84 miles, 6 days, 51 pubs…

The latest addition to The Inn Way series, Mark Reid charts a circular route through the heart of the Peak District from the wilds of Kinder Scout to the dramatic gritstone edges, Chatsworth Park, mystical Stanton Moor, Lathkill Dale and Monsal Dale, the Plague village of Eyam, Castleton and its caverns, Mam Tor and Edale. This 84 mile walk is divided into six ‘day stages’ and passes 51 pubs along the way. Complete with a foreword by the Duke of Devonshire CBE.

Walk this Way
Details of the Day Stages

Stage One - Hayfield to Hathersage
Distance: 17.5 miles
Lunchtime pub: Snake Pass Inn
Highest point: 510 metres: Ashop Head
Highlights: In the footsteps of the Mass trespass, dramatic ravines, wild moorland and shattered edges, the source of the River Ashop, an historic coaching inn, marching along the Roman road, a moorland waymarker that offers hope, legionary ghosts, the Dark Peak’s finest viewpoint and a bridge across the counties.

Stage Two - Hathersage to Baslow
Distance: 13 miles
Lunchtime pub: Fox House Inn, Longshaw
Highest point: 457 metres: Stanage Edge
Highlights: Little John’s grave, Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester, an outlaw’s hideout, the gritstone crest of a mighty wave, an Iron Age hillfort and Bronze Age circle, a shooting lodge fit for a king, incredible views from Peakland’s finest edge, a stone with something to prove and Wellington’s monument.

Stage Three - Baslow to Youlgrave
Distance: 12 miles
Lunchtime pub: Grouse & Claret or Peacock at Rowsley
Highest point : 305 metres: Stanton Moor
Highlights: Chatsworth Park and Capability Brown, the Palace of the Peak, a hotchpotch of buildings, a mournful visit by JFK, the tale of two dukes, a marooned station, hillside villages and classic Peakland pubs, mystical moorlands, stone circles, a Druid’s temple, a hermit’s cave and a leaping outlaw.

Stage Four - Youlgrave to Tideswell
Distance: 16 miles
Lunchtime pub: Bull’s Head, Monyash
Highest point : 335 metres: Magpie Mine
Highlights: Seven dales in a day, a sparkling river, National Nature Reserves, flooded lead mines, ancient woodland, limestone caves and cliffs, Peakland’s most famous viewpoint, the valley of the gods, full steam ahead, dark satanic mills and a rather jolly end to the walk.

Stage Five Tideswell to Castleton
Distance: 14 miles
Lunchtime pub: Miner’s Arms, Eyam
Highest point: 407 metres: Eyam Moor
Highlights: Derbyshire’s last gibbet, a silly dale and a foolish village, a tale of self sacrifice, the finest Saxon preaching cross in Derbyshire, wonderful views from wild moorland, a hidden wooded clough, walking in the footsteps of Romans and the church of the foresters.

Stage Six - Castleton to Hayfield
Distance : 11.5 miles
Lunchtime pub: Old Nag’s Head or Rambler Inn at Edale
Highest point : 541 metres: Edale Cross
Highlights: Subterranean rivers, a castle perched upon high, the Shivering Mountain, a walk across the Great Ridge, superlative views, a classic walkers’ pub, walking through the ‘island valley’, in the footsteps of jaggers, climbing the stairway to heaven, a medieval wayside cross and a superb descent along an old packhorse trail.