Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

For this blog Angela and I enjoy another day out in The Peak District, this time doing a 9-mile circular walk from Cromford to Starkholmes and then on to Matlock Bath.

In 1771 Sir Richard Arkwright built the first successful water powered (from the river Derwent) cotton mill in Cromford. There is much Industrial heritage to be found in Cromford. https://www.cromfordmills.org.uk/

We parked at Cromford Wharf the start of the Cromford Canal.

Crossing over the River Derwent we passed the entrance to Willersley Castle, once home to the Industrialist, and then started following a road uphill towards Starkholmes. After a while we looked for a detour off the road because it was narrow and there were too many manic drivers using it. We found a footpath and headed up along a good path to reach higher ground where we had some super views.

Reaching Starkholmes we descended through the town passing the popular tourist attraction, Heights of Abraham – a cable car system.

From here it was a short walk into Matlock Bath where we were greeted by the noise from multiple motor cycles riding through – Matlock is clearly popular with motorcyclists.

Walking through the the town I admired a pedestrian bridge, known as the Jubilee Bridge, which was built in 1887.

The next section of our walk was climbing uphill out of the town on steep stone steps through woods. It was hard going.

At the top we found some handy benches in Upperwood where we had a break before continuing downhill through the woods.

We arrived back into Cromford and studied a good information board.

Leaving the town we again headed upwards eventually arriving at a high point on the former Cromford and High Peak Railway. Here we had lunch admiring the view.

The railway used wire rope to haul the wagons up the steep incline. https://www.cromfordcanal.org/high-peak-railway/

We walked down the incline reading the information boards along the way.

It was interesting that the railway had a catch pit near the bottom to catch runaway wagons.

We arrived at High Peak Junction Workshops where there is an interesting museum and a coffee shop. We had a drink and looked around the workshop museum – fascinating.

The workshops are adjacent to the Cromford canal. We crossed a swing bridge and headed down the towpath towards Leawood Pump House (built in 1849) to lift water from the river Derwent into the canal.

The pump house is still operational on certain days of the year.

Further along the canal we visited Aqueduct cottage, originally built in the 19th Century to house the lock keeper but fell into ruin and is now being restored by Derbyshire wildlife Trust. The volunteer in the cottage was super helpful and informative.

We would have liked to have stayed longer but had to press on. As we continued along the towpath the trip boat passed us by.

Arriving at Cromford Wharf we visited the café for refreshments. It was the end of todays walk. The area has much to see – more than can be done in a day. It had been a varied and highly interesting walk.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶