It was a curiously warm Wednesday in January when I decided to ditch the housework and head to the hills with Nellie for this fabulous hike. I had gone from thermals to t-shirt within two days and took delight in walking beneath blue skies with no wind chill factor to lower the double digit temperature.
From the little car park at Wetton, Nellie and I headed off along Carr Lane on route to Weags Bridge and a crossing of the River Manifold deep down in the valley before us. The views from high ground were breath-taking and very far reaching. I could clearly see the little spire of Grindon Church pointing up to the heavens and noticed little pockets of snow lingering in the shade beneath distant walls and crags.
Water was gushing under the high arch of the bridge where I turned downstream to follow the left track that led me past the confluence of the rivers Hamps and Manifold before continuing to the right of Beeston Tor Farm which has the most dramatic backdrop dominated by a massive limestone cliff.
We were now following the footpath to Throwley, initially along a grassy track before heading left up a steep grassy bank and across fields to the remains of Throwley Hall. This remarkable and romantic ruin of a medieval manor house sits in stark contrast beside a beautiful white-painted Georgian farmhouse with its range of old cowsheds and farm buildings.
The first record of a dwelling on this site dates from 1203 when an earlier property here was owned by Oliver de Meverell. Some three hundred years later, the 16th-century writer Sampson Erdeswicke wrote: "Throwley is a fair, ancient house, and goodly demesne; being the seat of the Meverells, a very ancient house of gentlemen and of goodly living, equalling the best sort of gentlemen in the Shire.”
A tomb in Ilam Church contains the remains of Robert and his wife Elizabeth who were the last Meverell family members to live here. A succession of new owners followed before the house became abandoned and ruinous.
Nellie and I now wandered along the single track road that led us down to Rushley Bridge, all the time admiring stunning panoramic views. This valley has been farmed for many centuries as is evident by numerous areas of ridge and furrow field patterns. Now sheep dot and spot the hillsides, soon to have a population boom as lambing time arrives.
It was a slow uphill slog to Casterne Hall where I was intrigued to see how restoration work was going on. This quaint miniature stately home changed hands a few years ago after an almost continuous run of some 500-years ownership by the Hurt family.
A small army of specialist builders were busy at work with evidence to suggest a complete refurbishment is in progress at this ancient house that, as with Thowley Hall across the valley, has a fascinating history dating back over a thousand years. A Roman settlement is thought to have been sited here, and until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, an early Grange at Casterne was owned by Burton Abbey.
After passing around to the rear of Casterne we headed across fields on a glorious footpath to the remains of Highfields Mine. A little further along the hillside are the remains of the former Bincliff Mines, both having been worked for lead.
On entering the complex of dips, hollows and capped shafts at Highfields we turned right and followed a footpath to Stable Lane. A rather unremarkable and somewhat indistinguishable feature in a private field ahead is marked on the O.S. map as being Long Low. Evidently this Neolithic and Bronze Age site consists of two round cairns linked by a connecting bank, said to be an unusual layout and one that is unique in England.
Nellie and I turned left to follow the rough track in the direction of Wetton. Either side of us was a counterpane of mainly empty fields with occasional barns. Over to the left I could see the trig point summit of Wetton Low where another tumulus or ancient burial ground was located. At the crossroads we continued ahead along Ashbourne Lane to return to the village. What a journey through time and an interesting history lesson this walk had turned out to be!
FOOTNOTE BY NELLIE: I do have some funny ways. You could say that I’m idiosyncratic but sometimes I can be simply idiotic. On a recent walk I got petrified by a donkey that put its head over the wall to say hello. Sheep have me shivering and cows make me quiver. I can’t help it; I’m just a bit quirky. The other day Dad brought my car blanket in and draped it near the fire to air. That made me so cross because it shouldn’t have been there. It belonged in the car. I got all excited and tried to drag it out of the house. Mum says I’m a funny little fish so just call me flakey from now on xxx
