb up towards Stainsbro Lane, where we then follow footpaths to Kirk Ireton.

The village is built on a hillside 700ft above sea level. One of the oldest buildings in the village is the Barley Mow pub which is only open for limited hours; no food is served here but it is well worth a visit as it regularly features in the CAMRA Good Beer guide and the ales are served direct from the barrel (contact no 01335-370306). The church in the village is Holy Trinity, which dates back to Norman times and was featured several times in the television series Peak Practice.

On leaving the village we make our way back to the shores of Carsington Water and the visitor centre. This contains shops, a café, information and outdoor sports facilities (sailing, kayaking, cycle hire etc). The reservoir is England's ninth largest and can hold 35,412 megalitres (or up to 7.8 billion gallons).

Finally we return following the banks of the reservoir, passing hides where the wild birds can be viewed and to the car park to complete the walk.

England - Central England - Derbyshire - Peak District

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Cafe, Church, Flowers, Gift Shop, Good for Kids, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Nature Trail, Play Area, Pub, Public Transport, Restaurant, Stately Home, Toilets, Wildlife, Woodland

12/7/2020 - Helen Stern

We enjoyed this walk on Saturday 5th December and walked from our accommodation in Hognaston so joined it between 20 & 21. As during the Covid restrictions we took all refreshments with us and couldn’t try out pubs en route. This is an undemanding walk but still pretty. It's also possible to do much of it on bikes if one prefers.

8/3/2013 - phil djokic

Lots to see on this walk. Carsington Water Information centre is very interesting,we then had a bite to eat at the miners arms then stopped at the Barley Mow pub. The elderly landlady was lovely had two pints of their cider,very strong stuff,then it was more of a stagger back to our caravan at Carsington. Great walk. Thanks.

11/12/2012 - Sid Marks

A very nice walk with splendid views across the reservoir.Very good walk directions and also made it around 7.5 miles. Recommended walk.

3/18/2011 - David and Lesley Fowkes

Walked this one on 17/03/2011 all ok no changes.