HulmeEndManifoldLeeHouseRushleyWettonBackOfEctonHulmeEnd

30th November 2007

A great disappointment

Parking: Hulme End visitors centre car park. Costs £3.50 per day. We were the first there and the only ones there when we got back.

The Walk
The Manifold trail starts near the entrance to the car park entrance at a FP. Turn towards the entrance, climb onto the trail and turn right and walk down the trail. The first thing you notice is the trail is tarmaced. It is like this all the way down to Lee House – a big disappointment. You can make quick time but beware as you cross the river a number of times on wooden bridges which are very very slippery in the wet.
At Ecton the trail crosses a road and carries on down to a second road at Ecton Bridge. Here we went straight following the road down through a lit tunnel to a further neat road bridge that again crosses the river at Wetton Mill. However, my maps are old as there is a concessionary path (not metalled) on the opposite bank. To access the path, cross Ecton Bridge and turn right down the eastern bank to Wetton Mill. Turn left and cross the bridge then turn right into the Mill complex.

The Mill which is owned by the NT has a café but as usual it was shut. Walk past a couple of buildings on your left but just past the house turn left on a footpath that climbs up the side of the valley. The path is well signposted if a little muddy. At the top of the valley side, you turn left and descend to the bottom of a dry valley. At the valley bottom turn right and follow the valley down on a good track back to the road.

Cross the river and turn left down our tarmaced trail. As you walk round the next right hand bend up above is a massive limestone cave – Thors Cave. A lovely surprise. Despite being on the path the section down to Weag’s Bridge is quick. Cross the road just before the bridge and ahead are 2 lanes. Take the right hand lane as the left lane heads off to Beeston Tor Farm and a funny mixture of caravans and mobile homes – a Grundy Farm. The river divides here. The left branch goes down the Dove valley with no public footpath, which is a pity because it is a nice looking valley with no habitants. The right hand branch follows the Trail and the river Hamps.

The Trail crosses the river a number of times on our slippery sleepered bridges. As you go south the river dries up. It’s wide and you wonder what’s happened to all the water. Clearly its disappeared into a few sink holes. As you approach Lee House the river meanders and the trail crosses from one bank to the other. With the river on your left the valley bottom widens into a grassy bank. Lee House is on the left hand bank – a board announces that you can a drink – of course it was shut. Walk round the bank to the far end of the farm where you can turn left and cross the river on a footbridge.

After crossing the bridge the path then tracks round the to the top side of the house and then starts to climb. When you hit a fence continue to climb with the fence on your left. Initially the path climbs through a wood but you soon climb out of it and up a dry valley, onto open fields and eventually a lane. Cross the lane and continue to climb to the top of a field with a wall on your right. As the wall turns right strike diagonally left descending to the top left corner of the field and a track. Walk down the track to Slade House. Walk down the side of the house and ahead, through a 5 bar gate.

A path strikes off down the bottom side of a field. At the end of the field a track goes off right but you continue down the next field descending with the field on your left. At the bottom of the wall, it turns left and you follow it round to another wall running NE/SW. Turn left through a gate and start to descend a lovely valley to Rushley. Follow the valley down with the wall on your right. The valley develops into a deep dry valley. Soon it becomes wooded and the way ahead becomes very muddy. Always keep to the wall; ignore a track that goes off left away from the wall; follow the FP direction and the wall. Eventually the path descends more steeply, dries out and finally hits the end of a track with a farm on your left. When you hit the track turn left and walk through the farm. A track goes off left but carry straight on and cross Rushley Bridge.

After crossing the bridge turn left (FP) on a path that diagonally crosses a couple of fields to the top left hand corner of the second field and close to the drive of Castern Hall. The path follows the bottom side of the drive along the top side of a field until it hits the track. Follow the track round in front of the house to its right hand side. Walk down the rhs of the house and round to the back of the house. At the back of the house the track bends right away from the building go straight (FP Wetton) and follow a wall on your lhs across 2 fields. In the third field the track climbs diagonally up to the top right corner of the field and a 5 bar gate. The OS map is wrong for once when you get to the gate. The OS map says walk up the next field and then diagonally cross the field to its top left hand corner.However, when we got to the second field we could see a FP in the bottom left-hand corner so we turned left and tracked down a wall to the FP. This is the bottom of mine workings.

The path tracks the bottom of the workings to a wall which is crossed and the Dove valley opens up below. It looks lovely but there are no rights of way down it; pity. Turn right and follow the wall (on your right) on a muddy and slippery path which tracks the top of the valley until it turns north and tracks up a side valley. The views of Beeston Tor and Manifold Valley beyond are a high point of the walk. Today it wasn’t fun on this path despite the view as it was both windy, cold and slippery.

The path crosses the stream in the side valley and hits Larkstone Lane. Cross the lane (FP) and continue forward climbing up two field by a wall (on your left). Cross a wall into a third field. Through the wall head to the right of a tree where you can look across fields towards Wetton. Head diagonally right across along field to a stile in the recessed part of a wall running down the field to a road. The path then runs diagonally across four long fields each time heading for easily identifiable stile. In the last field you are at the bottom of the field by a road junction. Go over a stile, turn right and immediately left walking up the main road through Wetton.

Wetton looks like a ghost village full of holiday cottages most of which appear to be owned by the Chatsworth estate. Walk up the road and as it takes a sharp left go straight and up a lane by the rhs of a school. The lane bends to the left (FP) and climbs up to the rhs of a grassed reservoir. After crossing a wall go straight and cross a further wall. The path contours round a hill (to your right) heading initially towards Wetton Hill. The path contours round the hill and crosses a wall before diagonally crossing a field and descending to its top right hand corner. Go through a gate and follow the boundary wall round Wetton Hill on the rhs of a wall.

The path descends following the wall round Wetton Hill. A path goes off left – ignore it – but as a second path goes right follow it down heading for the Manor House. The path descends to a stream, crossed by boards (the OS map says footbridge), and then climbs up to a right angled bend in a lane. Over a stile at the bend, turn right and climb up the lane with the Manor House on your right. As the lane bends right the gradient eases and passes Lees Farm on your rhs. Shortly the road splits. Take the left-hand lane and climb.

At the end of the first field take a path off right (FP). The path climbs to the top walled of a field and tracks the wall round (on your lhs) above disused mines. Ahead you can see the trig point of Ecton Hill. Carry on past the mine (a path goes off right) following the wall and heading for the trig point. Eventually the path leaves the wall and climbs to the top of the Hill. There are good views from the top of rolling hills of the surrounding countryside.

From the top we turned right (east) and descended rapidly down to a path running NE/SW part way down the eastern flank of Ecton Hill. When you hit the path turn left. Initially the path contours along the side of the hill until you cross a wall via a stile. The path then descends down to disused mines on the lhs of a wall. At the mine, turn left on a track that descends down away from the mine. Shortly afterwards turn right away from the track taking a path that descends straight down the valley side. Keep as close as possible to the fence on your right. The path is steep. Eventually, you see the top of a building (being restored when we did the walk) on your right over the fence. This marks the end of the descent and shortly you cross a stile onto a track. Immediately turn right and walk under an arch in a wall surrounding the building. The track descends down through the conurbation of Ecton to a road at the bottom of the Manifold Valley.

At the road turn right and as the road divides take the left-hand road. Immediately on your right is the Manifold Trail. Walk along the trail, over the slippery bridges and back to the car park.

GPS settings

Summary

A disappointing walk, The Manifold trail was tarmaced, the wildlife none existent and the scenery drab. The route back was notable for the mud.
However, there are a number of mines, Castern Hall is interesting and Wetton is pleasant. The views form Ecton Hill and along the top of the Dove /Manifold Valley are pleasant.
The Manifold valley trail follows the route of a narrow gauge rail line, but it is tarmaced most of the way. The valley in winter is drab with little fauna or wildlife of note. It will be very different in the spring or summer.
On the tops the views were limited- rolling hills rather than moorland vistas – and everything was muddy.
Watch out for the wooden slatted bridges. They, like limestone, were very slippery in the wet.

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