Ripley is a stunning village 10 mins away with a beautiful ice cream shop and village store serving: coffees, breakfast hot sandwiches, home made pies, cakes and old fashioned sweets.
Walk with the church on your left – carry straight on down Hollybank lane( keeping the castle on your right). The loop is pretty obvious, there are often other people walking dogs there. Use ‘Myfootpathmap which will show you the various options of routes.
Ripley Castle itself is a very well organised estate, with a tea room, pub, delicatessen and a stunning walk around the whole estate (who don’t need to pay to go in to do the walk).
Dogs cannot go into the grounds but they can go in the tea room and pub. The tea rooms are opens 8am and closes 4pm. The pub opens 8am for breakfast.
https://www.ripleycastle.co.uk/visitor-info/
Here is a 9 mile route option
Below is a photo of how to start the shortest route (there are multiple ways to finish the walk)
