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About Churnet Valley | Parking Location | OS Map | Current Weather
After deciding to pop out on a little hike we decided to head out to Churnet Valley, parking at the local car park we headed down towards the river and across a bridge that lead us into the wooded area the other side of the river. A short walk up though the hills and we arrived at a fantastic field with long flowing grass. At this point we bumped into a lovely couple and their dog who advised that if we were following the route, when we get to a farm we need to follow the telegraph poles as there are no signs.we took on board their advise even though we had a map to hand and were pretty sure where we needed to go. As we continued along the route we came across a few beautiful cottages and more open meadows and upon turning right up a dirt path found ourselves in the farmers field we had previously been advised about.
We followed the dirt track up to the farmers house where a “no access” sign was put up, the penny dropped and we realised we needed to head over to the telegraph poles! upon doing so we could see a couple of gates with arrows on them and following these down through the farmers fields we could sense that although it was a right of way, there wasn’t a huge amount of effort put in to make navigating this easy.
Once we made our way through the fields, we hit a passage through the actual farm and then out the other side down a dirt track where once again there wasn’t any great effort in showing you the way, it was here that we spent around 10 minutes trying to figure out the correct was through as there was a river one side and electric fences in front, with the farm to our right. After spending some time we decided to head over the electric fence as part of it was covered with a plastic tube and carry on that way (taking a photo as we went because there wasn’t any obvious signs that was the actual way to go). After heading down the hill for a bit we soon released this was the right path, and decided to feedback to the Peak District customer services.
However, upon reaching the bottom of the hill, we crossed over a fabulous old bridge that was covered in grass and then proceeded to head back down the canal towards the car park. Upon reaching the bridge that would take us back to the car park we decided to actually carry on along the canal and head to the pub The Black Lion Inn which wasn’t too much further down the trail. When we reached the pub, we grabbed a pint and sat soaking up the sun, before heading back off up the road towards the car park and home.
