THIS month’s walk starts at Alsop Station, which was opened in 1899, closing to passengers in 1954. After crossing the A515, we keep to the high ground, skirting the edge of Milldale
Once above Milldale village, we descend steeply to Viator’s Bridge. The bridge takes its name from Izaak Walton, who wrote about it in his famous book, The Compleat Angler. Making our way through the narrow lanes of Milldale we take to the fields and ascend to Alstonefield. The village sits on the hills between the rivers Dove and Manifold. We pass the Church of St Peter, home to fragments of Saxon crosses. Descending to Coldeaton Bridge via Gipsy Bank, we make our way along the side of a wood before ascending Bradbury’s Bank, rejoining the Tissington Trail close to the site of Nettly Knowe. Also known as Net Low, this round barrow was excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1845, revealing a bronze dagger, flint, bronze and jet artefacts as well as skeletal remains…