Skip to main content

Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk: Ashbourne - Longford

The Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk follows the "general direction of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's march from Ashbourne to Derby". (Derby Ramblers) I'm inclined to think that the prince would have had the sense to follow the main road rather than tramp across muddy fields, but a route following the modern A52 would not be particularly pleasant. 

The appeal of the walk for me was not really the historical accuracy, though. More that it was close to home, fairly short, and unlikely to be flooded even in the current climate. It has turned into my Lent walk: starting on 5th February; visiting plenty of village churches along the way; and hopefully finishing by Easter.


Walk 1

I set off on a grey day from Ashbourne Market Cross, the official start of the Bonnie Prince Charlie walk. My first stop was Ashbourne Methodist Church, a severely symmetrical building smelling faintly of cinnamon, where I prayed for a few people who were on my mind.



The route climbed steeply out of Ashbourne, and I was soon looking back over the roofs of the town. Aside from a few outdated comments (the "new" bypass is now 30 years old) the walk notes were easy to follow. I spotted some waymarkers as well.

looking back across Ashbourne


Crossing open countryside, I reached Osmaston, a village crammed with thatched cottages and a very noisy school (it was breaktime). The church was closed. I ate half my lunch by the duckpond there, as I wasn't sure when I'd next find a bench.

St Martin's, Osmaston

village pond


After that I was into Osmaston Estate. I passed some multi-coloured sheep and dropped down to the valley, past an old sawmill. A short ascent on the other side took me to a path junction, where I left the BPCW and turned right to reach a couple of footbridges and fords.




A path alongside Wyaston Brook took me to Wyaston village. I crossed a large field, thinking that it would be much prettier on a sunny day, and followed a country lane all the way back to Ashbourne, taking a short detour to see a neolithic barrow. I finally found a bench to eat the rest of my lunch on, with a great view of a housing estate.

neolithic round barrow

 

lunch view (oh well)

14.6 km / 9 miles

5 February 2024 


Walk 2

I parked at the small parking area in Shirley, and spent the first half hour getting to the point where I'd previously left the Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk, then retracing my steps to the car. St Michael's Church was open for a village coffee morning, but I preferred to actually start getting somewhere.

great moss!
 

The instructions told me to turn left opposite the Methodist Chapel, which I later discovered was demolished in 1996. I found the turning, though; a lane and bridlepath leading all the way to Longford. The initial gravel surface soon turned to mud, but the sun was out and it was a pleasant enough walk. 


I came out by a gatehouse with a tree stump carved into a sheaf of wheat. Crossed a road, a stream, and a few fields to reach the southern end of Longford, and then walked back along the road through the village. The most impressive building was a former watermill straddling the river.



 St Chad's Church is next to the many-chimneyed Longford Hall. A Ukraine flag was flying from the church tower. I stopped for a few minutes in the churchyard, although a tree was being taken down nearby, so it wasn't as peaceful as it might have been!



I splashed across increasingly waterlogged fields to reach Hollington. It had the obligatory red phone box converted to a library and defibrillator. Two women on horses passed me as I went down a holloway lane. 



By the time I reached Shirley again, the coffee morning had finished, but the church was still lovely and warm. I had a quick look round and admired the massive yew tree outside. That must have been around well before Bonnie Prince Charlie.

St Michael's, Shirley



13.2 km / 8.2 miles

12 February 2024

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One hundred churches

About the middle of January, I was walking to school one afternoon when it occurred to me that I must have visited quite a few churches on my explorations. I started counting them. But I quickly ran out of fingers, so when I got home I plotted them on Google Maps. Not only was the number much higher than I was expecting, it was also tantalisingly close to one hundred. Only a few dozen to go. So of course, every walk since then has had to include at least one church! Last Monday I visited my hundredth church: St John the Baptist, Dethick. It was a beautiful little 13-century building with an unusual tower - I was glad it had claimed the 100 spot. I haven't been inside every church. Sometimes they were locked; sometimes I was in a hurry and didn't try the door. St Leonard's Church in Alton had bellringers practicing, and I almost interrupted a funeral when I stuck my head through the door of St Mary's, Marston-on-Dove. A few, such as St Oswald's, Ashbourne, and St Wys...
Post a Comment
Read more

Derwent Valley Heritage Way: Steep drops ahead

It's been a long time since I fitted that much up and down into an eight-mile walk! 740m of steep climbs and steps. My legs were not very happy with me the next day. Between Matlock and Cromford, the Derwent River runs through a deep valley, with Matlock Bath - a landlocked town which pretends to be a seaside resort - down at the bottom. The ridge of high ground used to run all the way round to Scarthin Rock, cutting off Cromford from the rest of the valley, until somebody blasted a hole through it to build the A6. Matlock Bath: pavilion and amusement park I started in Cromford and climbed over the ridge at Harp Edge, then followed a path along through the woods, with the ground dropping sharply away to my right. There were a few small caves among the trees. At Upperwood someone had thoughtfully provided a bench. I wasn't in need of a rest just yet, though. In fact, I was feeling so bouncy that I went down an entirely unnecessary flight of steps, instead of staying on the reaso...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor   Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...
Post a Comment
Read more