Rowsley, Calton Lees, Chatsworth House, Baslow, Bubnell, and Calver

At Rowsley I popped into the Peak Village Outlet Shopping Centre: I needed to use the toilets, but also spent a few minutes looking around the place; I've never been there before. It was quite nice, a bit bland maybe; a collection of  pleasant sandstone buildings and walkways with transparent roofs which fitted in well with the surroundings...and there were a few specialist outdoors shops which I might have spent a bit of time looking around if I'd got nothing better to do....oh, and there were a couple of places to eat.

I then walked further into the village, crossed over the bridge and started to follow the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, which I would be walking along for most of the route today. This section of the walk was easy-going and very pleasant, being along the flood plain I should think, and I made quick progress to reach Calton Lees in well under an hour. I went into the Chatsworth Garden Centre Café for a pot of tea and a cherry and almond scone. I was disappointed to see that they had already put up Christmas decorations and displays in one corner.

I continued walking northwards, along the riverbank, now being in the well-maintained landscape of Chatsworth Park. The weather wasn't too bright, but there were still a few autumn colours to be enjoyed.

Next up was Chatsworth House itself, which is always handy for a toilet stop. I went in the gents' near the main entrance, and since I was the only person in there I decided to take a couple of photographs of the urinals and the impressive tiles with Chatsworth-themed engravings incorporated into the design. As usual, the toilets were very clean and sweet-smelling.

I continued along the driveway towards Baslow, where I bought a small tube of ice cream from the shop at Nether End, eating it whilst sitting on one of the benches on the village green. I then headed towards the church, walked over the old hump-backed bridge to reach Bubnell, continuing along the road and then across fields to Calver; where I only had to wait ten minutes for the bus.