Alport Castles - Route.
Distance: 8½ miles
Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
Grade: Easy/Moderate
Map: OS Explorer OL1 - The Peak District, Dark Peak Area
Start Point: Fairholmes Visitors Centre in the Upper Derwent Valley
Grid Reference: SK 172 893
Nearest Post Code: S33 0AQ
| Serial | Distance | Grid Reference | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 0.00 miles | SK 172 893 | The walk starts at the Fairholmes Visitors Centre, where there is a cafe and toilet facilities. Turn left out of the centre and after a few yards take the finger post marked path on the right. (Alternatively the walk can be started at Hagg Side a little further along the road and follow Locker Brook). |
| 02 | 0.75 miles | SK 164 894 | The path arrives at a t-junction, turn left here to following the track that runs downhill through a gate and passed the Lockerbrook Outdoor Centre. |
| 03 | 1.00 miles | SK 163 891 | Continue around the bend to a pathway junction, take the well defined rocky path sign posted Rowelee Pasture, heading north west at Woodcock Coppice, to join the well managed and stone laid path, running along the top of Bellhag Tor and Pasture Tor, on the south western edge of Rowelee Pasture, with spectacular westerly views of Cowms Moor and Seal Flats. |
| 04 | 3.00 miles | SK 144 914 | After a short while the tower comes into view. There is a pathway along a dry stone wall that leads to the tower, If you miss it, either back track or scrambled down the steep grass bank. |
| 05 | 3.25 miles | SK 141 916 | Retrace your steps back to the path, and continue heading north west along Rowelee Pasture, to Birchin Hat, where the path takes a right turn, (bearing north east) as it follows the north western edge of Birchinlee Pasture, then along Ditch Clough and enter the Ditch Clough Plantation. |
| 06 | 4.40 miles | SK 153 928 | After following the trail through Ditch Clough Plantation for about 3/4 of a mile, at the junction bear right to join reservoir road. |
| 07 | 4.60 miles | SK 154 928 | At the bottom turn right on to the reservoir road. The route follows the western edge of the Howden and Upper Derwent Reservoirs, passing a memorial to the Birchinlee Village and finishes back to the Fairholmes Visitors Centre. |