A walk in the countryside to the east of Holymoorside ...

North-east of Darley Dale, between the moorland and Chesterfield, the village of Holymoorside is a good starting point for a walk in the countryside between the village and the outskirts of Chesterfield.

I parked near the Bull's Head and walked towards Chesterfield along Holymoor Road ... 

There's a well used path through the fields though and I was soon following this ...

This forms part of the South Chesterfield Way ...

When I was there a couple of years or so ago the footpath had oil seed rape on both sides ...

 

The boundary of the parish has been marked by eight boundary stones, one of them pictured here ...

 

I don't know to what 'Low Years' relates ! Is it the name of the area ?

 I was following the path in the Hipper Valley ...

 

... and soon a pair of Canada Geese with six goslings passed me by ...

 

A coot gave me a glance from private property ...

 

At the end of Walton Dam the route I was following did an 180 degree turn [or thereabouts] through the houses and gardens north of Matlock Road ...

  

For the next half a mile or so my route passed between garden fences too ... 

 

Eventually I reached Matlock Road along which I have travelled for over 60 years I suppose though I have never crossed it in this way ...

 

I had seen the odd walker following the path south and away from the road though. Now I was doing the same ...

 

This path ran through and along the edge of the Chesterfield Golf Course where I was warned to 'Beware' ... 

 

A wide path proceeded into Walton Wood ... with hardly anyone about.

 

... where waymarking was probably superfluous ...

 

On the south-western side of the wood I was greeted by aromatic wild honeysuckle and a tree-topped hill ...

 

It was at this point that I walked north-westwards inside the woodland ...

 

... the owner of the private woodland made it clear what you could [and couldn't] do on the public footpaths !

 

Hopefully I reached Matlock Road without being in breach of the law. I crossed the road to the north-east of Walton Lodge, walking through the fields ...

 

After some road walking I picked up another footpath on the eastern side of Holymoorside to bring me back into the village.

I found a seat in the churchyard, made friends with a cat and sat enjoying a slightly stewed cup of coffee which had been in my flask for far too long.

This walk was followed on the 28th May 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 5.96 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 204.94 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 28th May 2011 ~ 726.68 miles

  45 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was still averaging just over 4.5 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

The Cundy Graves ...

Park at Calver in front of Curbar Primary School and there are a number of walks available to you. This one leads you to the Cundy Graves.

Cross the River Derwent with Calver Mill on your right before taking the riverside path to pass under the main road, the A623. A short distance later and you're heading out into the countryside ...

 

The path stays beside the river for two hundred yards or so ...

 




The path leaves the river on the edge of St. Mary's Wood ...



 The path becomes a quiet lane and leads towards Bubnell where the aubrieta hangs from a garden wall ...



On the other side of the River Derwent from Bubnell is Baslow with St. Anne's Church standing beside the river ...



Parts of the church, mainly the tower and spire, are 13th century ...



Follow Bar Road as it climbs steeply in a north-easterly direction out of Baslow ...



By Lady Wall Well take the bridleway northwards but cast your eye half-left towards Bramley Wood on the horizon. On the Chatsworth land there [I assume it's Chatsworth land] is an 'E' and an 'R' [Elizabeth Regina] made out of trees ...



 Type 'Bramley Ln Derbyshire DE45' into Google Maps and zoom in on the pair of oblong plantations that should be visible ... you'll get a better image than the one above !

In the next picture as we walk up the bridleway you can just see the 'R' below the horizon to the left ...



The bridleway rises steadily towards Baslow Edge ...

  
In the bracken below Baslow Edge two paths 'kiss' ... as you can see on the Peak & Northern footpath signpost No. 311 ...






Choose the lower of the two rights of way. Just before the bridleway leaves the moorland you may spot the Cundy Graves ...

 

It was here in the middle of the 17th century that the remains of Thomas Cundy, his wife Ada and their children Olive, Nellie and Thomas were buried. You can see some of the initials on the stones above. The most obvious pair being  'MC' ! Perhaps someone mixed up 'M' and 'N'. They lived at Grislow Field a quarter of a mile away.

Nearby a plaque marks their gravestones ...



Their bodies have laid in this unconsecrated ground for 381 years. 

Fork left off the moor and you'll walk past a late 18th century lock-up in the bottom of someone's garden ...







Continue on the path before turning sharp right to reach a small wood which at this time of the year is full of celandines ...



 In the centre of Curbar village there's an unusual covered well or trough ...



  The last feature of note on this four and a half mile walk is Calver Mill. Now private apartments, the building [according to Wikipedia] was "an historic cotton mill opened in 1778 by John Gardom of Bakewell and John Pares of Leicester in place of a corn mill leased from Thomas Eyre of Hassop."

  This walk was followed on the 10th April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 4.39 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 105.82 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 8th April 2011 ~ 633.87 miles

  24 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just under 4.41 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

A reminder of what the weather should be like at this time of year ...

A couple of years ago on the 1st April 2011 my grandson Benjamin and I did a short walk beside the River Derwent ten miles or so north of Darley Dale. The 1st April is just eight days away and two years ago this is what we saw. Note: there was no snow.

When I park near Curbar School and head north the first thing that invariably catches my eye is this 1930s roadsign ... 

  
How do I know it's a 1930s roadsign ? Am I an expert on roadsigns I hear you say ... well, no, the date is on the post ...

 

The River Derwent is always interesting hereabouts ...

 

Benjamin was fascinated ...

 

No, really ... he was.

One of the rewarding aspects of walking in this area is seeing the work that has been done on Calver Mill Weir during the last few years ...




  



The view downstream from New Bridge towards Curbar and Baslow Edges ...

  

After carefully crossing the road at New Bridge we continued up the eastern side of the River Derwent ...



... where the daffodils were in flower ...

 

We reached Froggatt Bridge with its distinctive arch ...

 

 Froggatt Edge rises above the village of Froggatt.



  We stopped for a coffee here ... me and my cool grandson ...



  Duly satisfied we started walking back to New Bridge and Calver ...



  The steps down off the bridge have had a lot of use over the years.



  We were now on the western side of the River Derwent ...



  On this side of the river there are open fields rather than a series of long gardens leading up to the pricey houses of Curbar ...



 Then we encountered a mystery, a small mystery, but a mystery all the same. It looks like some sort of fungus on a tree ...



  Any ideas what it is anyone ?

A Canada Goose swam towards us ...



  The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had been cutting willow and creating a number of habitat piles ...




  Having done a bit of voluntary work in the countryside over the years it gives me quite a thrill to see a habitat pile.

As we walked alongside the Derwent on our left a sign brought us back to earth ... "Better watch ourselves in this field Benjamin ..."



This walk was followed on the 1st April 2011
 
Length of stroll ~ 2.60 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 93.09 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 21st March 2011 ~ 621.14 miles

  21 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just 4.43 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap