The Times - UK (2021-12-18)

the times Saturday December 18 2021

Outside 19

ALAMY

southern slopes of the valley. From

Watergate Farm tucked low in its hollow

we climbed past farms and sheep

pastures, descending at last through a

beechwood carpeted with bronze-

coloured leaves to the steep incline of

the horse-drawn Cromford and High

Peak Railway. Near the bottom a black

cave mouth opened beside the track —

a catch pit, into which breakaway

wagons could be diverted as they

hurtled down the incline at more than

100mph. Peering into the catch pit,

we saw the crumpled remains of one

A

mix of bruise-coloured
cloud and patches of
wintry blue sky roofed in
the High Peak of
Derbyshire. Here in the
Derwent Valley the A6
road, the Cromford
Canal, the Midland Railway and the
Cromford and High Peak Railway crowd
together along the shallow-sided gorge
cut through the limestone and sandstone
by the snaking Derwent.
We crossed the Midland line and the
fast-flowing Derwent, then turned east
along the old canal. Richard Arkwright
built mills and massed workers’ housing
in this damp green valley in the 1770s,
after his clever invention of the water
frame allowed unskilled workers to spin
cotton without ceasing. With the canal
bringing in raw cotton and taking the
textiles away for sale, the Derwent Valley
ruled the cotton world for a few decades.
On this morning all was quiet along
the Cromford Canal, the loudest sounds
the musical squeaking of dabchicks as
they dived with a neat plop below the
scatter of golden oak and birch leaves on
the surface.

We passed through an echoing tunnel

and emerged to find a pair of swans

posed on the canal like a picture

postcard, one daintily selecting specific

morsels of greenstuff from the surface,

the other preening breast and neck in a

cloud of down. Ahead on the skyline a

sunlit quarry cliff was topped by a tall

obelisk, like a lighthouse, the stark Crich

Stand memorial to the dead of the First

World War.

At Whatstandwell we crossed the

Derwent and took to narrow

stone-walled lanes that rose up the

A good walk High Peak Junction

and the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire

HIGH PEAK

JUNCTION

Leawood

pump house

A6

P start

Cromford RiverDerwent

Derwent Valley

Heritage Way

Midshires Way

Incline

Whatstandwell

Whatfield Farm

Watergate Farm

Cromford

Canal

500 metres

Sheffield

Nottingham

Liverpool

DERBYSHIRE

such truck, a salutary reminder of how

danger once went hand in hand with

employment.

Start High Peak Junction car park, near

Cromford DE4 5AA (OS ref SK 314560)

Getting there Bus TP2 from Cromford.

Road: car park is off Lea Road, signed off

A6 between Cromford and

Whatstandwell.

Walk (OS Explorer OL24) follow “High

Peak Junction” across River Derwent

and railway. Left along left bank of canal

(“Ambergate”). Pass pumping house; in

150m, right across canal (316556,

“Ambergate”) and on for 1¾ miles to

Whatstandwell (332544). Right on A6

across river; on right bend, across stile

ahead (330544, yellow arrow/YA,

“Derwent Valley Walk”/DVW). Up to

cross road and on (squeeze stile). In

150m, left (330545, YA) up steps. Follow

DVW and YAs. In ½ mile, at gate

(322541), don’t go through; turn right

downhill (“Midshires Way”/MW,

“Cromford”) to Watergate Farm

(322544). Cross drive; follow MW up

fields to walled lane (320546); left (MW).

At Whatfield Farm (319547) up right side

of buildings (MW); on for 500m to cross

B5035 (316551). Follow lane (MW) for

1 mile to High Peak Trail incline

(304562). Right to car park.

Lunch/accommodation Greyhound

Hotel, Cromford DE4 3QE (01629

823172, thegreyhoundatcromford.co.uk)

More information visitpeakdistrict.com

Twitter @somerville_c

Christopher Somerville

We passed

through a

tunnel and

emerged to find

a pair of swans

posed on the

canal like a

picture postcard

Main picture: the

Leawood pump house.

Top right: look out for

swans along the route.

Above right: the footpath

by the canal

How hard is it?

5½ miles; easy;

towpath, hill paths