It took a little bit of mental adjustment to feel at home in the Peak District again after my holiday in the Lake District. Both are totally different in character and appearance. Today's excursion was a beautiful walk with some excellent viewpoints and contrasting scenery. It did not take long to get used to the characteristics of the Peak District and enjoy it again.
We began the ramble in Baslow, setting off in a north easterly direction up the steep climb towards Wellington's Monument and Baslow Edge. As we climbed the grade, the view back towards Baslow was very pretty.
Reaching the top of the climb, Wellington's monument was visible in the distance, to the north. We passed this more closely on the Robin Hood circular walk earlier this year .
From the same viewpoint, the view to the north over Eaglestone Flat was very flat, with the Eagle Stone dead ahead.
We headed past the Eagle Stone and through a field full of Highland Cattle.
The footpath parallels Baslow Edge to the road down to Curbar, which was in the valley below..
We continued north over the road and along Curbar Edge. This offers excellent views west over the countryside, with some interesting rock formations. In this view, Curbar is in the valley below, with Calver beyond. Stoney Middleton, our lunchtime break is in the valley to the right, with Eyam just visible on the far right.
Swinging the camera south, the Derwent Valley and Chatsworth were just visible on the left.
We continued along Curbar Edge towards Froggatt, with more panoramic views across the countryside, through the rocks.
Looking north, we seemed to be on top of the world. Eyam Moor was very prominent in the distance, on the left.
The rock formations were quite dramatic in places. Climbers were practicing their skills on some of the cliffs below us.
We then descended steeply to the bottom of the valley at Froggatt and crossed the old bridge over the River Derwent.
A large flock of geese and some ducks were gently floating by - no doubt enjoying the cool shade of the trees. For us, walking in the hot, sunny weather was much more of a challenge.
Beyond the river, we climbed gradually over fields towards Stoney Middleton. This is a final view looking north along the Derwent Valley towards Grindleford.
Stoney Middleton is just a small village everyone passes through to get to other places. In fact, it does have some interesting buildings and other features worth stopping to see. Amongst them is the so called Roman Baths - actually a Nineteenth Century creation. The idea of turning Stoney Middleton into a spa town never took off, so the spa fell into disrepair. The building was restored in the 1980s, but is not in use.
Here is the village pump, close to the spa.
There are some characterful structures in the main street, including this cross.
The church is also interesting, being largely octagonal in plan. Here is the rear view...
...and here a view of the tower.
Beyond the village, to the west, are the formidable cliffs of Middleton Dale, seen here in the distance.
From Stoney Middleton, we climbed steeply to the south west, towards Coombs Dale. The top of the tree-lined valley is just visible here, across the fields, with Calver Peak on the left and Longstone Moor in the far distance.
The descent into Coombs Dale is very steep. The top affords a good view of the Dale - far better than any view from the valley bottom in summer, as the Dale is thick with trees.
We were soon climbing again, as we continued south west towards Bleaklow. This was our last view of the upper part of Coombs Dale.....
...and this, a last look back down the Dale towards Stoney Middleton.
Around Bleaklow, there were long views across the countryside to the south west
From Bleaklow, we continued south west down Longstone Edge to Great Longstone, for another short break. Here is the church. Last time the group passed here - in the opposite direction - it was pouring with rain. Today, it was till very hot and sunny, though it did turn colder and cloudy for a short while.
This is a view up the main street. The village was very quiet - at least until we arrived!
We then took the footpath across fields towards Little Longstone.
Beyond Little Longstone, it was only a short walk to our final destination at Monsal Head. By this time, the sun had come out again. Here is the obligatory view from Monsal Head towards Cressbrook, with Millers Dale Viaduct on the left.
So ended another great walk with the Sutton-in-Ashfield Ramblers. Many thanks to them once again for a very enjoyable ramble!
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