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 Aside from a few outdated comments (the "new" bypass is now 30 years old) the walk notes were easy to follow.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

Trent Valley: the march of the pylons

In the 1980s, the River Trent supplied the cooling water for fifteen coal-fired power stations, each one gobbling up coal from the local mines and quenching its heat with gallons of river water. The area was known as Megawatt Valley . As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, the mines closed, the coal trains stopped running, and the iconic cooling towers, one by one, fell to the ground. The high-voltage electricity lines which connected the stations to the grid are still there, however, and they dominated the walk I did today. The stately silhouettes of pylons stalked across the landscape, carrying fizzing power lines which sliced up the sky. At one point, I was within view of two of the remaining sets of cooling towers. Diving further back into history, I parked by Swarkestone Lock on the Trent & Mersey Canal, walked past St James' Church, and arrived at Swarkestone Bridge, a 14th-century causeway which still, remarkably, carries traffic today. It was famously the southernmos...
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

Theo Alexander

The due date was fast approaching, and, having had Toby five weeks early, this pregnancy was feeling like it had dragged on far too long.  On Sunday morning, two days before D-Day, we went to church, wearily confirming to eager enquiries that yes, we were still here, no baby in tow yet.  And then, at 3:30 am on the morning of Monday 10th February, my waters broke and things began to get moving.  Fast. Yes, I know I had to apologise to you ladies who have gone through long-drawn-out labours last time , and I'm afraid I have to do it again.  The change in the midwife's attitude when we got to the hospital was almost comical; she breezed in and put the monitors on and said, "I'll just leave those for a few minutes, then".  Back she came for a proper examination, had a quick feel, and: "OK, we'll get you to the delivery room RIGHT NOW," followed by a mad dash down the corridor in a wheelchair!  Our new little boy was born at 5:16 am. You...
1 comment
Read more