The Sutton Ramblers were doing a walk east of Ashbourne today, beginning at Hulland Ward. I decided this would make a great starting point for a walk of my own, covering a few places I had never done before like Kirk Ireton, Alport Height and Shining Cliff Wood, just west of Ambergate. I had not planned my route east of Ambergate, but know this area very well, so decided to sort this as I went along. In the end, I followed the route of the Cromford canal from Bull Bridge to Ironville. I then walked the route of the Pinxton Canal to Pinxton.
Heavy showers, intermingled with brief periods of glorious sunshine made things difficult for much of the way. Some of the paths were very slippery with mud. Other parts were covered in very long wet grass, soaking my jeans up to my knees. Before Ambergate, I crossed the grain of the land, ascending then descending for most of the way. The tremendous views made it all worthwhile though!
I caught the coach to Hulland Ward and left the Sutton Ramblers behind as I headed north towards Biggin. To my embarrassment, I quickly realised that the first few miles were not on any of the maps I had brought with me. Fortunately, I had remembered enough of the route from planning it in the previous few days, to make do. Until Biggin, I played safe by following the roads rather than using footpaths.
Soon after leaving the group, I got my first view of Alport Height, seen here in the very far distance, just right of centre.
I followed a narrow, winding lane to Biggin, which is situated in a narrow, tree-lined valley. Biggin itself is a dead-end for road traffic, but footpaths branch out in several directions beyond. I took a guess and turned left past some houses and across fields, crossing a stream before climbing along a trackway, lined with trees and bluebells. Something characteristic of much of the first half f my walk was the almost complete lack of footpath signs. Lots of inspired guesswork was required!
Near the top of the climb, the trees opened out slightly, giving views across the countryside. This is a view looking back towards Biggin.
Eventually, the trackway came out at a road junction. Again, I took a guess and turned left. This quickly led me to the main road passing Carsington Water reservoir - the first sure sign that I had taken the right route. Incidentally, maps show a road leading more or less direct from the end of the trackway towards Carsington Water. This appears to be a private drive, so no short cut at all.
The main road takes you past the south car park for Carsington Water. I turned into the car park, where there are toilets.
I then followed the footpath around the reservoir for about half a mile to Oldfield Lane, hoping to get a better photo of the reservoir, but it was not to be. I turned onto Oldfield Lane, which climbs steeply eastwards. At the top of the hill, I crossed the road to the start of a footpath directly opposite. At the side of the road was this rather battered road name sign, almost hidden in the undergrowth.
The footpath descended slightly across fields and through long, wet grass to the edge of Kirk Ireton.At the road, I turned right into the centre of the village. It was unnervingly quiet, with hardly a soul to be seen.
I carried on to the church, which is at the eastern end of the village.
From here, a footpath descends steeply down to the bottom of a narrow wooded valley. Across a stream, it then climbs steeply up the other side towards Alton Hall. Turning back, the village of Kirk Ireton was visible in the distance across the valley.
It was difficult to see exactly where the footpath went. There were only a couple of hints where the footpath crosses a farm lane at an oblique angle. The footpath ends by going in between some farm buildings, across ground littered with scrap and the remains of old bonfires!
Alton Hall is on Tinkerley Lane. I turned right, briefly, before taking another footpath on the left. This climbs briefly to a small field with a stone mound at the top. From here, there were views south towards Idridgehay...
...and north towards Wirksworth. Heavy rain at this point obscured everything in the distance.
Ahead was another drop down a hillside into the Ecclesbourne Valley. On the far side was the first close view of my long, steep climb on the far side of the valley, towards Alport Height.
At the bottom of the valley, I crossed the main road and headed along a narrow country lane for a short distance. For a short time, there was sunshine!
The lane crosses the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway before turning to the north.
Just beyond the railway bridge, a footpath follows a farm track to the right. I followed this to Norman Hill Farm. There were plenty of sheep and lambs along the way.
The path goes in between the farm buildings before the climb begins in earnest. From the Ecclesbourne Valley to the top of Alport Height is a climb of around 200 metres. The first part is the steepest. It was too tempting to stop and look at the view behind me whilst I got my breath back! This is the view looking west over Norman Hill Farm towards Kirk Ireton.
This is a view slightly further towards the north - another brief encounter with sunshine!
Here is the view west from even higher up the hillside.
At around the 200 metre level, I stopped a little longer to admire the views. This is a view north over Lane end Farm.
Beyond here, the footpath was again difficult due to very muddy conditions and a poorly defined path. The route actually drops into another small valley before crossing a stream and climbing again past another farm. By now, the top of Alport Height was clearly in sight - though I still had a long way to climb.
Beyond the farm, Alport Height was much more visible. The masts on the summit make it clearly identifiable for miles. The small hamlet below the hilltop is called Spout.
The final approach to Alport Height is along arrow country lanes through Spout. Finally, in pouring rain, I got to the main entrance. This does not look very promising to start with! The viewpoint is owned by the National Trust.
It was very windy and wet at the top, but the views were stunning. Here is a view directly to the west across ground I had already conquered. The summit is 314 metres above sea level. The rock in the foreground, briefly bathed in sunshine, is called Alport Stone.
Here is a view to the north, only moments later. The sun had already disappeared again!
From the summit, I headed back to the road and turned east along Back Lane. I had planned to turn north at the junction with Peat Lane along a track towards the Bear Inn, but found this so heavily overgrown that it was impassible. Instead, I headed north east along Sandhall Lane. The weather improved again. Wirksworth was just visible in the distance, to the north west.
Crich and the Derwent valley were visible to the north east.
I then headed east along Jackass Lane towards Ambergate, my next objective. To the north of this road is extensive woodland.
I had originally intended to walk through this woodland for some distance. Because of my change of route, I ended up just walking through the last part, following an ancient trackway from Wiggonlea Farm. Here is the entrance to the woodland.
This old sign explains a little of the history of the area. The woodland is called Shining Cliff Woods. It extends quite a way up the western bank of the River Derwent. It is a site of special scientific interest, maintained through careful management. This includes eradicating unwanted species to preserve the character of the place.
The trackway soon turns east towards Ambergate through beautiful woodland. There were plenty of bluebells - though nothing like the concentration I saw near South Wingfield last week.
The Griff Pioneers bought the woodland in the 1930s. Shining Cliff Woodland is a remnant of the medieval hunting forest of Duffield Frith.
Eventually, the trackway turns south and descends towards the bride over the Derwent at Ambergate. With all the recent rain, the river was quite high and running very fast.
I turned left at the main road before turning right along the main road towards Ripley. At this point, there is little alternative but to use the main road. Here is my last view of Ambergate, looking south from the main road junction. By now, the rain had gone and I had pure sunshine for most of the way home. An old Dormobile camper van appeared just as I pressed the shutter.
I followed the main road through to Bull Bridge and turned left, under the railway bridge, towards Crich. My next objective was the remains of the Cromford Canal, which is in a state of considerable disrepair between Ambergate and Langley Mill, where it joined the Erewash Canal, its outlet to the outside world. I planned to follow the route of the canal as far as Ironville, where it joined the Pinxton Canal. I suspect most people driving along the A610 main road from Ambergate to Ripley are totally oblivious to its existence. The canal is well above the main road for most of the way, hidden behind trees and houses.
From Ambergate to Bulll Bridge, the route of the canal is completely lost under industrial sites. The first sight of the canal is at the old canal bridge on the road up to Crich - a short distance up the hil from the junction with the A610. West of the bridge there is nothing to see. East of the bridge is a short section of water, heavily overgrown.
I followed the path along the south side of the canal. Unfortunately, modern housing covers the route of the canal after a short distance. Beyond the houses is the site of the aqueduct and embankment which carried the canal high over the River Amber and the main road, to the south side of the valley. The canal also crossed the railway. More or less everything has been demolished. The section over the railway is now a foot crossing, reached by descending down lots of steps. There is a warning sign here to be careful crossing as trains reach 100 miles per hour. Fortunately, visibility is good in both directions!
Beyond the crossing is a board explaining a little of the history of the Aqueduct. Here is a close-up of part of the board, showing a photo of the aqueduct. Apologies for the poor shot, but sunlight was unavoidably reflecting off the surface. The part of the structure over the main road is at the bottom right of the picture.
The aqueduct was one of the major engineering works on the canal. It was constructed in the late Eighteenth Century. The aqueduct over the railway was added in 1839/40. The main road ran under the canal through a very narrow arch. In later years this created a major traffic problem. Traffic lights were installed so that traffic could go through one way at a time. The viaduct was only demolished in 1968.
I crossed the main road and ascended the steps at the other side to reach the level of the canal again. There is a footpath along the route of the canal from here to the outskirts of Ripley.
Up at canal level, the route of the canal is reasonably well preserved in sections.
It runs high above the houses along the main road.
This narrow section near Bull Bridge was used to work out tolls for the canal boats.
Short sections of the canal bed have been taken over by local residents for garden plots, car parks and other uses. There is a short tunnel under the road to Heage.
Just beyond the tunnel, the canal took a sharp turn to the south east, following the contours. It passed under a railway bridge. This whole site is now a car park for the Excavator Inn.
Beyond the car park, the route of the canal is fairly obvious, even though only short sections still have water.
This short section, where the canal turns east, has been converted into a fishing pond.
At Pear Tree Farm, a lane crosses the canal by the delightfully-named Starvehimvalley Bridge.
The next section, to Lower Hartshay, has been filled in.
From the bridge at Lower Hartshay, the line of the canal is again clearly visible.
Just beyond the cottages, the canal has water in it. How peaceful and tranquil the scene is!
The peace and tranquility is quickly halted by the modern A610, which crosses the area on a high, wooded embankment, seen here on the horison..
There are many steps up the embankment to the A610 road - and then down the other side.
The water is allowed under the A610 in pipes, seen here looking back to the south west.
The section to the western portal of Butterley Tunnel is very tranquil and beautiful - though the appearance suffers badly due to fallen trees, nearer the tunnel.
I covered the next section past Butterley Reservoir and along the Old Coach Road in a previous walk, so I more or less stopped taking pictures at this point. I could not resist a shot of Jessop's Monument across Codnorpark reservoir at Ironville though!
Beyond the reservoir, I followed the course of the Pinxton Canal to Pinxton. This is not particularly photogenic. I then walked through Pinxton towards Kirkby-in-Ashfeld before turning up a farm lane past Cliff Farm. I headed round to "The Dumbles", a small, steep, narrow, secluded valley. This is normally full of bluebells at this time of year, which I was hoping to photograph. It was, but the evening light was too poor to do them justice. I then headed the short distance home.
Overall, I had walked around 25 miles. This is not a particularly long distance for me. On this occasion, the weather, mud, wet grass and steep slopes had made me feel fairly tired. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting and varied walk. I just wish the weather had been just that little bit kinder on the first half of the walk!
