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Every one of Alfreton’s six Slow Ways has a route that’s been walked and reviewed positively at least three times, and surveyed. Scroll down to explore them, or help connect another place
Give a hike!Alfreton
Derbyshire
Slow Ways linking Alfreton and Clay Cross, Crich, Matlock, Ripley, Selston, South Normanton
England / Derbyshire / Alfreton
Alfreton’s six Slow Ways are 100% checked
Help connect Alfreton
Many Slow Ways have several route options. Some will be better than others, or good for different reasons.
Our goal is for each Slow Way to have at least one route that is verified and surveyed. To be verified – and get its snail badge – a route needs at least three positive reviews.
Give a hike and help get a for every one of Alfreton’s Slow Ways.
Walk to Alfreton from further afield
Slow Way | Route | To do | ||||||||
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Alfreton—Selston
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Alfsel one |
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U U |
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Double check | Distance 8km/5mi | Ascent 97m | Descent 112m | |
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Alfreton—Selston
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Alfsel two |
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4 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 9km/5mi | Ascent 139m | Descent 154m | ||
Alfreton—South Normanton
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Alfsou one |
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U U |
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Double check | Distance 5km/3mi | Ascent 86m | Descent 64m | |
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Alfreton—South Normanton
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Alfsou two |
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3 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 4km/2mi | Ascent 61m | Descent 39m | ||
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Clay Cross—Alfreton
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Claalf one |
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U U |
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Review me | Distance 10km/6mi | Ascent 120m | Descent 107m | ||
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Clay Cross—Alfreton
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Claalf two |
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3 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 11km/7mi | Ascent 172m | Descent 34m | ||
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Crich—Alfreton
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Crialf one |
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5 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 8km/5mi | Ascent 199m | Descent 139m | ||
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Matlock—Alfreton
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Matalf one |
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4 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 16km/10mi | Ascent 367m | Descent 401m | ||
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Matlock—Alfreton
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Matalf two |
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5 X |
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Double check | Distance 15km/9mi | Ascent 387m | Descent 421m | |
Matlock—Alfreton
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Matalf three |
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5 X |
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Review me | Distance 17km/10mi | Ascent - | Descent - | ||
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Matlock—Alfreton
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Matalf four |
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3 X |
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Review me | Distance 17km/10mi | Ascent - | Descent - | ||
Ripley—Alfreton
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Ripalf one |
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U U |
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Review me | Distance 8km/5mi | Ascent 95m | Descent 125m | ||
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Ripley—Alfreton
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Ripalf three |
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3 X |
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Enjoy me | Distance 7km/4mi | Ascent 120m | Descent 148m |
Fancy stretching your legs a bit more?
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This includes the great ring of routes that join its neighbours to each other!
Collective progress
79% of Alfreton’s six route options are drawn, reviewed, surveyed and/or verified
13/13
13/13
9/13
6/13
5 people have contributed to Alfreton’s Slow Ways
4 people have pledged to walk and review a route
9 people have surveyed a route in Alfreton
135km out of 135km have been walked and reviewed
289km of reviews have been shared in Alfreton
Latest Updates
Nice walk, about as direct as you might be, but expect some hills, Crich is high up. Walked in Sept, will need wellies beyond end of October and would be tricky to pass in parts in bad Weather. Generally good for dogs, though some of the stiles are too tight for labs big backside and too high for the Jack Russel....
Steve Whysall
The GPX line through Wingfield station is a little lazy - it is easiest to follow the main track out down to the main road, and having done this I made a slight navigational error by starting along the path that was visible from that junction. Here I got a little confused, as the Crich path is not signposted, but having established that there was no easy way down the wall below the road, the line became pretty obvious - a series of very waterlogged muddy field edges leading to a stream crossing with no bridge, after which there are a few stiles to help identify the route past the old quarry to reach the familiar path back up to Crich....
Hugh Hudson
A winter walk in long trousers may discover the faint short path that leads to the path following the stream on the west side of the hedge....
Ken
The path to Dethick is again well walked with stone step stiles so even a dog may struggle. The path continues across pasture to Lea where we pass over an attractive stone bridge to reach the main street. So admire the stone bridge as you safely pass under the line because it's nearly two hundred years old. The inn marked on older maps had now closed but a walk to the church would provide refreshment and buses if needed. The final pavement walk is brief passing a few useful shops, there are more close by. Buses to many locations but if you want to continue by train it's a walk or bus ride to the station....
Ken
It is easier to follow the quiet lane to Wheatcroft, and then a footpath link towards Lea, which intersects the lane leading to Lee Moor Road. Here we join the route of Matcri2 on a footpath which begins in Lea and takes us uphill to meet Hearthstone Lane (a bridleway) That can be followed over Bilberry Knoll - good views - to Hearthstone....
StephenWalker
StephenWalker added Matalf three, a new walk from Matlock to Alfreton
Walk this routeThis route is poorly plotted and fails to follow a recognised public path west of Lea....
Ken
I tried to walk this route but it is badly plotted and a section west of Lea does not use rights of way. I have replaced it with a suggested Matalf3....
StephenWalker
Some good views in this area that fringes the National Park....
StephenWalker
It appears that at Hollybush Farm most users of this path stay in the field and use the farm track - the old route/right of way line up from the other path by the stream (which I think is the one Ken mentions missing) is not marked on the ground and appears to be blocked by impenetrable undergrowth - I gave up on it and walked down Pit Lane instead. The other slightly problematic path is the one from Dethick Lane to High Lane - the entrance to the field from Dethick Lane would have been invisible had it not been for the footpath sign and required some determination. We turn left up Cunnery Lane, and once the wood is reached it is easier to use the unofficial path along the right hand wall of the wood than to find the old right of way line (I did the latter and it is rougher and steeper). A stone step stile takes us out of the wood onto a field path with fine views, which becomes Green Lane. This is where I think I missed a trick, as the path we need to take is more often accessed using the farm track through the field before the stream rather than the old right of way line which followed the path to Pit Lane through the trees. This path is fine for those heading for Pig Lane, but at the point where the right of way turns up to the left past Hollybush Farm I found nothing but apparently impenetrable undergrowth (see photo 12!) and no sign to show the correct line. We turn right along High Road and use the shortcut path to descend to Church Lane, where as Ken says the walls are imposing....
Hugh Hudson
From the meeting point on Bridge Street in Clay Cross, we go left onto Market Street, cross it and turn right down Broadleys and follow it down to Thanet Street, which we cross and go half left down Flaxpiece Road, then left again onto Penncroft Lane, which we follow for some distance as it twists and turns through a large housing estate to reach Cemetery Road, where we turn right, then left into Beech Way and right onto Lime Tree Grove, which becomes a track. We cross the surprisingly busy Morton Road and head straight on, leaving the wood to cross fields (plenty of stiles) an a well used path that crosses Higham Lane and continues into Stirland. We need to cross somewhere, then turn left opposite the church and the Red Lion, across Hallfieldgate Lane and straight on down Pit Lane, which we soon leave on the path across the field to the right to reach the golf course....
Hugh Hudson
Starting at the bus station in Alfreton, we follow the eastbound buses out along Hall Street and left up Cressy Street, then turn right along High Street and straight on along Nottingham Road. Beyond the bridge we follow the path right and left between industrial buildings to Cotes Park Lane, which we cross and go right to the next junction where we turn left. Beyond the pool we turn left across the railway then take the little path right, turning right again to the right of a gated building, then cross the railway again (stiles here)....
Hugh Hudson
We pass the station approach, a good place to cross back to the south side of the road and continue along Mansfield Road, turning right onto High Street and left down Cressy Road and right along Hall Street to the meeting point at the bus station (some may prefer the pedestrianised routes down from High Street past the library to the bus station starting on Central Road or Chapel Street)....
Hugh Hudson
We cross the bridge over the heritage railway by Butterley station, then take the path right over stiles and along the field boundaries (note that the trodden line is less direct than the right of way). We follow the lane half left up the hill to Cray's Hill, where we cross and turn right. The bridleway follows the edge of a wood to an industrial road (Wimsey Way), where we turn right - there is a choice of following the wide road or the little path left parallel to it....
Hugh Hudson
These paths offer a very pleasant walk to Wheatcroft but there is one spot where the path invisibly crosses a cropped field, the plot is good so stick with it. It's a climb along a green lane into the hamlet of Wheatcroft and the ascent continues on the road of departure. If you don't need a break at Tansley then the view from Riber is well worth including so I suggest heading west along the road then a direct footpath off Carr Lane. On the Slow Way the path becomes well walked dropping into Tansley where it passes the inn but this takes us on a narrow pavement alongside a busy road. The path from the road climbs to Riber across pasture and while views of the turreted castle had been inviting since Wheatcroft it's now hiding behind trees. Sit on the grass or a little further down a bench and pick out landmarks known or perhaps new before making the steep descent and a walk through the old town, Matlock Green and across the park missing the final yards of this Slow Way unless you have a train to catch....
Ken
I walked this route from Alfreton northwards in June. I found it very enjoyable and no particular problems....
StephenWalker
The route leaves on quiet pavements before taking to the footpath around the school field. The footpath from the A610 underpass up to Wood Street was muddy and steeply uphill (in places), but there was firm ground available alongside....
StephenWalker
After crossing the railway approaching Pinxton it uses a path that is on the ground and is well used but not on the map....
Ken
The path parallel to the road climbing from the station to South Normanton was pretty muddy on the day I walked it. The Alfsou1 route is longer and very wet in places....
StephenWalker
The first section through Cotes Park is well defined but not very uplifting (except for the Cotes Ponds and wood)....
StephenWalker
Work continues on the restoration of Wingfield station claimed to be the oldest surviving railway station building in the world, trains no longer stop here. The path passes under the line by a bridge just wide enough for those on foot showing there was a footpath here when the railway was built in 1840. A new development expanding Crich comes into view and the stream crossing here is not on the correct line so cross the bridge and head for the track then left you may not even notice you are off the plot....
Ken
(Use the footway on the south side of the road at the 50 MPH sign take the track that runs just south of the road only divided from the traffic by a hedge. Seats suggest this is an official path)....
Ken
Much the same as route one because there is little choice but to use the path through the wooded area to head south. A section of wider track then back to narrow path through woodland planted on former open cast coal mining, long gone. Potential for cattle and stiles that are really low fences but it's great to be in open fields....
Ken
Leaving Ripley the route takes an off road route through a park but it can be wet and the path muddy, so Butterley Hill might be worth considering after rain. After crossing the heritage railway the route is back into fields again these can be muddy and the walked path may not be on the plotted line....
Ken
This was a good route that we took as the third leg of a long circular walk that started in Alfreton onto Matlock then into Crich. The directions were clear and easy to follow, the usual care needed as sometimes the paths are not always clear....
Dave Nash
This a good route that we took as the first leg of a longer circular walk: Alfreton - Matlock, Matlock - Crich, Crich - Alfreton. Our start was from the Travelodge in Alfreton so was just slightly longer than the 10 miles....
Dave Nash
A section of wider track then back to narrow path through woodland planted on former open cast coal mining, long gone. I looked for an alternative route out but the path used here is really the only option to head south. Potential for cattle and stiles that are really low fences but it's great to be in open fields....
Ken
Definitive paths are obstructed across Smotherfly open cast site which was not reinstated....
Ken
I've tried to find inviting pictures but generally this was a walk in some open countryside but along fenced paths....
Ken
It's not because stiles, uneven surface and long section of enclosed unfriendly paths make section unpleasant....
Ken
Slow Ways added Alfsou one, a new walk from Alfreton to South Normanton
Walk this routeSlow Ways added Alfsou two, a new walk from Alfreton to South Normanton
Walk this routeSlow Ways added Claalf one, a new walk from Clay Cross to Alfreton
Walk this route
Alfreton’s Slow Ways starting point
Grid ref
SK4112555567
Lat / Lon
53.09575° / -1.38731°
Easting / Northing
441,125E / 355,567N
what3words
Fancy stretching your legs a bit more?
If you’ve polished off all of the routes between Alfreton and its neighbours, how about walking its whole web?
This includes the great ring of routes that join its neighbours to each other!
Facilities
Users have reported that the following facilities can be found within 1km of Alfreton's meeting point
Public toilet
Wheelchair accessible toilet
Supermarket or convenience shop
Restaurant, cafe or pub
Accommodation
Accommodation for under £50 a night
Campsite
Bothy
Free wifi
Mobility scooter hire
Off-road wheelchair hire
Disabled Parking
Train station
Bus stop
Ferry
Official ‘Walkers are Welcome’ town
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