Plan your walk |
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DISTANCE: 4 miles (6.4km) TIME: 2 hours START/END: SK088649 Longnor TERRAIN: Moderate MAPS: |
Longnor. There is no longer a market but a renovated plaque above the market hall has a list of the tolls due to the Harpur-Crewe estate.
Follow the road east from Longnor for about 150yds (140m). Turn right along the signposted lane to Folds End Farm. Go left through the farmyard. Climb over a stone stile and turn half-right to follow a field path down to the River Manifold.
Turn left along the gravel surfaced farm track. Keep left through the farmyard and then right on a concrete track. Through the gate it becomes a rough track. Follow the track uphill as far as the road.
Viewpoint. Longnor village is above the Manifold valley. The grassy shoulder beyond Longnor marks the boundary between gritstone and shales of the Westem Part and the Dovedale limestone.
Turn right along the road for about 500yds (460m), Climb the stone stile and turn left across three fields. Turn right, down the track to Under Whittle Farm.
View of the Upper Dove. Grassy mounds in the valley bottom mark the motte and bailey of Pilsbury Castle.
Climb the stile at the top of the farm garden. Follow a waymarked path. Turn right onto a private lane. After about 200yds (185m) pick up the waymarked path again on the left. Pass a pair of barns and, following waymarks and stiles, cross a series of fields to the River Dove. Walk upstream. 1¼ miles (2km).
Cross the river by the footbridge. Follow the track beyond it as far as the lane and turn left into Crowdicote. Go right on the main road, then left along a side lane to Meadow Farm. 100yds (90m).
Crowdicote. The village is named after Saxon Cruda who built the first farm on this spot. The Pack Horse Inn is a welcome sight on a hot day.
Leave the side road beyond the farm. Follow the signpost along a lane to open fields. ½ mile (800m).
View of the upper Dove and the reef knoll hills of its eastern flank.
Go left along the wide grassy river access track. Cross the footbridge, then climb a low rise to reach a shallow side valley.
Turn left at a stone barn and climb along a gravel lane to Longnor.
