Peak District Walks - Around Baslow

Three walks around Baslow 

This year, 2020, is the year of the staycation for many people. Anyone who lives close to the Peak District is lucky as there are plenty of wonderful villages and walks to discover. In September I discovered three delightful walks all based around the village of Baslow in Derbyshire. One which climbs up to Baslow Edge with extensive views over the Derwent Valley, another giving views back towards Baslow Edge and a third which explores the Chatsworth Estate and associated villages.

All these walks can be downloaded from the Baslow Village website here.

The walks I tried were walks number 1, 4 and 6, with walks 1 and 6 combined for a 9 mile total walk on the first day. What I want to do with this post is share some of the sights and delights of the walks to complement the walking notes from the village website.

If you are travelling from further afield I can recommend The Devonshire Arms in Baslow, which is a country pub with rooms, as a good place to stay.

Baslow Edge walk (walk 1):

To start this walk we crossed to the opposite side of the road from The Devonshire Arms pub and up Eaton Hill passing some lovely stone houses along this residential street. Bearing right at the top the route continues climbing as the houses give way to open countryside. Once there are open fields to the left take a look across the valley where you might be able to see an 'E' and 'R' planted up below the tree line opposite.

Letters E and R in the fields

Looking back over the valley, once you reach the gate onto the moor, you get a super view across to the Chatsworth Estate, Chatsworth House is a stately home, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire and worth a visit in its own right.

Panoramic views from Baslow Edge

Once up on the moor turn left for the route towards Curbar Gap. There are two paths, one more direct, away from the edge of the rocks which goes past the Eagle Stone and another path which follows the actual edge and is dotted with ancient rocks and has excellent views.

The Eagle Stone and moors

One of the rocks on Baslow Edge

Eagle Stone

Following Baslow Edge to the north eventually takes you down to Curbar Gap and then, for a longer walk, you could continue up again along Curbar Edge, this does look inviting but we continued the walk down to Curbar village as described in the notes. Walk 1 has a return at this point back to Baslow below the edge, however we continued with the extention to the walk through the village and across the River Derwent.

Footpath to Curbar Gap and Baslow Edge

This part of the walk follows the river along the valley and then reaches the village of Bubnell, passing a weir and leading to the old Baslow Bridge.

At this point we got refreshments at a cafe on the east side of the river and then returned over the bridge to continue with part of Walk 6.

Bubnell & Calver walk (walk 6):

Having crossed to the Bubnell side of the old bridge we followed a footpath directly facing the bridge through a narrow alleyway. This opens out into fields and looking back you get some super views of Baslow Edge.

After crossing the fields the route joins a small lane heading uphill eventually bearing off to the right over a stile and up into woods. The woods are in two sections, Bank Wood South is the first one the route goes through. As you approach the woods look back and you'll get great views over Curbar Gap, Baslow Edge then over to Chatsworth House.

View from the footpath to Bank Wood South

At the far end of the first woods the view opens out again and the remains of an old open cast lead mine can be seen on the left.

Old lead mine 

Continue into Bank Wood North, at the time we walked through here the late afternoon sun was lighting the trees with golden dappled sunbeams and it was quite magical.

An abstract image of Bank Wood North

At the end of the wood the route to Calver continues across a road (a lane really) and through another wood (Bramley Wood). It was at this point that we did a variation in the route and turned right to follow the lane (Bubnell Lane) down to the village where it joins the path we took earlier in the day. This gave us the chance to have another look at the weir and see ducks enjoying the waterfalls before we returned back over the old bridge in to Baslow again.

River Derwent

In the evening, after a good meal at the Devonshire Arms pub, I noticed that the sky looked clear so did a spot of Milky Way photography over the Chatsworth Estate, there was still some light pollution but nothing too bad really.

The Milky Way above Chatsworth Estate

If you want to know more about photographing the Milky Way take a look at my previous post here.

Calton Lees walk (walk 4):

The next morning we decided to follow Walk 4. This walk starts behind the Devonshire Arms pub on a track that leads into the Chatsworth Estate. On the way to the track we stopped to pick up a picnic from the Cafe on the Green, a lovely cafe overlooking the village green.

Following alongside a brook there are some very cute stone cottages on the left before you reach the revolving kissing gate into the Chatsworth Estate.

Revolving kissing gate

The route heads south through the estate passing Chatsworth House and leaving the estate by the ruins of an old mill. The parkland is extensive and it is great spotting herds of deer if you are lucky.

Walking through the Chatsworth Estate

Leaving the estate the route touches on Calton Lees village then climbs up a long track to reach some beautiful converted stone cottages that are holiday lets. They are located in a peaceful spot with views across to Eastmoor.

Views to Eastmoor

The route passes the Russian Cottage (built for the 6th Duke of Devonshire following his trip to Russia), goes through a small wood and then opens out to superb views over Chatsworth. This is a great place to stop for a picnic!

The Russian Cottage

Panorama of Chatsworth Estate

Having soaked up the beautiful parkland the next place to stop is the village of Edensor, a model village build by the Dukes of Devonshire in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Each house is different and they are all very attractive.

Edensor

The village church has the Cavendish family plot at the back of the graveyard where previous Dukes and their families are buried, including JFK's sister Kathleen who was married to William Cavendish.

Kathleen Kennedy's grave

There is a cafe in Edensor if refreshments are needed.

The walk now returns into the parkland and back to the river flowing past Chatsworth House and retraces the early part of the route.

Another thing to see:

While in the area we decided to visit the Nine Ladies Stone Circle which is roughly 8 miles south of Baslow on Stanton Moor. It was a little difficult to find and there is no official car park nearby but there is a small lay-by on Lees Road close to Stanton in Peak and a signed footpath leading though fields and woodland to the stone circle just under half a mile away. 

Nine Ladies stone circle

The legend is that nine ladies were turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath, there is another stone further away outside the circle which is the King Stone of the fiddler who played the music. The stones were built around 4000 years ago in the Bronze Age.

I hope to return soon to this lovely park of the Peak District and do some of the other walks from Baslow.