Walks in The Peak District and Derby Dales Pt1 – Walk to Mappleton from Ashbourne (on roads)

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Walk to The Okeover Arms in Mappleton on the roads (five miles)

We had booked Sunday lunch at the Okeover Arms in Mappleton (also known as Mapleton) and had originally planned to walk there via the footpaths at the back of the cottage. However the weather has been very wet, and we had somewhat foolishly only brought one pair of shoes each. So we decided to walk on the roads instead and this is the way we went.

We left the cottage and took a right onto Mayfield Road, and continued to the roundabout and carried straight across on to the A52 towards Mayfield, this is quite a busy road, but the footpath is quite wide. Keep going and you will pass the Royal Oak pub on the right, which is also serves good food. and over the river Dove. Follow the road round to the right until you get to a turning on the right (Birdsgrove Lane), take this. After about a mile this leads into the Okeover Hall park, a really serene and quiet space that is part of the privately owned Okeover Hall estate.

Towards the end of the lane you will see Okeover Hall on the left and All Saint’s Church. When you reach the end of the road at the T junction, take a right on to Yerley Hill. This takes you towards Mappleton, and goes over the bridge where it is customary on New Years Day to jump off into the river Dove. Carry on to the end of the road take a right and you will see the Okeover Arms on the other side of the road.

After a rather pleasant Sunday Lunch, we headed back to Ashbourne, taking a left from the pub onto the Mappleton Road. Carry on for about 2 miles until you get the Tissington Trail sign and enter the car park here. You will see the tunnel of the old railway line on the right. Go through the tunnel and this leads you to the car park at the rear of the leisure centre.

From here you can go either left and back on to Mayfield Road, or right and round the car park, and head towards St Oswald’s Church and through the church yard back to Mayfield Road.

The walk is relatively easy and is just over five miles, and is well worth the effort. Click the link below to open up the walk on my “Map My Walk” page. There are some more walks on the page and I will be adding more soon.