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 ...
There's a couple of thatched cottages beyond Goose Green or it might be one long one ...
The path beyond the cottages leads towards Chatsworth Park ...
... and the Cannon Kissing Gate ...
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 ...
You reach the River Derwent just beyond the cricket ground ...
On this particular walk a couple of years ago you would have been able to see one of Laura Ellen Bacon's sculptures ...
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 ...
Our way wasn't southward though so we turned back on ourselves and walked north ...
I think these are horse jumps ...
We were walking towards the Jubilee Rock [formerly the Elephant Stone] ...
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 ...
We followed a track between silver birches and below looming rocks towards Robin Hood ...
The water in Heathy Lee Brook is always brown ...
Cross the A619 and follow the path towards Sheffield Road ...
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 ...
We turned left at Toll Bar Cottage ...
... 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 ?
We took the footpath on our right then, aiming for Raddowhole Plantation ...
Moisture is always seeping out of the hillside in parts of the wood and certain damp-loving plants can usually be found ...
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 ...
Eventually though the path settles down and the rest of the path is easier to follow ... and enjoy ...
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
