One cold and frosty morning I headed off to Rowsley, desperate for a walk in the snow before it suddenly disappeared. I parked in the small free car park then headed to the Chatsworth Road junction where I was extremely happy to see a new Caudwell’s Flour shop has opened up.
Nellie and I walked up the footpath to the right of the shop, passing to the side of what was once East Lodge Hotel, before emerging onto Chesterfield Road where cars were slowly manoeuvring up and down the icy surface. The quaint house opposite was a toll cottage to the former turnpike road leading over the moors to Chesterfield.
Just a quick slip and slither of a few yards up the road and we crossed over a wall stile to access a footpath leading through Copy Wood. The track here would normally be knee deep in mud, but thankfully not on this occasion. It was wonderful to scrunch over the snow covered frozen gloop as we made our way to Tinkersley. Along the way I enjoyed occasional glimpses through trees to far reaching views extending up the Wye valley towards Bakewell, a winter wonderland of white fields and skeletal trees. Gone were any golden autumnal scenes, now out of fashion and very last season.
After a very slow totter down to Tinkersley Farm, Nellie and I set off on the level again, this time following a bridlepath across Northwood Carr where I came across a gorgeous little walled bridge crossing a stream that was tumbling down from the moors. This brought us to Lumb Lane where we did a right to the junction.
Somehow Nellie and I had to find our way safely back down to the bottom of the valley. Firstly though, we turned left and headed up Bent Lane for a bit more high-up hiking, and house envy, admiring characterful houses, quaint cottages and substantial boundary walls mainly crafted from locally sourced gritstone. We crossed over the top of Foggs Hill before eventually turning right down a very steep and narrow footpath to Moor Lane and then to Whitworth Road where I could see through fencing to the glorious landscaped grounds of Stancliffe Hall. In the 19th century this was home to Sir Joseph Whitworth, an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. Stancliffe was then a private school for almost a hundred years before reverting back to being a private home and part-time wedding venue.
Long ago, the original way south to Matlock from here was either by heading to Two Dales and then through Hackney following an elevated route, or by descending to Churchtown and over riverside meadows that would be marshy in wet weather. However, I’m sure I read somewhere that it was Sir Joseph Whitworth who was responsible for a new straight road being laid which we now know of as the A6. This passes the Whitworth Institute and Whitworth Hospital which were constructed after his death by his wife, Lady Louisa Whitworth, to his memory.
After carefully crossing over the main road, Nellie and I made our way to Churchtown with its lovely Church Inn pub. Opposite are local allotments, where any brussel sprouts will have benefitted from a sprinkling of snow and a sharp frost to give them some flavour.
Our way back to the car from here was to simply follow the path that initially runs parallel with the railway line to Peak Rail’s main terminus at Rowsley South station. As well as a signal box, old rolling stock and salvaged buildings, the site abounds with a wealth of railroadiana or railwayana which are evidently recognised terms given to artefacts of currently or formerly operating railways around the world.
The frozen pathway also passed to the rear of the Forged Solutions Group works which I understand is a world-class producer of aero engines and industrial gas turbine components. I still think of it as Firth Rixson steel stamping works though, built in 1941 by Firths of Sheffield after their city factory was badly hit in the Sheffield blitz.
After crossing over Harrison Way, the path continued through woodland described by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust as being a mosaic of wet grassland and wet alder woodland. An impressive length of plastic decking just before the car park assisted us in avoiding a long stretch of semi-frozen bog.
Sally Mosley
FOOTNOTE BY NELLIE: Did you know that I can do really good animal impressions? I’ve already told you that I’m great at being a sloth, but this week I developed a new one. You would laugh out loud if you saw my impression of an arctic fox! I was up the field when I sniffed a creature beneath a deep drift. It could have been a mouse or a mole. Suddenly I stood up on my back legs before nose diving head first into the snow. It was very cold and made my eyes water and my nose feel like it had got frostbite! I didn’t catch anything, but there’s never a dull moment when I’m around! xx
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