Day 2 Rowsley to Belper (29 km)
The night at the Grouse and Claret was good. Better still, they serve breakfast from 7 am (though don’t take that too literally!) so we were ready for an 8 o’clock start.
At Rowsley the River Wye, coming from Bakewell and the Monsal viaduct, joins the Derwent; which accordingly gains in stature and dignity. Also entering the Derwent valley with the Wye are the A6 road, and the partly-closed Derby to Manchester railway line. The railway and the (not entirely welcome) A6 kept us company through the day.
The path, in riverine woodland, soon took us to Rowsley South station. To the north, the railway line forms the wonderful Monsal trail. But from here it reverts to its original purpose, with the line to Matlock being operated by the privately-run Peak Rail. Their collection of old rolling stock can be glimpsed through the trees.
We passed through Churchtown, with its delightful churchyard and ancient Yew, variously reported as being one thousand or two thousand years old. The path meanders onward, through wide floodplain, until Matlock is reached.
From Matlock the river becomes imprisoned in a gorge, and we bade floodplains farewell, at least for the time being. The railway disappears into a tunnel, and the Way takes a steep climb up to High Tor and Giddy Heights. Coming down to Matlock Bath and its cable cars, the Way then has to follow the A6 to Cromford. Consolations are not insignificant however. At Matlock Bath you enter the World Heritage Site “buffer zone”, and from the imposing Masson Mill you are in the heritage site itself. Its wonders begin to unfold.
The approximate middle of the day’s walking, and the middle of the whole walk, is reached with arrival in Cromford. There seemed no better way to mark this than to divert briefly, and take lunch at the Boat Inn, with its fine food and roaring log fire.
Following lunch, we passed the huge Cromford Mill complex, and set out on the Cromford Canal. Here we crossed the amazing aqueduct as it flies over the river, and stopped to admire the beautifully restored Aqueduct Cottage (pictured).
Five miles of tranquil canal later, and we dropped into Ambergate and crossed both the busy A6, and then the Derwent. Here it’s joined by the Amber, giving our river another little growth spurt. We climbed steeply through the edge of Shining Cliff Woods, to join Whitewells lane. After a mile or so on this slightly hazardous country lane, we were glad to join the footpath which descends to Wyver Lane. This leads past its dreamy nature reserve, towards Belper. All afternoon ominous cloud had been forming, foreshadowing a storm which was to sweep across England – Storm Babet!
As sun fell we entered Belper via Bridge Foot, crossing the Derwent just downstream of the mighty weir, and then passing the iconic Belper East Mill. Tired and getting cold, we climbed the impressive Long Row, a sloping street of old mill-workers cottages, in twilight and drizzle. Finding the station, we happily took the train for the short hop back to home in Duffield.
