I have decided to walk the whole of the Cromford Canal ... or what remains of it as it is disused and unusable in some parts. The first few miles are fine though ...
Starting at Cromford Wharf car park [where a fee is payble] there's a tearoom here and toilets ...
... and some of the original buildings ...
Within, what, half a mile of the start of the canal there's an attractive stone bridge where some of my schoolfriends used to miss out a lap during cross country runs ...
I could name names ...
These photographs were taken right at the beginning of May and the leaves still have that springtime freshness ...
I reached the buildngs of High Peak Junction but unfortunately some of them were shrouded in sheeting but looking back you can see how quiet the canal was that day ...
I reached Leawood Pump House which still works and which opens so many weekends a year.
There's plenty of information about it, here ... http://www.middleton-leawood.org.uk/
I'm being lazy, I know. However, I can confirm it is an interesting place to visit, though I would hate to keep all the machinery clean and polished.
Just beyond the pump house the Nightingale arm of the canal runs away towards John Smedley's factory. Just beyond the junction of the Nightingale arm and the canal proper there are signs of the canal getting silted up ...
In the photo above you can see the bluebells in Lea Wood. On my side of the canal other plants were in flower, such as wild garlic ...
and butterbur ...
As I came to Gregory Tunnel I spotted a long tailed tit's nest in a bramble at head height right beside the canal. I have a photograph but it's not a good one. It seemed strange that the nest had been built just literally out of arm's reach in such a busy place. Perhaps when the leaves came out a bit more then the nest wouldn't be so visible.
I walked through the tunnel ...
Primroses were out too ...
I left the canal at the tunnel and crossed the River Derwent and passed under the railway line to come out on the A6 at Homesford Cottage. The pub there has now closed and I dare say it will never open again ...
Just beyond the pub I turned sharp left up a path that rises towards Longway Bank and from there [using a concessionary path in the wood] I reached Intake Lane.
It was thereabouts that I spotted a Midshires Way waymark ...
Intake Lane passes under the High Peak Trail on the edge of Cromford village ...
From there I descended into the village, crossed the A6 and got back to my car.
You can see the route I followed on the OS Explore website, here :~ http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/19521
Date of walk ~ 2nd May 2010
Length of walk ~ 5 1/2 miles
Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 124.75 miles
Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 124.75 miles
Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 254.75 miles
23 of 2010
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