A Derwent Valley Round

Saturday 9th April 2022

Spring last year I caught a train to the town of Matlock, just outside the Peak District to do a walk around the valley just to the south of the town. My guide for this walk came from the Derbyshire County Council website where leaflets can be found on walks in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. The third leaflet describes four walks between Cromford and Matlock, but since they are each no more than three miles long I linked some of them together to create a fantastic walk through some stunning scenery and past some gorgeous woodland vegetation. On reaching the railway station in Matlock I started to climb out of the town initially on the route of the Limestone Way, but soon branched off to head south keeping the Derwent Valley to my left. It wasn’t long before I was enveloped by trees with a gorgeous covering of woodland flowers at my feet while limestone cliffs lined the hillside. Bluebells had already begun to appear and I enthusiastically took in the sight of this wonderful flower while trying to not ignore the celandines and wood anemones that were glowing at the peak of their season. A magical path led me through this delight above the noise of the vehicles on the A6 road at the bottom of the valley, but I had eyes only on the wildflowers that covered the woodland floor.

The path led me across the hillside below Shining Cliff and onto a lane that provides access to Masson Farm which the leaflet directed me to pass close by, but I wanted to stay on the edge of the valley so at a junction I turned left to head below the cable car for the Heights of Abraham. Soon I emerged onto the narrow, steep streets above Matlock Bath, which I negotiated until I came upon a path that climbed steeply up the hillside through banks covered in wood anemones and past old mine workings. At the top of the path I turned left to head slowly back down the hill through woodland covered in dog’s mercury and finally reached the road on the outskirts of Cromford. Although I was now back on the route of my guidebook, I ignored it again to continue heading south, however initially I headed west through a delightful valley that was only partly marred by the Via Gellia Road that runs through the middle of it. Eventually I started to climb steeply through Slinter Wood emerging on the edge of some quarry workings. A path took me around the hillside and through fields that were part of a nature reserve and provided me with a beautiful display of wildflowers, especially celandines, and stunning views down into the valley, but all too soon I came upon the entrance to a large Quarry.

My objective was to visit Black Rocks, but first I had to walk alongside the B5036 road until I reached a wood on the left that provided me with a direct route up to the car park for Black Rocks with the High Peak Trail running past it. I walked along this old railway line in 2017, but failed to visit the actual Black Rock. Two years later I did a walk inspired by the second leaflet available from the Derbyshire County Council website and visited the summit that overlooks the Black Rock but again I failed to visit the actual weathered outcrop. Therefore, I now eagerly made my way up the steep, stony slope where the huge rock dominated my view under clear blue skies. I was mesmerised and kicking myself for not having properly visited Black Rocks earlier. Slowly, I climbed the hillside below the outcrop, in awe of the view up to the rock, and then after walking past and around it, I climbed onto the top of the rock to admire the stunning views. Cromford and the Derwent Valley looked amazing, but the open quarries to the left rather spoilt the view, so I tried to focus on the valley and ignore the scars. Eventually I tore myself away from the views and continued the climb behind up the hillside until eventually I reached the edge of Cromford Moor where I had walked in 2019, though in overcast weather.

After eating my lunch I slowly made my way down the hillside eventually dropping onto the High Peak Trail and steeply down to reach Highpeak Junction where the old railway connected with the canal and existing railway. Now I crossed the valley, over the River Derwent, and up into Bow Wood whose floor was not as colourful as I had found on the western bank of the valley earlier in the walk. On reaching Hearthstone Lane I followed this old track back onto the route of the council leaflet through less interesting, more open terrain, with Riber Castle now slowly beginning to dominate the view ahead of me. As the skies overhead began to thicken I stuck to my guidebook, walking along Hearthstone Lane before branching off towards the picturesque village of Riber and then steeply down the hill, below the castle, and through the village of Starkholmes. Dark clouds were now overhead and Matlock Bath was ahead of me, but to my right were the steep slopes of High Tor whose ascent I could not resist despite the heavy rain that began to fall just as I started. The rain was short-lived and by the time I reached the top the sun had come out although everywhere was now wet from the drenching.

From the precipitous cliffs at the top of High Tor I had stunning views across the Derwent Valley, although the bottom of the valley was hidden far below. With my mind on the time of the next train, I quickly made my way down the hill, around Pic Tor, which I would have loved to have visited, but I didn’t have the time, and through Hall Leys Park back to the railway station. This was an amazing walk that stayed in my memory for many months afterwards. The weather for most of the day was brilliant but the highlight of the walk, without doubt, was the woodland flowers in the woodland on the western bank of the valley. These short-lived displays each year are always eagerly appreciated and I love to see them year after year. The woodland in the Derwent Valley was fabulous and I am sure they will be drawing me back this spring.

A walk around Warwick

Monday 2nd January 2023

While staying near Stratford-upon-Avon I thought I’d visit Warwick, which is a town that on my walk the previous Saturday, two days before, I had originally planned to include but worsening weather had convinced me to stay in Leamington Spa, so I was keen to explore the medieval county town of Warwickshire. I left the Stratford-upon-Avon Youth Hostel early in the morning and as the sun began to rise over the Cotswolds I walked into Stratford and caught a bus to Warwick taking advantage of the new bus fare cap of £2. In Warwick I got off the bus beside the entrance to the castle and walked past St Nicholas’ Park to Castle Bridge where I had tremendous views down the river and towards Warwick Castle. I was going to use a guidebook for walking around Warwick that I had gathered from the discoveringbritain.org website which describes this as ‘the finest view in England’, though I would dispute that as there are not enough natural elements for my taste. Nevertheless, I took loads of pictures before eventually continuing down the road and turned right into the narrow medieval road of Bridge End. As the name suggests there used to be a bridge at the end of this road where timber-framed buildings loomed over the street and gives you an idea what a medieval street would have been like. Returning to the bridge I stopped again to take in the view of the castle down the river before moving on past the Castle Gateway and into Mill Street.

This street led me past more medieval timber-framed buildings to the end of the street, on the other side of the old bridge and below the castle walls whose towers soared impressively above me. After returning back along Mill Street I passed through the Castle Gateway and up the grand drive that has been cut through the local sandstone which has given it a haunting and sheltered atmosphere. At the locked gates to the castle I turned up to the main entrance, but I had no intention of going in as that would have swallowed up the whole day and I wanted to do some walking. My guidebook took me onto Castle Lane and then Castle Street following the castle walls round until finally I turned right along Leycester Place to reveal the Westgate and the splendidly medieval Lord Leycester Hospital. It was fascinating seeing the medieval gate with the roadway cut through the natural stone and the old hospital that was actually a home for retired servicemen, which was a grand building, but is currently closed for renovation. My guidebook took me up and down the steep road several times to admire the buildings until finally I passed through the Westgate and after a thwarted attempt to visit the Victorian gardens of Hill Close I made my way back up the hill and to the market place.

I was now in newer parts of Warwick where a great fire in 1694 had destroyed much of the medieval town and had resulted in a many new buildings now built to a much higher standard. Firstly I attempted to enter the Market Hall, now the county museum, but this was also closed, which I was finding for many buildings on this walk, not because it was a bank holiday, but simply because they routinely close on Mondays. The guidebook now took me through wide streets with typical Georgian houses before taking me past a narrower street with typical Victorian townhouses such as you find in many industrial cities throughout England. Of more interest to me was when I was taken into Priory Park that after the dissolution of the monasteries became a Tudor country house only to be finally demolished, taken to America and re-erected in Richmond, Virginia. This has left behind a lovely park of woodland and steep ground that encouraged me to disobey my guidebook and explore the park, down the steep slopes and back up to enjoy walking through the trees. Finally I left the park and passed by St Mary’s Church on my way through the town centre.

The town of Warwick was originally built on top of a hill so I often had to climb up and down hills such as at the Westgate and now as I descended past the Eastgate to the end of the guidebook. This was an entertaining walk even though it was cold which had kept me in hat, scarf and gloves all morning. By lunchtime the sunshine had finally warmed the day so I made my way to St Nicholas’ Park and started to follow the Rivers and Canal Walks leaflet that I had obtained from the visitwarwick.co.uk website and I had intended on doing on the previous Saturday. This took me beside the River Avon and once I left the park on muddy paths past the railway line until eventually I reached the Grand Union Canal where I climbed up to the aqueduct and started to walk beside the canal. This was a pleasant walk in the sunshine around Warwick until eventually on the western edge of the town I climbed away from the canal and crossed the railway line into Diamond Jubilee Wood. The directions didn’t have me linger in the wood, but I changed that by keeping to the edge of the railway before turning south across a racecourse, which fortunately wasn’t in use, but then I entered a golf course. However, the route that I had picked didn’t cross any of the fairways so I was able to safely pass through and back out across the racecourse. On re-entering the town I immediately headed for the bus station but when I got there I discovered that the next bus was not for another hour.

The good weather and interesting town walk made this a very enjoyable day but now I had an hour to fill so I wandered back to the castle entrance where I saw loads of people walking down a lovely tree-lined path so I decided to follow them. This was an interesting walk through the trees so I was disappointed when I eventually reached the end and all I found was a large field full of cars. Where else would people be going but the car park?! Undaunted I retraced my steps along the path, just outside the castle gardens, back to the main entrance and after admiring the sunken driveway again I meandered back through the medieval town of Warwick once again and waited for a bus to take me back to Stratford.

A walk around Stratford-upon-Avon

Sunday 1st January 2023 (and Tuesday 3rd January 2023)

After heavy rain the evening before, it was wonderful to wake up in the new year to find blue skies and sunshine, so eagerly I left the Stratford-upon-Avon Youth Hostel and walked down the road into the town. This is a place that I can’t remember visiting before so I was looking forward to going around it and hopefully doing a good walk at the same time. My guide for this walk was provided by the YHA whose website for the hostel has information on walks to do in the area and this one, entitled “Shakespeare’s Town”, took me down to the River Avon where I had tremendous views across the swollen river, but I felt the views were rather marred by an enormous red brick building that looked like a factory. I was disappointed by this scar on the landscape, however I was later embarrassed to discover that it is actually the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. I had crossed the old tramway bridge to enjoy the views in the early morning sunshine, but my directions told me to walk beside the river, so I returned across the bridge and walking through the wide grassy area of the Recreation Ground I followed the river, enjoying the views while the bells of Holy Trinity Church rang out, which reminded me that it was Sunday. At five to ten the bells stopped ringing and I continued walking beside the river past some weirs and an old mill.

After leaving the Recreation Ground and passing under a road bridge, the path quickly deteriorated becoming very muddy, but when I checked my route I realised that I should have crossed the river at the bridge, so I hastily retreated and hoped for better conditions underfoot on the other bank. When I found a tarmac path I was ecstatic and hopped along enjoying the good path but all too soon this ended and this path also became muddy. Slowly, I made my way beside the river with arable fields to my left as I headed out of the town eventually passing underneath an old railway bridge where the path was very wet and slippery, so I was thankful when the path emerged onto a grassy field where I was able to wipe the accumulated mud off my shoes. At the far end of the field I crossed a stream, Shottery Brook, and left the river to climb up to a side street, which led me along other roads to a housing development. A consequence of the building work was that the path I wanted, beside the Shottery Brook, was closed, so I had to take a diversion onto Hathaway Lane and Gainsborough Road before I could reach Hogarth Road at the northern end of the closed path. Quiet lanes brought me from there to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage where William Shakespeare courted his bride-to-be.

Unfortunately the house was closed for winter and I couldn’t see it, so I turned around and headed past several schools and colleges into the town centre. At that point I abandoned the directions provided by the YHA and instead I started using an “Official Historic Walking Guide” from the visit Stratford-upon-Avon website. This starts by the swan fountain in Bancroft Gardens, just outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, so I made my way back through the town to where I had been at the beginning of the day. The contrast was significant as there were now many more people and the early morning sunshine that I had previously enjoyed was no more only to be replaced by overcast skies. Undeterred, I set off on the historic walk that took me past many old, half-timbered buildings, until I reached Holy Trinity Church where I diverted off the route to have a walk around Avonbank Gardens before continuing along the prescribed route that took me back into the town centre to the very old looking building that is Shakespeare’s birthplace. This was an interesting walk from a historical point of view and ended with a pleasant stroll along the Stratford Canal, which was striking for its narrow locks, and brought me back to Bancroft Basin and the River Avon. Having done the Historic Walk I then proceeded to do the River Walk, which took me past the huge red brick Royal Shakespeare Theatre and through Avonbank Gardens to Holy Trinity Church, which was sadly not open so I couldn’t visit the grave of Shakespeare.

From there I crossed the river on the same bridge that I’d used earlier in the day and re-entered the Recreation Ground where there was considerably more people than there had been at the start of the day. With overcast skies overhead I walked through the park and back over the Tramway Bridge to my starting point. Although I now headed back to the youth hostel it was still quite early, even at this time of the year, with about an hour’s daylight left, so I decided I would do another one of the walks listed on the YHA website. This was an easy walk that took me around the village of Alveston including a visit to the River Avon and by the time I was returning to the hostel the light was beginning to fail. The walking this day was an interesting way to spend my New Year’s Day though I didn’t like the muddy bits. The weather was great in the morning and though it clouded over in the afternoon that didn’t spoil things. Two days later I thought I’d do the third walk listed on the YHA website, which initially took me along quiet lanes east of Stratford before ending up back in the town centre where, after a short spell on the canal, I headed north along a lane out of Stratford. Unfortunately, the weather was now not great with low clouds and a brisk wind, and by the time I was walking out of Stratford it was raining. The views that I had enjoyed earlier in the day east to the Cotswolds were now gone as I slowly climbed the hill and entered the Welcombe Hills Country Park. Despite the rain though, it was quite pleasant walking through the woodland but it was far too small.

At a junction I could see an imperceptible rise to the highest point in the Welcombe Hills, but there was nothing there worth visiting, so I turned right and headed towards a tall obelisk that is an impressive structure and stands out in the landscape though the person it honours is known to few people these days. On my walk back down the hill the rain became very heavy and where the ground steepened it was very muddy so keeping upright was very difficult. Eventually I came down out of the Welcombe Hills and after passing through Rowley Fields I left the muddy footpaths behind and reached the safety of a road that took me back into Stratford. The weather had worsened so much I decided to just return to the youth hostel and head straight home. I had planned other walks in the area, but it wasn’t worth it. It was enjoyable having a chance to explore Stratford-upon-Avon as it was a town that I had never visited before and though this wasn’t the most strenuous walk possible it was a great way to welcome in the New Year.

A walk around Royal Leamington Spa

Saturday 31st December 2022

After some poor weather over Christmas that prevented me from doing much walking, I wanted to get away for the New Year weekend and rather than travel too far I picked somewhere close to home: Warwickshire, so to start I drove down the M69 motorway and parked at the Newbold Comyn Country Park to the east of Royal Leamington Spa. The car park seemed to be full but I managed to find a spot and as I walked past the sports facilities I was passed by many people who had just been for a run around the park and were seemingly the reason why there had been so many cars in the car park. I didn’t have a definite route plan for this walk and with the weather forecast to worsen I was reluctant to go far. After passing all the people doing the Leamington parkrun I branched off into woodland and onto muddy paths through the Leam Valley Nature Reserve, though the overcast weather and lack of vegetation wasn’t inspiring me to do much walking. I had even contemplated not walking anywhere this day as I really didn’t feel like it, but I did start walking through an area that I’d never done any walking in before, so despite the weather I kept going and with no clear idea where I was going. Eventually I came to a hide beside some ponds next to the river, but this was clearly a dead-end and I was nowhere near a right-of-way so I doubled back along wider paths beside the woodland edge until eventually I came to a public footpath that took me out of the park and across the River Leam.

I was now following the route of a walk that I had found on the walkingbritain.co.uk website, which took me through Offchurch Bury Park and the rain that was briefly falling at this point into the village of Offchurch. The rain stopped before I reached the village and after crossing a couple of muddy fields I was fed up with walking through mud, so it was a relief to come across the firm surface of an old railway line that is now known as the Offchurch Greenway. This was a delightful walk until I reached an impressive viaduct over the Grand Union Canal, which the Greenway doesn’t continue over so I dropped down onto the towpath beside the canal and followed that past the Leam Valley Nature Reserve with the river down a steep bank to my right. After passing the ponds that I had seen earlier and the rest of the reserve, I soon entered the town of Royal Leamington Spa left and abandoned the route from walkingbritain.co.uk just as it started to rain again. While searching for a toilet, I headed into the town centre and eventually found myself at the Royal Pump Rooms where, after using their facilities, I took a look around the museum to learn about the treatments that used to be taken in this building with the town’s healing waters.

Once the rain had stopped again I returned to the canal and resumed my walk along the towpath. My original plan had been to keep going beside the canal all the way into the neighbouring town of Warwick, but with heavy rain forecast I decided it would be best to cut the walk short, so immediately after crossing the railway line I took a path that heads back into Leamington beside the River Leam. After walking through Victoria Park I crossed the river into Pump Room Gardens, briefly stopping at the Pump Rooms again, before continuing the riverside walk through Jephson Gardens where a twin set of fountains was a lovely centrepiece to the park. I was not enthused by this walk and really just wanted something relaxing and Leamington Spa was certainly providing me with that as I slowly passed through the park, beside the river, into woodland on muddy paths that led me past Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre and eventually brought me back to my car just as it started to rain. With the poor weather and my lack of enthusiasm, this was never going to be a great walk, especially as it was cut short but it was good to be outside and to have a chance to explore a place that I had never visited before and I was not too bothered to finish the walk early.