EDENSOR
This was a quintessential Peak District hike that ranks high on my list of favourite walks as it’s packed with features of interest.
Having parked at Bakewell Station I set off in an almost southerly direction following the Monsal Trail to its end. I then turned left to walk under a high arched bridge following the old Bakewell to Rowsley coach road, an important route before a turnpike road was laid in the bottom of the valley that later became the A6. This gated track slowly wound its way up through Coombs Farm and then open pasture in an area dotted and spotted by grazing sheep.
Arriving at a combination of paths where there is a geological bench that appears like a natural bridge, I turned sharp left to follow a bridlepath that ascended the far end of Manners Wood. This eventually flattened out to pass through a hilltop plantation before ending abruptly at a high ladder stile and combination of bridlepath gates. In the distance I could see the Elizabethan hunting tower above Chatsworth, whilst commanding centre stage was the quaint and quirky Russian Cottage. It is said that the 6th Duke of Devonshire travelled to Russia in 1816 as British Ambassador to Moscow and befriended Tsar Nicholas. In 1844 the Tsar was invited to visit Chatsworth when the Emperor fountain and lake were constructed in his honour. Unfortunately his trip had to be cancelled and so the Tsar sent the timbers for Russian Cottage with its decorative barge boards and window surrounds as a present, from Russia with love!
I followed the rollercoaster bridlepath ahead and through a band of woodland to a high gate where I emerged into the deer park at Chatsworth. After sitting for a while to admire the views I followed a waymarked footpath over a succession of grassy waves, aiming in the direction of the fine spire of Edensor church. This led me to a metal gate in a wall to the left of the churchyard beyond which I descended a series of stone steps into the village. The majority of the properties in Edensor, built 1839-1842, were designed by Sir Joseph Paxton and John Robertson in a mixture of Anglo-Italian, Swiss and Gothic styles with each house having its own individual characteristics.
St Peter’s Church was constructed in 1867 and is accredited to Gilbert Scott. I always find fascination in looking high up on the eastern gable which faces the tearooms to see a pair of stone carved hunting dogs with horrible expressions. This medieval grotesque survives from an earlier church and is now incorporated into the otherwise plain Victorian wall.
After a little wander around Edensor I retraced my steps and left this ‘picture-postcard’ pretty village by ascending the old coach road to Bakewell. Imagine how centuries ago this would have been a route used by Bess of Hardwick for whom the Elizabethan Chatsworth House was built, followed over the centuries by Earls and Dukes of Devonshire. Mary Queen of Scots was probably taken this way too during her stay at Chatsworth on house arrest. I was walking in the footprints of aristocracy and royalty!
On meeting the Pilsley Road I glanced right to see an old guide stoop that is dated 1709. This remarkable way-marker guided early travellers to the market towns of Sheffield, Chesterfield and Bakewell by pointing fingers showing each respective Rode (sic).
After turning left the return to Bakewell was a joy with fabulous far reaching views over a panoramic Peak District.
The road descended into Bakewell from Ballcross. Rather than walk down through the woods where the path is badly eroded, I followed the road which zigzagged its way down past the golf course and white painted Station Master’s House and then to the car park where the former station has all the architectural hallmarks of Paxton’s properties in Edensor. However, it was actually designed by Edward Walters of Manchester for the Duke of Rutland at Haddon Hall.
Sally Mosley
FOOTNOTE BY NELLIE: I’m on the 7th week of my cruciate ligament recovery journey. Goodness knows why modern terminology uses the word ‘journey’ because I’ve been practically nowhere. I’m stuck at home doing nothing. Because I can’t do my Peak Advertiser walks I’ve been put on ‘garden leave’ but that’s a joke because we haven’t really got a garden! It’s certainly not big enough for me to have a wander around. Mum and Dad have been taking me lots of little totters, ambles, plods and pulls up the front street, around by the pub, through the gennel and down the back road. Just one more week to go before I go back to the posh clinic again for an x-ray to make sure everything has knitted inside and where I was sewn up has fully healed. Now I’m wondering if he was actually a specialist surgeon or maybe he had been on a handicrafts course!! From your waggy-tailed wordsmith, Nellie xx
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