Hartington > Over Haddon
Miles: 13 miles
Weather: Windy but sunny. No rain!
The One With…
The wonky donkey, a very sad sight, and Julia’s foot clinic.
Summary
A proper mixed bag of a day today. We swapped valleys for old railway lines, battled ridiculous stone stiles designed for people with one leg, met donkeys, motorbikes and gluten-free drama at Parsley Hay, before finishing with one of the most beautiful sections of the whole Peak Pilgrimage through Lathkill Dale. The day ended with tired legs, sore feet, emotional moments, cream teas and foot massages. Basically… Peak Pilgrimage in a nutshell.
THE LONG WINDED VERSION:
💤 8.50am – Everyone slept really well… even those in the bunk room with a hen party next door. Group photo taken (cephalopods!) and we’re off. Today we are walking straight from the YHA, so no waiting around for racing driver taxis.
🚶🏻♂️ 9.20am – The trail starts with a gentle wander along an old track before descending into a valley and over stone walls. Those stone stiles can be quite challenging for us short people! Totally randomly, we come across a bright yellow Robin Reliant with leopard skin seat covers. Del Boy is clearly here.
⛪️ In our first cute little village there is a fabulous dinky old chapel. Above the door is a sign that reads:
“Everyone who enters this door brings happiness. Some by entering, some by leaving.”
A very funny sign for a church!
9.48am – I’d forgotten how completely ridiculous some of these stiles are. Some are so narrow you can just about get one leg through and that’s it. I assume they are designed to stop sheep squeezing through, but humans also struggle!
🚂 9.55am – And just like that, we find ourselves on the old disused railway line known as the Tissington Trail. A little unknown fact for you: the trail follows part of the former London and North Western Railway line, which closed to passengers in 1954. During the Second World War, parts of the route were used to store ammunition trains hidden away in the Derbyshire countryside.
We reach Hartington Station… which confusingly is nowhere near Hartington… and stop for a quick break. One of my members shouts up to me as I’m upstairs exploring the station building:
“Ju, how far is the café? It’s 50p for the toilet here!”
50p?! Daylight robbery.
☕️ 10.44am – Four miles in and we reach Parsley Hay Café. Everyone piles into the loos and Trudi gets very excited seeing the letters “GF” next to various menu items. It must be really difficult travelling when you’re gluten intolerant.
She orders a GF sausage roll and looks genuinely happy. Coupled with proper coffee, Trudi is slowly forgetting her poorly toe.
🍰 Oh no… disaster. The boss comes over to explain they’ve run out of GF sausage rolls. But fair play to him – he refunds her entire order and replaces it with free coffee and gluten-free cake instead. Trudi seems more than happy with that arrangement.
🥶 11.11am – We’re still on the Tissington Trail and, if I’m honest, I’m starting to get a bit bored. I’d forgotten how this trail seems to go on forever, and the wind cuts right through you. I’ve borrowed Stephanie’s gloves because my hands were freezing.
🚴 To entertain ourselves, we create a Guard of Honour with our walking poles for a passing family of cyclists. My motto is simple:
“If you can make someone smile today, then life is good.”
12.45pm – I know we turn off this trail soon, but I can’t quite remember where. I stop on a bridge to check the map.
“It’s right here!”
I look over the edge of the bridge and, sure enough, there’s a gate below us with a tiny blue Peak Pilgrimage sign. The only issue? How on earth do we get down there?
Eventually I spot a tiny little track leading down a rather questionable steep section. I’m worried about Trudi’s foot, but thankfully everyone gets down safely and it all adds to the adventure.
Goodbye Tissington Trail… see you again another time.
🫏 12.12pm – We hear them before we see them… donkeys!
We pass a donkey sanctuary with loads of donkeys dotted around the fields. So cute.
I say out loud, “Isn’t there a song about a donkey?”
Someone starts singing Little Donkey, but we quickly stop because I firmly believe it’s unlucky to sing Christmas songs when it isn’t Christmas.
Then someone shouts:
“Wonky Donkey!”
I’ve never heard of it, so naturally I go onto YouTube and search for The Wonky Donkey.
OMG. It’s absolutely hilarious. Please Google it. I urge you.
🏍️ 12.48pm – When we reach Monyash there’s a real buzz in the air because the village is absolutely packed with motorbikes. The last time I was here it was classic cars. It’s such a lovely atmosphere.
Kim is immediately drawn towards the smell of burgers and joins the queue while others head off in search of toilets and church stamps.
Once regrouped, we head off towards my favourite section of the whole trip… Lathkill Dale.
2.15pm – Lathkill Dale is absolutely breathtaking. It’s a deep limestone valley carved out over thousands of years by the River Lathkill and is often described as one of the most beautiful dales in the Peak District. The path twists alongside crystal-clear water, tiny waterfalls, old limestone cliffs and wildflower-covered slopes.
Walking through here feels completely different to the open railway trail earlier in the day. It suddenly becomes peaceful, enclosed and almost magical.
People are definitely tiring now and we need a proper rest stop. I’d originally planned to stop by the river, but reading the room, we need to stop sooner rather than later.
So everyone finds a suitable rock, the sun comes out, boots come off, snacks appear, and we spend a good half hour refuelling our bodies.
🌳 OMG… I actually feel quite emotional as we continue through the dale because huge sections of the ash trees have been felled. It feels like wandering through a graveyard of trees that stretches on for miles.
The trees have been affected by Ash Dieback Disease, a highly contagious fungal disease caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (thanks ChatGPT!). The disease weakens and eventually kills ash trees by attacking their leaves, bark and internal structure, making them dangerous as they become unstable. Sadly, millions of ash trees across Britain have already been lost. Stephanie explains that it’s a legal requirement to fell infected ash trees.
We walk much of this section in silence.
Every now and then someone has carved or written words onto a tree – things like “Breathe” or “I fell for you.”
I honestly can’t decide whether I like this writing or not. Part of me found the random messages entertaining, but another part of me felt like someone had scribbled on gravestones… and that didn’t sit quite right in my gut.
👏 3.54pm – Yey! We’ve reached Over Haddon.
The group are not overly impressed with the final climb into the village. It is a steep one… but wow, the views are absolutely out of this world.
Everyone grabs their final stamp of the day at the church before we head to the pub for well-earned drinks and, in some cases, cream teas.
🥘 7.30pm – We decide to eat at the hostel again because the local pub is fully booked.
After dinner, Julia’s Surgery officially opens for business. We sit in the quiet room while I sort sore feet, dish out foot massages and somehow end up doing palm readings. Strange… but very funny.
I am SO ready for bed now though.
Night night. Thanks for following the blog and I’ll see you tomorrow for our final day.
