Wednesday 8 May 2013

Baslow, Chatsworth Park and Raddowhole Plantation ...

Get there early enough and you can park near the grass triangle at the top of Eaton Hill in Baslow and walk down to Goose Green. The green looks delightful in the early Spring sunshine ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 There's a couple of thatched cottages beyond Goose Green or it might be one long one ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

The path beyond the cottages leads towards Chatsworth Park ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

... and the Cannon Kissing Gate ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

According to the sign beside the kissing gate not only does it allow walkers to pass through the wall but people in wheelchairs too. It was inspired by a Mrs. Jill Cannon and opened in 1999.

A path leads from the kissing gate through the parkland ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 You reach the River Derwent just beyond the cricket ground ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 On this particular walk a couple of years ago you would have been able to see one of Laura Ellen Bacon's sculptures ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 Once we'd reached Chatsworth Bridge we stood and gazed along the Derwent and the park beyond. All was green and grey ... or shades thereof ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 Our way wasn't southward though so we turned back on ourselves and walked north ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

  I think these are horse jumps ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 We were walking towards the Jubilee Rock [formerly the Elephant Stone] ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

The Jubilee that the stone marks is the 50th year of the reign of Queen Victoria. The carving was the work of Lieutenant Colonel E.M.Wrench who became a doctor in Baslow in 1862. You can see his initials in the bottom right of the photo below ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 We followed a track between silver birches and below looming rocks towards Robin Hood ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ... 

 The water in Heathy Lee Brook is always brown ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...
  
Cross the A619 and follow the path towards Sheffield Road ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

   After 15 or 20 minutes [depending on how fast you walk] you'll get a view of Baslow Edge though the Wellington Monument isn't visible in the photo below ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 We turned left at Toll Bar Cottage ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 ... and walked down Sheffield Road for a short distance. At the roadside is this interesting stone which has some wording carved in it. Not sure what they are or even what the stone was ... a boundary stone perhaps ?

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

We took the footpath on our right then, aiming for Raddowhole Plantation ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...


Moisture is always seeping out of the hillside in parts of the wood and certain damp-loving plants can usually be found ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

It's so damp that in a couple of places the path is very boggy. Trees fall from time to time because the soil sits on shale ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 Eventually though the path settles down and the rest of the path is easier to follow ... and enjoy ...

A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

 A walk from Baslow to Chatsworth and Robin Hood ...

This walk was followed on the 22nd April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 6.23 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 129.12 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 18th April 2011 ~ 657.17 miles

  28 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just over 4.6 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

8 comments:

  1. A really enjoyable walk Charlie,with lots of interesting features as usual.I love the flowers they look like Coltsfoot to me.A beautiful spring day lovely to see the bluebells.Ann

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    1. Thank you Ann ~ we need a few more nice Spring days. Today it's windy and slightly damp in Derbyshire.

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  2. A wonderful walk Charlie, with so many interesting things to see. I really like those little thatched cottages. Greta to see one of Laura Bacon's unique sculptures there. Your shots along the Derwent, with the trees reflected in the water are beautiful.

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    1. Thank you for your kind comments Mitch ~ I thinbk my favourite photo is the fifth one down. My Beloved being dwarfed by the tree ...

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  3. You are so very fortunate to live in such a wonderful part of the world, Charlie. To have such a combination of beauty, history, natural history ... simply lovely. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Yes, I count my blessings Pet. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else ... I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

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  5. Mind you, it's rather beautiful in my neck of the woods ... I wish you could hear the foghorn singing along right now ... and the dripping rain ... and see the fog. It's lovely. (Although park me in some sort of a Tudor setting and I'd be there forever ...)

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  6. Lovely pics of a lovely time of year. I like the tree over the Jubilee Stone. I think we might have some Laura Ellen Bacon sculptures here. Or is it where the river overflowed?

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