Horseshoe and Deep Dales

An interesting walk through fields and impressive limestone scenery.

Technical sheet

n°19628253
Creation:
Last update:
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 6.01 km
  • ◔
    Calculated time: 2h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 94 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 93 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 372 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 278 m
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Description

(S/E) Leave The Church Inn pub and turn right down the main village street, passing the Chelmorton Troughs.

(1) Turn right into Common Lane and follow it for 1⁄4 mile until a footpath crosses at right angles; turn left into a walled trackway. Pass a small farm building on your left and then, just after the track bends sharp right, cross a stone stile on your left, next to a gate, into open fields.

(2) Head half right towards a clump of trees. Follow a path between walls to the right of the trees, at one point climbing a stone stile next to a gate, until you meet the main road (A5270). Turn left.

When the road bends left, take a path on the right in the corner and turn half-left, slightly away from the dale on your right, aiming for a telegraph pole in the middle of the field.

(3) At a stone stile turn slightly left and follow the broken wall back to the main road (A5270). Turn right and walk down the main road past a house and into Horseshoe Dale.

(4) At the bottom turn right through a gate and between farm buildings to join the dale proper. Look out for Bullhay Dale Calcite Mine on your right. Keep on down the main dale on your right-hand side, which becomes gradually deeper and rockier and enters the Topley Pike and Deep Dale SSSI.

(5) The obvious entrance to Thirst House Cave appears above and to the right of the path. Just beyond the cave, the dale is crossed by the Midshires Way. The path down the dale beyond this point is subject to a long-term closure, so turn right onto a narrow path up the steep daleside, zig-zagging past another small cave.

(6) Once out of the dale, bear right (South-East) to a wall stile, then cross three more fields in the same direction to reach a walled farm track.

(7) Turn left, then right at a junction of tracks. Follow the track past a barn on your left, and then the entrance to Burrs Farm, before reaching the main road (A5270).

Cross the road and take a few steps to the left, then follow the track to Shepley Farm opposite. Follow the track, bearing left then right by the farm, to reach Chelmorton and then The Church Inn pub. (S/E)

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 371 m - The Church Inn pub
  2. 1 : km 0.22 - alt. 351 m - Common Lane - Small farm building
  3. 2 : km 0.91 - alt. 335 m - Clump of trees - Telegraph pole
  4. 3 : km 1.67 - alt. 322 m - A5270
  5. 4 : km 2.02 - alt. 318 m - Horseshoe Dale - Bullhay Dale Calcite Mine
  6. 5 : km 3.68 - alt. 285 m - Thirst House Cave
  7. 6 : km 3.78 - alt. 297 m - Fields
  8. 7 : km 4.29 - alt. 342 m - Burrs Farm - A5270
  9. S/E : km 6.01 - alt. 372 m - The Church Inn pub

Practical information

Uneven ground and one rocky ascent. Several stiles.

Pdf link : http://walksfromthedoor.co.uk/i/walks/De...

The Church Inn
Main Street, Chelmorton, Derbyshire
SK17 9SL
Tel: 01298 85319
Email : innbookings999@gmail.com
Website: www.thechurchinn.co.uk

Reviews and comments

3 / 5
Based on 1 review
Reliability of the description
2 / 5
Clarity of route map
3 / 5
Route interest
4 / 5
Walks from the Door
Walks from the Door
• Last modified:

I'm sorry you felt my description didn't reflect the difficulty of the walk. However, I think it's unfair to say that "no where did it say the path was over damp, moss covered very uneven stones where we often had to use our hands to steady ourselves". My instructions contain the following:

"Uneven ground and one rocky ascent. Several stiles."

My recollection (though it's a while since I walked these routes) is also that the rocky sections are fairly short. I'm a not particularly fit bloke in my late 50s and I don't remember it being as difficult as you suggest. Maybe things have changed since I walked it.
Lou@Holme
Lou@Holme

Overall rating : 3 / 5

Date of walk : 16/11/23
Reliability of the description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

As a group of 60 year old golfing ladies (all quite fit!) away for a couple of days in the peaks we decided to try this ‘Moderate’ walk. The issue we had was a small section of the walk along the bottom of the Dale alongside the stream - no where did it say the path was over damp, moss covered very uneven stones where we often had to use our hands to steady ourselves. Thankfully part of the walk that carried on along the bottom of the Dale was closed (we were close to turning back at one point as we had no clue how much longer this (for all 6 of us) really tricky bit would go on for) so we had to follow the diversion - up a very steep path out of the Dale. Again hands were needed as there are some big step ups to take ..but that bit was way easier than along the Dale floor
If you have small people or those unsteady on their feet then abound this walk, we enjoyed it once we had finished but it wasn’t described very well in parts

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The GPS track and description are the property of the author.