YHA Hartington Hall - December 2022

The path through Biggin Dale.

Join me, O Reader, for a Cautionary Tale. A day of rain, and darkness, and yea, much lamentation. Much wickedness was visited upon me, and it was largely my fault. But before launching into this yarn of almost Biblical woe, there are a few loose threads(!) to be gathered.

Firstly, I should mention that I am usually a very well-prepared traveller. I carry plenty of water and other provisions, I look at my route beforehand, and I take suitable hiking gear. This was (quite literally) a dark day for me, but my consolation is that I was never in any real danger, and was able to learn from my mistakes. It almost goes without saying, but just to hammer home the fundamentals:

• Wear suitable (waterproof) clothing and boots.
• Carry enough provisions.
• If hiking solo, let at least one other person know where you are going.
• Carry a phone and a battery pack.

Eagle-eyed readers may have picked up on a subtle hint as to my error most grave.

Allow me to set the scene.

In December 2022, I booked a short stay at YHA Hartington Hall, which I remembered fondly from a childhood visit. This was to be a hiking holiday, and I planned to walk from Ashbourne up to Hartington, mainly along the Tissington Trail, with which I am quite familiar. I had left plenty of time to arrive before dark, and was - the hubris of it - looking forward to the trip.

As I have mentioned before, Ashbourne marks the southern endpoint of the Tissington Trail, and there is very easy access to it from the town. My first misfortune struck at the outset: the start of the Trail to Tissington Car Park was closed, and I was forced to take the circuitous, albeit scenic route around along the quiet roads via Thorpe.

As clouds gathered and the light began to dim, I found my way back to the Trail and roved onward, hoping to make up for lost time. It was at this point that it began to rain, and my phone, my stalwart companion, betrayed our sacred bond and gave up the ghost. 70% charge? I think not, Brutus.

Without GPS, I was less certain than I had been about the precise turning I needed to take from the Trail to reach Hartington, and I ended up overshooting by quite some way. Realising my mistake, I looped back around, taking to the roads. And I wandered thusly, a lonely, damp itinerant, tracking the hostel down by road signs. I eventually arrived, I think around eight pm, and was faced with more sling, or arrow, of outrageous fortune: the drying room was inoperational.

For the UK hiker, the lack of a drying room is a major inconvenience. For me that day, it was a calamity.

And yet, despite the inauspicious start, I was able to make the best of it. Kind staff turned on radiators so I could at least dry my clothes a little, and the next few days I took on short and medium hikes in damp boots.

Looking across the Peaks, a couple of hundred metres from the hostel.

The River Dove, a familiar companion from my hikes when volunteering at Ilam Hall, held a starring role in my favourite hikes around Hartington. There is a lovely circular route south, right from the door of the youth hostel. Striking out first by road, then very soon diverting down a rocky dirt path, the route through Biggin Dale curves round into the crook of the River Dove, and from there continues to Wolfscote Dale and Beresford Dale. Framed by dramatic rises, and made verdant by the all-too-frequent rain, this short stomp of perhaps 5 or 6 miles has plenty to please the eye.

The view across the valley on the way to Pilsbury Castle.

Heading northward, the quiet road to Pilsbury Castle is similarly pleasant, offering sweeping views over the River Dove and across to the rising landscape on the other side of the valley. The castle itself is a Norman-era motte-and-bailey, of which little remains but earthworks, including the characteristic central raised mound. Don’t go expecting the grand castles of Pembrokeshire, but there is, I think, a bit of a thrill to walk in history among the ruins.

Atop the motte of Pilsbury Castle.

YHA Hartington Hall verdict: Great!

Although the lack of an operational drying room was a tough blow to take, the building itself is very cosy, and I can’t argue with the beauty of the surrounding area.