Walk: 11:15am to 3:15pm - 7.3 miles and 485ft of ascent
"Nice weather ahead" said Carol Kirkwood on BBC News during the week, so we trusted in her and she didn't disappoint.
We left home just after 10am and arrived in Baslow shortly after 11am, parking in the same car-park as we always do when we visit here. Before we even started our walk I had a rather interesting 10 minutes with the ticket machine. A guy in front of me had put his coins in, but the last two had stuck in the machine and no matter what he did they wouldn't budge. So, as people arrived and perused what he was doing, I decided to pop to the small shop next to the car-park and borrow a butter knife, which, I slotted in the ticket machine and forced the coins down the chute. All now working ok and I was the 'car-park hero'.
So, after that 'excitement' it was time to set off on today's little walk in the sunshine. The first few miles of the walk were little more than a relaxing amble along well trodden paths through the Chatsworth Estate. The route took us south, through the gathering crowds and along the banks of the river Derwent in the direction of Calton Lees. There was a water event on at Chatsworth hence the number of cars entering the grounds, and we also had a small detour when we discovered that a path which I thought we could continue along, actually stopped at a gate marked 'private' That said, it only added 10 minutes or so to the walk.
As we approached the lower weir just north of the bridge at Calton Lees we pitched up on a picnic bench to each our sandwiches. Our lunch stop didn't last that long as the sun went in just as we sat down, and the breeze was a little more chilly than we thought. So, we packed up Donna's rucksack and headed off.
We then took the path heading west up to Calton Houses, a lovely little valley which looked stunning in the sun; which was back out now by the way. The next section of the walk was the only real part that got your heart pumping, a steep walk up a hill over to New Piece Wood, and then the path back down across the fields to Edensor. If there's ever a picture postcard hamlet this is it. All the woodwork is painted in the Chatsworth blue, which complements the colour of the stone to add to the look of the buildings. A lovely place to live, apart from that is, the constant flow of visitors.
Now the last section of the walk, back down across the bridge to Chatsworth and head north through the estate back to Baslow. And lastly the 1hr drive back home and a lovely day.
"Nice weather ahead" said Carol Kirkwood on BBC News during the week, so we trusted in her and she didn't disappoint.
So, after that 'excitement' it was time to set off on today's little walk in the sunshine. The first few miles of the walk were little more than a relaxing amble along well trodden paths through the Chatsworth Estate. The route took us south, through the gathering crowds and along the banks of the river Derwent in the direction of Calton Lees. There was a water event on at Chatsworth hence the number of cars entering the grounds, and we also had a small detour when we discovered that a path which I thought we could continue along, actually stopped at a gate marked 'private' That said, it only added 10 minutes or so to the walk.
We then took the path heading west up to Calton Houses, a lovely little valley which looked stunning in the sun; which was back out now by the way. The next section of the walk was the only real part that got your heart pumping, a steep walk up a hill over to New Piece Wood, and then the path back down across the fields to Edensor. If there's ever a picture postcard hamlet this is it. All the woodwork is painted in the Chatsworth blue, which complements the colour of the stone to add to the look of the buildings. A lovely place to live, apart from that is, the constant flow of visitors.
Now the last section of the walk, back down across the bridge to Chatsworth and head north through the estate back to Baslow. And lastly the 1hr drive back home and a lovely day.
Comments
Post a Comment