{"id":2377,"date":"2021-12-18T13:47:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-18T12:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=2377"},"modified":"2021-12-20T11:19:32","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T10:19:32","slug":"high-peak-junction-the-derwent-valley-derbyshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=2377","title":{"rendered":"High Peak Junction &#038; the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=740,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/> First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Cromford.jpg');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706233863_d2f0f54ed9_z.jpg\" title= \"Wintry landscape of the Derwent Valley\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706233863_d2f0f54ed9_s.jpg\" alt=\"Wintry landscape of the Derwent Valley\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705164882_a8fa1c64e5_z.jpg\" title= \"Cromford Canal 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705164882_a8fa1c64e5_s.jpg\" alt=\"Cromford Canal 1\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705955751_666838af3a_z.jpg\" title= \"Leawood pump house 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705955751_666838af3a_s.jpg\" alt=\"Leawood pump house 1\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705164707_f15873a47c_z.jpg\" title= \"Leawood pump house and Cromford Canal\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705164707_f15873a47c_s.jpg\" alt=\"Leawood pump house and Cromford Canal\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706234518_1b4d0d0525_z.jpg\" title= \"bridge on the Cromford Canal\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706234518_1b4d0d0525_s.jpg\" alt=\"bridge on the Cromford Canal\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706841805_bd5f84c558_z.jpg\" title= \"Cromford Canal 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706841805_bd5f84c558_s.jpg\" alt=\"Cromford Canal 2\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706234233_9aa1db877f_z.jpg\" title= \"cast iron bridge on Cromford Canal\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706234233_9aa1db877f_s.jpg\" alt=\"cast iron bridge on Cromford Canal\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705955421_e89603880d_z.jpg\" title= \"Cromford Canal 3\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705955421_e89603880d_s.jpg\" alt=\"Cromford Canal 3\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705164297_a07317e276_z.jpg\" title= \"Cromford Canal towpath\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705164297_a07317e276_s.jpg\" alt=\"Cromford Canal towpath\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705955236_3626085524_z.jpg\" title= \"Cromford Canal 5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705955236_3626085524_s.jpg\" alt=\"Cromford Canal 5\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706841280_5e9dff8508_z.jpg\" title= \"Derwent Valley landscape\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706841280_5e9dff8508_s.jpg\" alt=\"Derwent Valley landscape\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705954976_523f6296d3_z.jpg\" title= \"beech leaves smother the incline on the Cromford &#038; High Peak Railway\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51705954976_523f6296d3_s.jpg\" alt=\"beech leaves smother the incline on the Cromford &#038; High Peak Railway\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706627819_6135495817_z.jpg\" title= \"dark mouth of the catch pit on the Cromford &#038; High Peak Railway\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/51706627819_6135495817_s.jpg\" alt=\"dark mouth of the catch pit on the Cromford &#038; High Peak Railway\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=2377','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nA 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 &#038; High Peak Railway all crowd together along the shallow-sided gorge cut through the limestone and sandstone by the snaking Derwent. <\/p>\n<p>We crossed the Midland line and the fast-flowing Derwent, and turned east along the old canal. Sir Richard Arkwright built mills and massed workers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Beside the canal rose the tall chimney of Leawood pump house, built in 1849. Its severe classical style recalled an era when even a humble shed for a water pumping engine needed to be raised to glory by a dignity of architecture proper to Prosperity and Progress.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>At Whatstandwell we crossed the Derwent and took to narrow stone-walled lanes that rose up the 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 &#038; High Peak Railway.<\/p>\n<p>Near the bottom a black cave mouth opened beside the track \u2013 a catch pit, into which breakaway wagons could be diverted as they hurtled down the incline at over 100 mph. Peering into the catch pit, we saw the crumpled remains of one such truck, a salutary reminder of how danger once went hand-in-hand with working men\u2019s employment.<\/p>\n<p>How hard is it? 5\u00bd miles; easy; towpath, hill paths, lanes<\/p>\n<p>Start: High Peak Junction car park, near Cromford DE4 5AA (OS ref SK 314560)<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Bus TP2 from Cromford<br \/>\nRoad \u2013 car park is off Lea Road, signed off A6 between Cromford and Whatstandwell.<\/p>\n<p>Walk (OS Explorer OL24): Follow \u2018High Peak Junction\u2019 across River Derwent and railway. Left along left bank of canal (\u2018Ambergate\u2019). Pass pumping house; in 150m, right across canal (316556, \u2018Ambergate\u2019) and on for 1\u00be miles to Whatstandwell (332544). Right on A6 across river; on right bend, across stile ahead (330544, yellow arrow\/YA, \u2018Derwent Valley Walk\u2019\/DVW). Up to cross road and on (squeeze stile). In 150m, left (330545, YA) up steps. Follow DVW and YAs. In \u00bd mile, at gate (322541), don\u2019t go through; turn right downhill (\u2018Midshires Way\u2019\/MW, \u2018Cromford\u2019) 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.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch\/Accommodation: Greyhound Hotel, Cromford DE4 3QE (01629-823172, <a href=\"http:\/\/thegreyhoundatcromford.co.uk\">thegreyhoundatcromford.co.uk<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Info: <a href=\"http:\/\/visitpeakdistrict.com\">visitpeakdistrict.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A mix of bruise-coloured cloud and patches of wintry blue sky roofed in the High Peak of Derbyshire. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}