Eyam, Grindleford, Curbar, Baslow

Thursday, big decision to make this morning, spaghetti on toast or rice pudding, for breakfast. The rice pudding won. It rained while I was eating it and I was in two minds whether to give up and go home. I went back to my room after making my packup, stripped the bed, packed my bag, and by the time I got back downstairs it had stopped raining. That's it then, carry on as planned and do another days walking.

It was a bit murky, a lot of low lying cloud, I took the path at the back of the hostel and climbed up to the top of the wood and into a field. Blimey, no nice views to be had up here. I imagined the sheep muttering to each other about the mad human tramping across their patch.

I reached Sir William Hill road, a wide track where several cars were parked. A bunch of elderly blokes were tying their up boot laces and slinging their rucksack onto their backs. We exchanged a few good mornings and a quick chat on which way we were all heading. They were going off to the pub I saw yesterday at Foolow, obviously well off pensioners to be able to afford the £6.75 lunch.

Then the sun attempted to make an appearance as the clouds thinned a little.

Some more mushrooms, there seems to be a lot about at the moment.

Curly haired cows, I like the autumn colours of the trees.

I'm heading towards Grindleford, as the road bends round to the right, on a clear day you can see Nether Padley over there. It's still in the mist at the moment.

This is the war memorial at Grindleford.

And opposite is Sir William Hotel.

I took a little stroll along the main street before I went on my way, and found this rather beautifull Volvo truck, drool drool. It's the same size cab that I used to drive for B & Q. This one has all the heavy lifting equipment on the back, capable of recovering all types of trucks. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. Most of the time I don't miss it, but when I see a truck like this I have an overwhelming urge to take it for a spin :o)

I crossed the river and took the Derwent Valley Heritage Way path. This sign is near the church as you set off across the fields. Isn't it lovely.

The path goes through Froggart Wood.

The water is gushing down the hillside and into this pond, then carries on under a small stone bridge on it's way down to the river at the bottom.

Well, you've got to take a photo of a horse, haven't you, speccially when it's posing. Sorry, the sign says don't feed the horses.

This is Froggart Bridge. The Heritage Way crosses over the river at this point but I decided to stay on the same side, I don't want to cross just yet.

I took this photo looking down into the water, most of what you see is reflection. The water was as still as glass.

More reflections, upside down trees.

And an upside down house at New Bridge.

Next is the weir, but I was on the wrong side of the river to get a good picture. This is the best I could do after stepping very carefully on slimy rocks as far into the river as I dare.

This is Calver Mill now converted to luxury apartments. I tried to get closer for a better picture but it has security gates into enclosed grounds. It's great that they have chosen to preserve some of these historic buildings instead of knocking them down.

I took the road to Curbar, then the path to Baslow. Here are a couple of big houses which caught my eye,

This is the Church of St Anne at Baslow. It has an unusual clockface with the word Victoria, and the date 1897, on it. I have taken this picture of the side facing the road, but the entrance is on the other side, so I'm not sure which is the back and which is the front.

This is Baslow Bridge.

Time to start making my way back. It's still a bit misty.

A lot of the walk back was along old quarry tracks, there were a lot of mines in this area, with rock extraction taking place, and all the tracks that the lorries used to take are still there. Some of them are out of bounds though because the disused quaries could be quite dangerous if you were to wander over the edge.

Time was getting on and I needed to get back. Once again I was cutting it a bit fine. Here I am crossing Darlton Quarry on the outskirts of Eyam. There are signs for walkers to follow so you don't go into the quarry itself, as it's still a working quarry.

I made it back for just before 5pm. These short days are a nuisance, it's annoying when I have to keep checking the time. Never mind, soon be the shortest day then I can think about longer walks. When I read up about the places I have visited, I realise that I have only seen a small part of it. There is a lot more in this area to see, so much to do and so little time. I have walked a total of 28 miles and had three smashing days out. Not a great distance but there was a heck of a lot of ups and downs, good for the old calf muscles, ha ha. Must start planning the next walk.