We began the walk in Baslow, crossing the River Derwent and turning south towards Chatsworth Park. The river was flowing very strongly, following all the heavy rain we had experienced over the previous week.
Chatsworth House looked as grand as usual, despite the damp, gloomy weather.
We crossed the Derwent again and headed round the hill towards Edensor (pronounced "enser").
Edensor is a very contrived village, built for the 6th Duke of Devonshire. It contains a variety of buildings designed in various styles.
Whilst the majority of my fellow ramblers had tea in the local tearooms, I wandered around the village taking photographs. Here is a view looking up the main street in a westerly direction.
I carried on up the hill and took this view eastwards from the far end of the village.
Some of the locals are very enterprising, selling a variety of local produce.
From Edensor, we climbed the steep hill behind the village across fields towards New Piece Wood. There were plenty of sheep - plus a herd of deer which stayed well away from us as we puffed and grunted our way up the hillside.
Looking back, the panorama over to Chatsworth House was stunning, despite the fine drizzle obscuring the view!
Further north, the upper Derwent Valley was just about visible, but very gloomy.
We carried on westwards across fields towards Bakewell. There was a steep descent through Manners Wood.
Finally, Bakewell came into view in the valley below.
We passed a golf course. There is a bell for hikers to warn golfers of their presence. The weather was wet enough to ensure that no golfers were present. We tried the bell out all the same, just to hear what it sounded like.
Our final approach to Bakewell passed the old railway station building, hidden amongst the trees.
We experienced a very heavy shower that lasted some time. Fortunately, the weather started to clear soon afterwards. I took the opportunity to wander around the town and take more photos. This is the weir, with the old bridge in the background.
This is the church, high on a hill overlooking the town.
Bakewell is famous for its Bakewell Puddings. Here is what claims to be the original Bakewell Pudding shop.
...and here, a close up view of the old bridge, from the west.
This is the centre of town - not as busy as usual for a weekend. I guess the poor weather had put people off .
Onwards and upwards, we climbed past the church and headed west along the hilltops towards Sheldon. The Wye Valley is down to our right. Fin Cop is in the middle distance.
Once again, the hillsides were full of sheep and lambs - some braver than others. This little group just stared at us as we passed, whereas others quickly ran away.
Below us, to the north, we passed the village of Ashford-in-the-Water
At Dirtlow Farm, we passed these two horses grazing in a field.
Soon, we arrived in the very quiet village of Sheldon. Here is a view looking westwards along the main street.
We carried on up through the village, then turned off to the right, along a footpath towards Deep Dale. We passed this newly-born calf and its mother on the way. The calf seemed healthy enough, but was struggling to stand up as it got to grips with the outside world.
By now, the weather was quickly clearing to reveal blue sky and sunshine. We caught a glimpse of the Magpie Mine in the far distance as we continued across the fields.
Finally, we arrived at Deepdale, which looked really stunning in the sunshine. This shows the southern end of the dale.
Here is the view looking down the dale, with Over Wheal Farm high up on the hillside opposite.
One of the highlights of our walk down the dale was the sight of hundreds of wild orchids in flower.
The dale continued to impress as we headed down towards the River Wye and the main A6 road.
Towards the bottom of the dale, the fields were full of wild rabbits - unfortunately they were very camera shy! Here is a view of the bottom of the dale, with the main road just visible through the trees.
Across the main road, we followed the River Wye through Monsal Dale, towards Monsal Head.
An interesting moth was resting on a leaf.
As we approached the weir, we crossed the river on a bridge and started the long climb up the south side of the valley towards Monsal Head. Here is a view of the weir.
Finally, we arrived at Monsal Head, surely one of the best viewpoints in the Peak District. This view is looking northeast towards Cressbrook. The old railway viaduct is on the left.
Despite the bad weather early on, I think we all thoroughly enjoyed the walk. There was certainly plenty of variety - and some really spectacular views.
Many thanks again the the Sutton-in-Ashfield Rambling Group for organising the walk.
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