Sheffield,The Peak District and Stanage edge

I had over an hour at Sheffield station which allowed me to visit the cathedral


And the winter gardens which appeared to be nothing more than a few indoor shops with palm trees along the interior.It looked better fromn the outside actually.
Hathersage parish church
and the nearby grave of supposedly Little John
The view over Stanage edge
From the road looking up.
On the way back I went by North Lees hall where Charlotte Bronte stayed and based her novel Jane Eyre.

Chatsworth Park

I had been to Chatsworth House twice before but have not yet been around the park so I decided to walk from Matlock station.This took about 90 mins to get to the start of the walk at Beeley.As it was the summer school holidays the park was very full as was the Chatsworth Park shops and cafe but it was still surprisingly sparse up at stand wood and on the walk back to Beeley.

Beeley parish church
Inside Beeley church. Like many churches in the area it was open for all although deserted when I went inside.
The Chatsworth park which is free and surrounds the house and gardens.
An old mill next to the river Derwent.
This is Edensor, an interesting village with one main street and the church at the end of it.I did go in the church but a wedding was about to commence so I did not have a chance to take pictures.
A view of Chatsworth house with the grand cascade in the background
The old hunting tower behind the house on top of the hill.
The house from across the bridge.
Behind the house
Bridge which transports the water from the lake to the fountain next to the house.
Cars going to and from the house through the park
From Beeley moor I followed the footpath along the stream back down to Beeley.

On the way to Beeley I saw this fine cockeral.

The Peak District,Derwent dams and Alport castles

I got off at Bamford station again but this time I arrived 2 hours earlier to enable me to go up the Derwent valley to Fairholmes before heading off to Alport castles which is the setting for one of the the largest landslide areas in the country.

A farm on the side of the Derwent valley under Derwent edge.
The ladybower reservoir looking over one of the overflow plugholes.

Derwent dam which was where the Dambusters practiced their bombing raids during WWII.
After a good walk uphill and along the ridge of the valley I eventually came across Alport castles. This is the view approaching the tower which is the central remaining pillar of the landslide.

The view of the tower from above
Despite the steepness sheep had still managed to get up there.



The view right carrying on along the ridge
More sheep!

It took about 3 3/4 hours to get here from Bamford station which was quite a walk at speed but I still had to get the 6.10 back to Sheffield again so I descended rather quickly to the valley bottom and the path along to the farm.

The bridge leading to the farm.
There was then a footpath that lead along the valley bottom and to the Snake road along the Ladybower reservoir and back to Bamford.

Derwent Edge

I got off at Bamford station leaving me with 5 1/2 hours to climb up to Derwent edge.

This is Bamford
and Bamford parish church

The forst point of interest I came to was Ladybower reservoir. I found these large overflow holes known as the plugholes to be fascinating.There is one on either side.
There are also two identical viaducts, one heading to Manchester the other to Sheffield.
Just after teh Ladybower inn there is a footpath heading up the hill and looking back over the reservoir. I can see why this is callled the lake district of the peaks as there are 3 large reservoirs all in the same area.

Walking along the edge there are many great views back along the valley.
This rock formation is known as the salt cellar.
A rock basin along the way.

I reached back tor but did not have enough time to descend to the valley floor so I had to turn back.

The Peak District,Castleton and Mam Tor

This was one of my favourite walks in the peak district.Getting the Sheffield to Manchester train along the Hope valley line and getting off at Hope station.It is then a short walk up to Lose hill and along the edges to Mam Tor.From there its a descend and through Winnats pass and to Castleton and back to Hope again.


Just had time to nip outside Sheffield station and take pictures of the rather extravagant water sculpture.

Lose Hill.A short distance north of Hope.
Back Tor which is half way between Lose hill and Mam Tor
Mam Tor
Winnats pass.I ended up crossing the fields coming down from Mam Tor and walking along the right edge of Winnats pass back to Castleton.The footpath down was very steep,slippery and turned into a stream at one point so is not recommended as it was quite dangerous.Much better to follow the road to Castleton along the bottom of the pass.

On the way back I visited Castleton parish church