Tideswell, Windmill, Little Hucklow and Bradwell.

Today has been the second day of the Bakewell Show and since all the roads leading to the town would be very busy I decided to catch a bus that stayed well away; the number 65 to Buxton, and got off at Tideswell.

Tideswell is such a pretty little town at this time of the year; there are flowers everywhere, hanging baskets, containers and troughs decorating nearly every building.

I wandered around the streets and alleyways for about twenty minutes and then set off down a country lane in a northerly direction. I soon arrived at the Baslow to Chapel-en-le-Frith road. The road was very busy and so I hurried along the next section of the walk until I reached the footpath that leads towards Tideslow Rake - this is the best example of this type of landscape feature I've seen so far. A rake is a man-made linear feature in the landscape; a series of old surface mine workings following the line of a mineral seam or vein; excavations down to the bare rock and grass-covered spoil heaps.

A bit further on there's a less obvious rake, High Rake, with fabulous views to the north and east though; all the way to Lose Hill, Win Hill and the Hope Valley.

I then arrived at Windmill, a hamlet I've not visited before, and then walked across grassy fields to Little Hucklow.

Next I walked to the north across fields again and then along the road in Bradwell Dale. The views towards Bradwell Edge are impressive here, and I enjoyed watching several paragliders launching themselves into the air off the edge, and then spiralling upwards as they caught the thermals.

(This photograph was actually taken looking in the other direction though.)

Since it's now the school holidays the 15:09 bus from Bradwell goes all the way to Sheffield - I arrived in the village just in time to catch it.

Rowsley, Edensor, Chatsworth House and Baslow.

Getting off the bus after a rather unpleasant journey due to a large, noisy school party, I walked in a northerly direction, heading uphill towards woodland. At times there were expansive views though.

Although it's so close to Chatsworth, this area of woodland is actually part of the Haddon Estate.

I continued along a well defined track in Manners Wood and then turned uphill to reach the grasslands of Calton Pastures. I then descended through a short, steep section of woodland and climbed over a ladder stile to reach the pastures above Edensor.

Edensor is a unique place. It's one of the Chatsworth Estate villages; every one of the houses is different, yet they were all designed by the same architect and built at the same time.

Within twenty minutes I was approaching Chatsworth House. Although it's a beautiful building I didn't take any photographs because an entire wing was covered in scaffolding. For the first time I lingered for a while, not to visit the House or the gardens, but to visit the toilets and pop into the café for a cup of tea.

It was then a leisurely stroll through the parkland back to Baslow Nether End where I caught the bus.

Pilsley, Hassop, Bubnell and Baslow

I got off the Bakewell bus about a mile south of Baslow and soon found the path going up the hill and over the fields to Pilsley, one of the pretty nineteenth century                 Chatsworth Estate villages.

I walked through the village and after a few hundred yards came to a footpath which led across meadows back to the Bakewell road, and then through a wooded valley to Hassop.

There's a very impressive hall in Hassop which I've noticed when passing on the bus, but today was the first time I'd actually visited the village, as it was the case with Pilsley...and Bubnell later on.

The next part of the route was walking along the ridge above Bank Wood; at times the views were quite restricted - which wasn't really a problem since there was a large quarry on the other side of the valley which isn't shown on my Ordnance Survey map.

I had intended continuing to Calver and then walking along the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail back to Baslow but the descent down into Calver looked quite steep, and I had a twinge in my right knee. The path across open fields down to Bubnell seemed the safer option.

I soon arrived at Bubnell, then crossed over the river to Baslow, where I didn't have too long to wait for the bus.

Baslow and Chatsworth Park

The weather was rather cloudy today and so I chose a walk that included a lot of woodland on the Chatsworth Estate; areas where I haven't been walking before.

I got off the bus at Baslow Nether End and walked over the old bridge, past the thatched cottages and into Chatsworth Park. Instead of taking the path which runs next to the river, I headed uphill towards Dobb Edge and the woods which are above and behind the house.

After wandering around for about an hour I located my first destination; a ruined aqueduct which used to supply water to Chatsworth House. As you can see from the photograph there's a long way for the water to drop now.

A bit further up the hill there are two very nice cascades, the photo is of the higher one.

A few hundred yards further along the track I reached the Hunting Tower; apparently I had walked pretty much straight past it earlier without noticing.

It was then an easy couple of miles back down into Baslow, apart from the highest ladder stile I've ever come across.

I hadn't walked the majority of today's route, which always adds a little bit of extra interest. Of course it meant that I didn't get a close-up view of Chatsworth House, but I've seen it plenty of times before; I haven't paid to actually go inside the house...I'm not interested. The formal gardens are supposed to be very impressive though, with the Emperor Fountain and the various water features.