[1] From the front of the Youth Hostel walk ahead down the gravel path along the left edge of the lawns passing left of the church. The path becomes tarmaced as it goes left along the edge of a field to a white gate. Go through and turn right down to the road, and right again to Ilam Cross.
(A) The remarkable gothic style Ilam cross was erected by Jesse Watts-Russell, who built Ilam Hall and landscaped the park in the 1820s. It commemorates his wife Mary, who sadly died in 1840 after they had had 8 children together. It has recently been restored, and an obelisk on the road side explains more of its history.
[2] Turn left at the cross, following the road, with the River Manifold to your right, and go through a gate immediately beyond the end of the last garden on the left. Bear left and go uphill with the wall to your left, soon joining a track coming in from the right . Follow this track ahead to a ladder stile by a gate. Go over the stile and continue ahead across two fields, generally keeping away from the right hand wall aiming for a gate opening at the end of the first field. At the far end of the second field cross a stone stile on the right and bear left uphill for about 100 yards to a small gate in the left hand wall. Go through and continue straight ahead, keeping just right of a clump of trees, to a stile in the far corner. (Take a look at the fossils in the highly polished far step on this stile!)
(B) This area of the Peak District is known as the White Peak, because of the local rock, a light coloured carboniferous limestone. It was formed about 350 million years ago when this area was at the bottom of a shallow tropical sea. Dead shellfish, and other animals sank to the bottom, and their remains were compressed and fossilised into rocks. In still areas of water, algae and coral grew on the piles on shells and coral reefs were formed. These reefs formed a harder rock and were left behind when softer surrounding rock eroded. Both Bunster Hill behind you, and Thorpe Cloud slightly further off are old coral reefs.
In the next field bear to the right aiming for the skyline to the right of the trees ahead. The path continues straight ahead to the right of a small quarry, set down below ground level in the field, and heads towards two lone trees by the road. Join a track that goes left down to the road over a cattle grid by the right hand tree. However, the footpath route onto the road is over a stone stile in the wall a few yards to the right of the cattle grid.
[3] Turn right and follow the road uphill, with great views over the Manifold valley looking back to the left. After passing Barn House on the left, the road levels off. As soon as it starts going downhill, take the signposted footpath on the right. Go diagonally down across the field to a small gate in the far corner. Go left down to another gate in the next corner. Go half right across the next field to another small gate in the bottom right corner. Follow the left edge and wall of the next field to a stile, then straight ahead across the next field to a gate by a short wooden fence. Keep ahead with the wall on your left. Cross a stile by a metal gate and go ahead to another small gate that leads onto the path coming up Hall Dale.
(C) Until the early 19th Century, high ground like this was open common land where the locals were able to graze their livestock. Most of the walls appeared as a result of the controversial enclosures, where aristocratic landowners took control of the land. New mass production farming methods were introduced, requiring much less manpower. If you look at maps of remote high areas of the White Peak you will see the walls are built in a rectangular grid pattern as far as possible, except where the lie of the land, or the convenience of re-using older walls dictates otherwise. There are also a number of remote 19th century farms on the high ground where the new commercial farmers lived and worked the newly enclosed land, replacing the old subsistence farmers in the villages.
[4] Go straight across the path coming up the dale and go uphill with the wall on your left. Keep ahead through two more gates to reach a track. Turn right a short distance along the track to a rusty metal gate and a National Trust sign for Grove Farm. Go through the narrow squeeze stile to the left of the gate and downhill along the left edge of the field.
(D) In the field to the right, you will either see a circular pond, or a dry circular concrete bowl, depending on the recent weather. There are no natural springs up here, and puddles dry quickly in the porous limestone. So to make keeping livestock up here viable these concrete ponds were made for them to drink from. Despite the ponds often being called dew ponds, it would take a lot of dew to fill one. They are filled up by rain water.
Go through the squeeze stile at the bottom and go down the right edge of two more fields. In the next field, go ahead to another small gate just opposite that leads to a path going down a small overgrown valley and continuing steeply down to a road.
Take care going down this path, which is steep and narrow in places. The limestone underfoot can be slippery, especially after rain.
Turn right towards the river at Milldale.
(E) Milldale is a picturesque collection of stone cottages at the bottom of a side valley leading onto the main Dove valley. There was a mill here, but it has long since been demolished. There are toilets and an information barn. On the road to your left there is a serving hatch in a cottage door where you can buy hot and cold drinks, ice creams and snacks. The walls and benches by the River Dove are a nice place to sit and eat your food, as long as you do not mind the greedy local ducks trying to scrounge some from you. If you go up the road past the serving hatch, the last building on the right is a tiny methodist chapel that is normally open, and is a peaceful little place to visit.
The famous Viator bridge is an ancient packhorse bridge. The walls are a relatively recent addition, it was originally built without them to make it possible for fully laden horses to get across. The bridge gets its name from an incident in a famous book, The Compleat Angler, by Isaak Walton. In it, the viator (a traveller) meets the piscator (a fisherman) at the bridge, before the walls were built, and crosses it nervously. (There is more on this in the information barn.) The book, first published in 1653, put Dovedale on the map and helped attract the first tourists here.
[5] On reaching the river turn right and cross the old Viator bridge. You are now at the top of Dovedale, the valley upstream having different names. Follow the path signed to Dovedale car park, 3 miles, going downstream with the River Dove on the right.
(F) The River Dove is about 45 miles long, rising on Axe Edge near Buxton and flowing south to join the River Trent. For most of its length it is the county boundary. All of the walk until MillDale was in Staffordshire, having crossed the Viator bridge you are now in Derbyshire. At this point it has beautiful clean clear water and it is a fine trout fishing river. If you stop and stare into the water you may spot a trout. The river runs over porous limestone and could dry out after a dry spell, so numerous weirs have been built to keep the water levels high enough for the fish.
Soon you will reach Dove Holes.
(G) The huge caves of Dove Holes were created by the cliff being constantly hit by water in a large river, with stones carried in the water gouging out the large holes. It is clear the River Dove is too small and too low down to have done this. It was done by another much larger torrent during one of the ice ages, which will also have gauged out Dovedale from the limestone. When the much later River Dove was created it managed to find a convenient route through the gorge by chance. Evidence of prehistoric human occupation has been found in the caves.
Pass the huge pinnacle of Ilam rock on the right. Just beyond, look for two old copper plaques on the cliff to the left commemorating RA Holmes, who did much to help Dovedale pass into the hands of the National Trust and so preserve it for all to enjoy. Look back the way you just came here, and look for the lion's face in the overhanging rock.
Continue downstream over two stretches of boardwalk. When the path widens, look up left to the impressive rock arch of Reynards Cave.
(H) The arch is the remains of the collapsed roof of a large cave. If you scramble up you can take a closer look and see the back of what is left of the cave.
Continuing downstream, a plaque on a small brick structure explains that it is a ram pump, used to pump water up to the fields above. Just beyond on the left are the multiple pinnacles of Tissington Spires. These are lumps of reef limestone, left behind after the surrounding softer rock eroded.
The path continues uphill, and up steps, made by Italian prisoners of war during WW2, to reach Lovers Leap. Look closely at the steps and you will see fossils, when you get your eye in you will see many of them.
Take care on the path both up to and down from Lovers Leap as the limestone surface can be very slippery in wet weather.
(I) Lovers Leap is a popular rest spot and viewpoint for walkers. The story goes that a young lady jilted by her lover tried to kill herself by jumping off. Her fall was broken near the bottom by branches and bushes and she was able to get up and walk away. After that, she never thought of him again and lived a long and happy life as a single woman.
Carry on down the steps and on towards the famous stepping stones. Cross them, (You may need to queue in summer!) and arrive back in Staffordshire. Alternatively, if you do not wish to use the stepping stones continue on the rough path to the left of the river and cross by means of the next bridge. Turn left on the tarmaced track to the information barn. Follow the path between the road and the river to Dovedale car park where you will find toilets and maybe an ice cream van.
[6] Opposite the car park entrance, go through a small gate to the left of large double gates and go left on to a wide track, almost immediately bearing right on to a path that goes up steps and through trees to a double stile. Continue ahead just right of the back of the Isaak Walton Hotel and cross a high wooden stile. Go ahead to a second stile, which is at a signed path junction. Take the left hand path, which is signed to Ilam and go ahead downhill to a gate in the far left corner of the field. The path is fairly clear as it continues ahead to another gate. Follow the track ahead, and just before the end of the field take a path going left down to the gate onto the road, which we came through earlier.
Retrace your steps from the start of the walk. Go right along the road to Ilam Cross, turn right and then left up the first drive turning left again to pass through the kissing gate at the side of the white gate. Follow the tarmac path along the right edge of the field to the church, and take the gravel path right of the church back up to the Youth Hostel.
(J) Before returning to the YHA or your car, the church is really interesting and well worth a look inside. There are the shafts of two 1000 year old Saxon crosses in the churchyard. As soon as you enter the church, take a close look at the amazing carvings on the ancient Saxon font just ahead. The room to the left of the altar is an incredible mausoleum with an extremely well carved marble statue of a man on his deathbed giving instruction to his daughter and her three children. The man is David Pike Watts, Jessie Watts Russell's father in law. The daughter is Jessie's wife, Mary, for whom Ilam cross was built.
To the right of the altar is another small chapel containing the tomb of Saint Bertram. This is still an important place of pilgrimage today.
The story goes that Saint Bertram was a 7th Century Mercian prince who went to Ireland. He fell in love with a local princess, and married her. When bringing her back to Mercia she was heavily pregnant and whilst passing here she went into labour and gave birth. Bertram left her to get food, but whilst he was gone a pack of Wolves descended on his wife and devoured her and the baby.
A distraught Bertram vowed to give up all his worldly titles and possessions and devote himself to God. He spent the rest of his life as a holy man, living as a hermit in the Ilam area.