A lucky break in the stormy weather saw the Sutton-in-Ashfield Ramblers walking from Hathersage to Calver via Bretton Clough, Eyam, Stoney Middleton, Deep Rake and Coombs Dale. The walk was quite challenging for some, due to heavy mud and steep climbs, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the views were really stunning.
We began the walk at Hathersage, following the main road down to the bridge over the River Derwent.
Here is a view of the Derwent from the bridge, looking upstream.
Once over the bridge, we turned right and followed the river upstream
for a short distance before climbing up the side of the valley towards
Mount Pleasant Farm.
There were excellent views back down the valley towards Hathersage for some distance.
We met our first deep mud near the top of the climb.
We crossed the road from Hathersage to Great Hucklow and descended towards Dunge Brook through some woodland.
We crossed Dunge Brook and climbed the other side of the valley towards Highlow Hall. Gallow Farm was high up on the other side of the valley.
This is the view down Dunge Brook towards Hathersage.
Highlow Hall looked very grand, perched on top of a hill.
We descended a muddy track towards Highlow Brook.
We crossed Highlow Brook and a smaller side stream on two closely sited footbridges.
As we climbed the other side, we had a fine view up the valley towards Abney
We climbed gradually up through woody slopes. The going was very difficult in places due to the slippery conditions. We finally came out of the woodland before turning into Bretton Clough. This view is looking back towards Hathersage again.
Around the corner was a view up Bretton Clough, which we would follow for a while.
There was a clear view of Abney Low across the valley.
Further on, there were views across Abney Moor
We reached the Sir John Hill Road near Bretton and turned east. The mast and hill top were far more visible than the last time I came this way in the Summer.
Looking back from near the summit, towards Abney Moor and Great Hucklow. One of our group was still smiling, despite the mud and arduous climbs!
Looking south west over Eyam Edge, there were more long views across the countryside.
We descended to Eyam. I went up to Eyam Hall to get this view of the village stocks, with the Hall in the background.
Also, a view of the church from the main road.
After a brief stop in Eyam, we headed up into the hills again, passing the Boundary Stone, where money was exchanged during the Great Plague.
We crossed over the hill, walking south eastwards towards Stoney Middleton, seen here below.
The old toll house in the village is now a fish and chip shop, sadly not open when we passed by.
Directly opposite, we climbed steeply up the lane towards Middleton Moor, before turning south west towards Coombs Dale. It was beautifully sunny. We had fine views to the east, towards the Derwent Valley.
The descent into Coombs Dale was very steep and slippery, but we all survived!
In Coombs Dale, the bare trees enabled us to see much more of the valley than when we passed down it in the Summer. We walked a short way up the Dale this time.
We then turned into a small side valley towards Bleaklow.
At the top of the climb is the remains of an ancient boundary, formed of a double dyke.
The sun was going down by now, so photography got a little tricky. This is a view south east towards Chatsworth.
Finally, Curbar came into view, with Baslow Edge beyond.
In Curbar, we passed through the old village, before catching the coach home.
This was a great walk with stunning views and beautiful weather. Many thanks again to the Sutton-in-Ashfield Ramblers for organising such a wonderful walk.
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