Rowsley, Stanton Woodhouse, Stanton Moor, Darley Bridge and Darley Dale.

I'm quite impressed with my new camera; it's easy to use and takes very clear pictures with very naturalistic colour rendering. The photographs I've included with this blog post were taken with it - I had a few problems with re-sizing the images though so that they're suitable for uploading to the blog server.

Today's walk began at Rowsley: by the way, I've finally checked online for the correct pronunciation...and it's 'Roseley.'


I crossed over the River Derwent, then took the lane with the bridge over the River Wye, then continued along the track leading towards Stanton Woodhouse. This section is initially level and easy-going, but then gradually starts to ascend out of the valley. There are some lovely views here, looking northwards along this stretch of the Derwent Valley, and westwards towards wooded hillsides; and the lighting conditions were just about perfect. This is where the banner photograph was taken; and many more, as I experimented with various settings and functions on the camera.

The hamlet of Stanton Woodhouse clusters around a small manor house and is quite isolated, and beyond this point the walk continues through heathland interspersed with copses.

The weather was lovely all day, and very mild for the time of year. By this stage I had already realised I was wearing too many layers of clothing, but there was really nothing I could do about it...but sweat. I was glad of my isotonic drink though. On the label it said it was 'mixed berries flavour;' but on the list of ingredients the only natural ingredients I could find were extracts of black carrots and hibiscus - two flavours I 've not tried before. The drink was pleasant enough though.

The next photograph was taken as I was looking back towards Stanton Woodhouse.

I had to climb a bit to reach the road, then took a path past some old quarry buildings and continued up through woodland to eventually reach the eastern edge of Stanton Moor.

I soon reached the Reform, or Earl Grey Tower, which is merely a nineteenth century folly, built to provide work for local labourers I think. I walked for another fifteen minutes or so and came down off the moor just to the east of Birchover.

I could already see the footpath sign indicating where I was going next, downhill across a camping and caravanning site, which was empty; maybe even closed for the season.

Next I re-traced the route of part of an earlier walk, in the opposite direction though, to reach Darley Bridge and then Darley Dale.

I had about fifty minutes to wait for the next bus and so popped into one of the shops for something to eat, which I ate whilst sitting on a bench. It was still nearly half an hour for the next Sheffield bus as I crossed the road to go and wait for it; however a bus that was going to Bakewell arrived, so I got on and arrived just in time to catch the Sheffield bus from there, (a different service) just as the last passenger to get on was paying his fare.