Monyash Peak District

Monyash Peak District Derbyshire, DE45 1JH, United Kingdom, 0845 166 8022, info@peakdistrictonline.co.uk

Monyash 6 Mile Round Walk

http://www.letsgo-monyash.co.uk

10:31 06-Sep-2010

Monyash – Ricklow Quarry – Lathkill Dale – One Ash Grange – Monyash
Distance: Approximately 6 miles

This walk is a pleasant stroll with a few scrambles over awkward stiles and rock strewn terrain.

Start the walk at Monyash and head out of the village on the Bakewell road, walking down the hill to the. In the bottom of the hollow with the public toilets to your right, you go through the gate and walk down the shallow dale, passing through a series of fields where cattle and sheep are often grazing.

This is the start of Lathkill Dale and soon you will leave the open pasture and descend into a narrow and rocky gorge with the remains and spoil heaps that were once part of Ricklow Quarry where crinoidal limestone was extracted and polished into grey marble that was mainly for ornamental use in Victorian times.

Areas of Lathkill Dale have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and after the next stile which is in a wall beside a large overhanging tree, it is possible to find the rare plant known as Jacobs Ladder.

Continue down Lathkill Dale where a well trodden path leads through a tumble of rocks and stones that have been worn smooth with the passing of countless boots and shoes.

After half a mile or so you will reach the gaping mouth of Lathkill Head Cave where the crystal clear waters of the river Lathkill make their first over-ground appearance in winter months or after spells of heavy rain. In the summer or dry spells the water continues to flow underground until further downstream. It is thought that the true source of the River Lathkill is between Flagg and Monyash around the area of Knotlow Mine.

On your left is Parsons Tor, a corner or headland of limestone buttress named after Robert Lomas the then vicar of Monyash who fell to his death from his horse in 1776 when returning late one night from Bakewell in a drunken state.

Continue down the dale as it gains depth and character. The lower sides are slitherbanks created by the constant erosion of water thousands of years ago, frost and weathering, whilst on the ridge tops are some fascinating rock formations where the limestone has been shaped into strange forms.

You will arrive at a wooden bridge which used to be a clapper bridge made of stone pillars held up reputedly at one time by the metal wheels taken from the canons of Cromwell’s army when he came through the valley with his roundhead battalions.

Head across the bridge and into the dark and somewhat overgrown Cales Dale. Here it is said that overhanging rocks at one time provided shelter for prehistoric man. At a junction of paths head up to the right and along a path beneath the high rock face, then through a gap in the rocks where you should find a stile to scramble over. Now walk up to another high stile giving access to the rear of One Ash Grange.

One Ash (Aneise in the Domesday survey) was held under the great feudal house of the Pevenells by the Avenells, Lords of Haddon. William Avenell gave the lands hereabout to Roche Abbey in Yorkshire who then ousted the local peasants and built a Grange as a penitentiary for disobedient monks that farmed the land for sheep rearing. The present buildings which were partly rebuilt in 1747 became home years ago to the Bowman family who were prominent Quakers. Monyash was then a Quaker stronghold and a small former chapel and graveyard still exist in the village. There are antiquities and collections at Bakewell Old House Museum including pictures of the Bowman family. John Bright, a descendent of John Gratton an early Quaker and famous orator and radical stayed at One Ash for his honeymoon in the 19^th century.

Pass the rear of the house and note the cave with stone benches followed by a set of early pig sties. A secret tunnel worked by the monks is said to run from One Ash to emerge in the nearby dale.

From the farmhouse go straight up the old drive, flanked by trees and to a gate on the right at the top. After going through this you will follow the wall side on your left to a stile further up the field. The well-worn path should now be easy to follow as it drops down to the top of Fern Dale, then leads on to a walled path which you follow to return to the village, at one point passing through a field of dips and hollows, a reminder of the lead mining industry which made scars on the landscape.

As you approach Monyash again you will pass the Old Manor House dated 1714 above the door which stands on the junction. The narrow road on your left once formed part of the main Derby-Manchester road.

As you walk back through the village you will pass Fere Mere which is the only survivor of five such ponds which at one time could be found in Monyash.