Friday March 25th

 It was the end of a long, sunny week, with temperatures up to 16-18, which is amazing for this time of year. We were off to Baslow for a long walk in the sunshine, starting with a pleasant amble through Chatsworth Park.

The classic pose on the bridge on the approach to Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House with the Elizabethan Hunting Tower on the horizon

After the park, it was a stroll down a tree-lined track diagonally across a field to the picturesque village of Beeley. After this was the steady climb beside, and then through the Hell Bank Plantation (genuinely not as bad as the name might suggest). We then had a relatively level walk across a hill marked as "Rabbit Warren" on the map, giving us marvelous views both to the west and to the north. We tried a new route to the Elizabethan Hunting Tower which cut out the rather tedious loop around the Swiss Lake, which we didn't miss.

After lunch at the tower, we varied our route by going down the steep steps to the left for the first time. This wasn't a bad variant and took us across a relatively unvisited section of the park, past an erratic monolith

An erratic, or a monolith, or an erratic monolith

and where we were able to approach a large herd of fallow and roe deer.
Fallow and/or roe deer in Chatsworth Park
 

We stopped to review an instructive notice telling us about the deer and the brick-built game store at the edge of the park.

Notice telling us of the roe and fallow deer, and the brick-built game store in the park

David had forgotten about the charms of the millstone grit outcrops on the track between Chatsworth Park and the A619. It was good to see the occasional dusting of chalk on some of the holds.



We crossed the A619 near the Robin Hood pub and crossed the moorland below Gardom's Edge, another great vantage point for a cool drink and a snack. The route crossed the A621, crossed a stream on a footbridge but under a huge concrete bridge servicing a couple of houses in the woods. We wound our way up through the woodlands of Jack Flat which allowed us a comprehensive view of where we'd come from. On the picture below, the Emperor Fountain is just about discernible as a white dot.

Topping out from Jack Flat (marked as such on the OS Map)

And up to Wellington's Monument.

Wellington's Monument

The path from Wellington's Monument to Curbar Gap passes by the Eagle Stone. Legend has it that this was the local test for manhood- a youth could only marry a Baslow girl if he had first climbed the stone. Once more, it was good to see the odd patch of chalk, particularly for some clearly difficult boulder problems.

The Eagle Stone

Chalky evidence of a boulder problem under the overhang of the Eagle Stone

We wandered along to Curbar Gap in the hope of a cold drink, but unfortunately the Citroen snack waggon had packed up; nevertheless, we stopped on a bench by a sign kindly provided by The Baslow Beef Co informing us that a bull was at work.
Bull at work, and No Smoking

Finally, a meander back to Baslow's Nether End with a wonderful view back to Curbar Edge
Curbar Edge (The Peapod not visible)


An excellent walk of just under 14 miles, which felt really good.

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