Ashford’s much-photographed Sheepwash Bridge over the River Wye. Sheep were penned in the enclosed area on the left before being driven across the river to clean their wool.
Click for a pdf with stage-by-stage details of the route including photos and a map, as well as links to car parks and public transport. A walking app GPX file is also available.
Length: 6mls | Av. time: 2h 30m | Ascent: 292ft
Start: Hassop Station | Google Map
Walk description, map & GPX | Download
A 6-mile circular walk from Hassop Station, now a popular cafe and bike-hire centre. It sets off along the Monsal Trail before crossing a mix of tracks and field paths to the picturesque village of Ashford-in-the-Water beside the River Wye, returning across fields to the Trail.
Hassop Station has a large pay and display car park, cafe and toilets, and in summer the owners often open a nearby field for free parking. Ashford-in-the-Water has a small car park and on-street parking, making it an alternative start – see getting there.
The walk is easy, but take care on two short stretches of busy road with limited visibility. The Trail can also get very busy at weekends and bank holidays, and some cyclists come along at speed – the general rule is to keep left.
The route is easily shortened by missing out Ashford: at point 11 on the pdf map, pass under the bridge and climb the steps on the right to the Trail. Or extend it by carrying on into Bakewell and returning along the Trail from the old station.
The return along the Trail passes what remains of Great Longstone Station (point 22), the next stop on the line from Hassop towards Buxton and once known for its prize-winning floral displays.
Above: Great Longstone Station in 1970, with the old ticket office on the left and GJ Marples’ grand house on the right.
Marples, a director of the Midland Railway who lived at nearby Thornbridge Hall, built the house for his guests and staff. He also used it as his own private waiting room when travelling by train, with steps down to the platform.
Today the buiulding is an outdoor adventure centre, while the old ticket office is a private home, fenced off from the Trail. There’s more on the Great Longstone Station page, including photos from its prime and a ‘then & now’ fade.
Refreshments
There’s no shortage of places to stop. Thornbridge Hall’s ‘Quackers Cafe’, a short walk up from the station, serves meals and drinks and has a large (paid-for) children’s play area and gardens.
Ashford has a tearoom and two pubs, the Ashford Arms and the more traditional Bulls Head, as well as the more upmarket Rafters Hotel beside the Sheepwash Bridge.
The cafe at Hassop Station is always popular. And if you’d like to explore the whole 8.5 miles of the Trail, you can hire a bike – including electric bikes – from just behind the building.
Click for a pdf with stage-by-stage details of the route including photos and a map, as well as links to car parks and public transport. A walking app GPX file is also available.
Route photos
Stages 1-6 of the route. Click any to enlarge and scroll through.
Relive video
Click to play and use the expand option to view in full-screen. More Monsal Trail Relives.