Our walk today started from Bakewell lying in the Wye valley and the first part of the journey was to Edensor, which lies in the Derwent valley, and so at 8.50am with boots on it was uphill and through the woods to a little place called Ballcross.  From here the walking was pretty level and eventually we were looking down into the Derwent valley and the village of Edensor.  This village was constructed here by the sixth Duke of Devonshire between 1838 and 1842 to replace the original village which spoilt the view over the park from Chatsworth House.  As we walked downhill through the village we were surprised at the quality and variation in the houses many surrounded by attractive gardens full of flowers.  Passing the church we turned to the right and made the first stop of the day at the village store.  With energy restored after consuming Rum and Raisin ice creams we left the village behind and after walking over the brow of a small hill we had our first view of Chatsworth House.  Flowing through the parklands in front of the house is the River Derwent.  We stopped at Queen Mary’s Bower Bridge on the Derwent to admire the house and were only disappointed that the fountain was not operating.  The gardens were added to in the nineteenth century by Joseph Paxton who built the 290ft Emperor Fountain in honour of a visit  by the Czar of Russia that never materialised.  Turningto the right we now walked along the river, passing a line of benches with very unusual plaques, and then just past a weir in the river we turned to the right leaving the river behind as we made our way to the hamlet of Calton Lees. After a short stop in the garden centre we were off again crossing a number of fields until we reached the River Derwent again which we then followed to Rowsley village.  Turning to the right we now walked uphill through Rowsley village as we left the Derwent valley behind and made our way to Haddon Hall which lies in the Wye valley.  At  the edge of Lees Moor Wood we came to a split in the track.  To the left led towards Haddon Hall and to the right the track led directly back to Bakewell cutting about half a mile from the route.  On a previous walk we had already covered the left track so today we turned to the right and into a small valley leading gently downhill  to Bakewell.  Reaching the car park at 1pm we had taken just over 4 hours to cover 8 miles.  20 minutes later we reached the Red Lion at Litton and enjoyed a well deserved lunch.

INDEX PAGE for the THURSDAY GROUP WALKS