Alsop en le Dale

To describe Alsop en le Dale as a village may be to raise expectations, since it could just as well be called a hamlet, but nevertheless it’s a peaceful and charming location well away from the crowds of Dovedale. Even the noisy traffic of the nearby A515 seems far removed, although once the main road came through here and stagecoaches no doubt rested before their long pull up towards Buxton.

Perhaps not surprisingly a new route was eventually fashioned beyond Fenny Bentley, north of Ashbourne, that climbed steadily up to and then stayed on the higher ground, so avoiding the steep climb in and out of the Bradbourne valley to visit Alsop. The later railway-builders also followed suit, leaving Alsop a secluded backwater.

Alsop Church

The Church of St Michaels and All Angels dates back to Norman times and was once a dependency of the ‘mother’ church in Ashbourne. Indeed, the oak pulpit once belonged to a church in Ashbourne and was removed, it is assumed, with permission. The church still has a number of Norman features, including the doorway and window in the south wall, which like the other walls of this small building are surprisingly thick. The church was renovated in the early 1880s, when the tower was added, and in 2000 a new window was installed to commemorate the Millennium.

Across the lane from the church is Alsop Hall, a splendid (and privately owned) Elizabethan manor house.

A Remote Station

For a community as small as Alsop, comprising one hall, three farms and four cottages, it seems remarkable that it once had its own railway station. Of course it also served other surrounding villages like Alstonefield, as well as allowing local farms to transport their milk to dairies. Both the station and platform at Alsop, opened in 1899, were simple affairs and made out of timber. These small stations or halts provided passing loops for the trains, since between Ashbourne and Parlsey Hay it was a single track line.

As you will note, puffing up from Alsop to the finish of this walk at the site of the former station, it’s an undulating landscape and the railway-builders had to battle quite a gradient. Huge cuttings and embankments were necessary to enable the trains to make the long haul out of Ashbourne past Tissington and Alsop and across the high plateau of the southern Peak District, where then as now it’s a remote and unpopulated place. Not long after the line opened a train was derailed in snowy conditions and was marooned for three days. The engine crew were kept going thanks to hot food and drinks provided by local farmers.

From the car park head south on the Tissington Trail for just over 1.5 miles (2.4km). At an embankment ignore a signposted turning to Parwich on the left and continue until you pass beneath a bridge in a deep wooded cutting. Just beyond this turn sharply left for a wallside path back up to the top of the bridge. 

Don’t cross the bridge but instead turn right. Head half right down across a field, then beyond a small gate continue more steeply past trees to the valley bottom. Cross Bletch Brook by a footbridge and climb up the far hillside, veering right across another footbridge. At a signpost continue across the hilltop beside a fence until you reach a stile in the far right corner. 

To visit Parwich turn right, over the stile, and down a tree-lined track to the first bend. Go through the right of two gates for a path that slants down the hillside across two fields, aiming for the gateway of Brook Close Farm in the valley bottom below. Turn right on to the lane and walk into the centre of the village to visit the church, pub or pleasant green beside the duck pond.

Retrace your steps to return to the stile on the main route of the walk. Beyond the stile walk straight ahead through the next field to a kissing gate. Ignore the left turn and go straight on through a succession of fields. Follow waymarkers to the left of Parwich Lees (a house), across a rough lane and then aim for the far left corner of the next field. Skirt the craggy and tree-fringed slopes to the left, go through more fields, then turn right on a stony track to reach the road.

Turn left and follow the lane through Alsop en le Dale, past Manor Farm and the church. Just beyond the next bend take the footpath on the left. It climbs the steep grassy slope, switches to the right of the wall, and with Stonepit Plantation on the left returns to the Tissington Trail and the car park.