[1] Leave Whatstandwell Station car park and turn right. Walk along the A6 and cross the Derwent bridge. On the other side cross the road carefully – Hazard - blind bend – and cross the small triangular patch of grass to a stile. Cross the small field of rough grass to the stile by a field gate. Cross the road and go through the squeeze stile. Follow the path uphill through trees for 100m then turn sharp left at a waymark and ascend steps. The path emerges onto a steep driveway then after only 10m leaves it to the left and follows a fence line up again through a stile and past Lambert Hill House. You emerge at the corner of a field.
Note: If starting from the canal side car park walk down the hill the way you came and cross the Derwent.
[2] Follow the left hand wall line uphill through 2 stiles and a gap left of a line of trees. Looking back gives a good view of Crich Quarry and Crich Stand. At the next field boundary 5 paths meet. Take the sharp right turn (do not go through gate) keeping the boundary of the wood to your left (you will now be following Midshires Way signs to Waypoint 7) dropping downhill to a group of buildings. Aim for the gate to the left of the greenhouse. Walk diagonally left to the Watergate Farm gateway. Cross the driveway and Mere Brook and bear left up the bank. Cross a field to the top left corner and follow the fence line behind a tree to a stile by a field gate, leading onto a track. Turn left and walk up past Bunting Wood Farm and Yew Tree Cottage.
[3] Ignore a left turn then at a fork in the track enter Watfield Farm by gate or stile and bear right up past the farm buildings, passing two stiles and a gate. Exit the farm over a third stile onto a path along the right hand margin of a wood, then through the wood, ignoring the right turn onto ‘The Kings Lot Path’. Then bear left to a well-marked path downhill which leaves the wood. Pass through 2 stiles close together into a small field, following round to the left to a squeeze stile by a field gate which gives onto a road (the B5035).
Cross the road and go down Intake Lane, marked with a ‘Bridleway’ sign. Follow the lane straight for 1.4km past two caravan sites and through 2 wicket gates. Eventually the paving turns to track and shortly afterwards the sandy track enters trees and turns sharp right through another wicket gate. Follow the track round to the left and downhill through the wood, the track showing evidence of having been paved with gritstone blocks
[4] After 250m the track passes under the stone-clad embankment of the Sheep Pasture Incline of the Cromford and High Peak Railway.
(A)The Cromford and High Peak Railway is in many ways one of the most remarkable railways built in the UK. Was one of the earliest significant railways in England, being built to overcome the impossibility of building a canal over the peak from the Midlands to Manchester.
20m before the bridge, bear left at the ’High Peak Trail’ sign and drop down onto the railway track bed by a small quarry with a wooden crane. Turn left and climb the 1 in 7 incline to the summit past an impressive wall of gritstone.
At the summit is the winding house, with a superb view over Cromford and, in the distance, the Heights of Abraham and Matlock. An information board explains the layout of the village, including Willersley Castle. This is a good place for a picnic. Then follow the track bed until you pass between two gritstone masses. Bear left up a stony path and climb a scree-like slope of mine waste to see Black Rocks.
(B) An outcrop of gritstone sculpted by the wind and rain, Black Rocks hang high above the village of Cromford with Cromford Moor behind and the High Peak Trail (the former Cromford and High Peak Railway) passing just below. It's a spectacular situation which affords a splendid view of the Derwent valley around Matlock and because of its popularity the area has been designated a country park.
Alternative Route: If you wish you can then follow a path round the right of the Rocks (marked by a post with blue and green bands) to climb to the hilltop, which is topped by a telecomms mast. There are at least three different routes to the top, two with steps, the third with a millstone made from the gritstone and a trivial clamber up rocks. The views, however, are largely obscured by trees!
Retrace your steps, bearing left down the waste heap to regain the track bed.
[5] Cross into the car park then immediately turn right to descend 20 steps through trees. Then in a muddy area bear right down a track which is more of a stream bed, marked by the base of a wall on the left. You emerge from the trees into a small area of mine waste.
Alternative route: The following route has been designed to keep you away from Cromford Hill, which is heavily trafficked and quite unpleasant. If you find the route confusing you can just bear left at any time and get onto Cromford Hill and drop down to the Market Place
Cross the waste heap to the far right hand corner and drop down a wall by steps into a field. Follow the right hand wall to a small iron gate giving onto a roadway by a group of houses. Follow the road to the left, crossing a cattle grid, then curving steeply downhill past houses into Bakers Lane. 40m later take a signed path right down past a garden hedge which opens into a narrow lane between houses, bringing you into Cromford village.
[6] At the bottom of this lane turn right and immediately left into Bedehouse Lane. Follow this down past the right hand end of the Almshouses continuing ahead then bearing left to emerge on Cromford Hill. Turn right and after 40m turn right again between houses, Alley Head, onto a path zig-zagging down to the left between cottages and gardens to emerge at the end of North Street. This consists of mill workers housing of 1776-7, the first planned housing in Derbyshire. These have attic windows for hand frame weavers.
Cross the end of North Street with the school of 1832 on your right into an open space then go through a gap in the left hand wall behind the large tree into another zig-zag path through gardens and cottages. The main feature on this path is a circular pit which was built to take water from lead mines at Black Rocks to Arkwright’s Mills. You emerge onto Cromford Hill again.
Turn right and go down to the Greyhound Hotel, built by Sir Richard Arkwright in 1778. Cross the road to Water Lane, to see Cromford Pond, originally a reservoir for the mills, and a water wheel originally used to grind barytes for making paint. Turn right round the end of the pond into Scarthin, with its remarkable bookshop. Return to the Market Place past the Boat Inn. Hazard - narrow busy lane.
[7] Turn left to the A6 (Derby Road). Cross at the traffic lights and take Mill Road directly opposite. Follow it down to Cromford Mill.
(C) Cromford Mill was the world’s first successful water powered cotton spinning mill, initiated in 1771 by Sir Richard Arkwright. Lack of water in 1840 meant that the mill ceased production and the buildings were put to other uses. In 1922 the site became a colour grinding works, which survived until 1979. After a while the historical importance of the site was recognized and it is now a Grade 1 listed World Heritage Site.
You can enter the mill complex either via the gateway opposite the car park on the right of the road, or from the car park on the left. Leaving the mill, turn left along Mill Road. On the right is Cromford Wharf, the terminus of the Cromford Canal, which includes a cafe and toilets.
(D) The Cromford Canal was built in 1789-1794 by Jessop and Outram. It was 15 miles long, and joined the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill to Cromford. It included Butterley Tunnel of 3063 yd length. Although initially successful, the canal partly closed relatively early in 1900 due to the subsidence of this tunnel, the remainder lingering until 1944. The wharf site includes a warehouse of 1794 and the later ’Gothic Warehouse’ of 1824 with a castellated end reputedly ordered by Sir Richard Arkwright Junior to improve the view from Willersley Castle.
An alternative route back to the start is provided by the canal towpath. Take the towpath from behind the ‘Gothic Warehouse’ building marked ‘N Wheatcroft and Son, Coal and Coke Merchants’. Note that the towpath changes sides at Lea Wood Pump House.
(I) The Lea Wood Pump House was built in 1849 to pump water from the Derwent into the canal. It could be used only at weekends to avoid excessive extraction of water. It contains a beam engine from 1849 and locomotive type boilers of 1900. The pump is operated occasionally by the Middleton Top Engine and Leawood Pump Group.
The route passes High Peak Junction on the Cromford and High Peak Railway.
Rejoin the main route at the canal tunnel
On the main route, continue on the road past the wharf, to reach the bridge over the Derwent with its chapel and fishing temple and immediately after the entrance to Willersley Castle.
(E) Willersley Castle was initiated by Sir Richard Arkwright in 1790, but he died in 1792 before it was completed. His family lived there until 1922.The house is now a hotel owned by the Christian Guild.
Stay on the main road (Lea Road) and pass under the railway at Cromford Station.
(F) Cromford Station Is most elegant. The Stationmaster’s house dates from 1855, and the waiting room on the disused platform, which was originally the main station building, was built in 1860. The main building was built in 1874, and the footbridge in 1887 by the Butterley Company.
You can return to Whatstandwell Station by train from here.
[8] 45m after the railway bridge (10m after the bridge height restriction sign) take the stile up steps on the left, which is sign posted to Dethick. Climb steeply up 60 steps to a stile where you turn right through a squeeze stile into a wood. Continue through the wood on a broadly level muddy path, finally cross a stile into a field.
Go ahead for 50m then drop down to the right following the line of straggly trees. Bear left round the end of the wall which approaches from your left. Continue on a broadly level grassy path, passing a spring and trough, then drop down to a stile by a field gate. In the next field go diagonally down to the right to another stile by a gate at the corner of the field. Turn left onto a lane and follow it uphill for 150m. Hazard: This lane is narrow and winding and has no footpath, but has little traffic.
[9] At the gateway of ‘Sunny Bank‘ turn right onto a signed path which passes in front of the house. Follow the path straight ahead through a wood, Ignore a left fork, bear right to pass a sign marked ‘Bow Wood’ , the path initially level then falling at an increasing rate before emerging onto Lea Road. Turn left towards John Smedley’s Lea Mills.
(G)The home of John Smedley’s knitwear is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating textile factory in the world. Built 1784 by Peter Nightingale and John Smedley Senior. John Smedley Junior diversified from spinning to knitting, and became rich enough to build Smedley’s Hydro in Matlock, and Riber Castle. The mill contains a factory shop.
If visiting the mill shop take the left fork in the road (Lea Road) up between the buildings. Otherwise take the right fork (Mill Lane) uphill. After 300m go through the kissing gate on the right of the road opposite Hollins Wood Close. Hazard: this is situated on a very dangerous corner. Turn left and follow the wall line uphill to a kissing gate. Walk between the wall and a fence.
(H) To the left is Lea Hurst, one of the family homes of the Nightingale family of Lea Mills. Florence Nightingale was one of the family, but was born in Florence and it does not seem that she ever lived in the house.
[10] Step over a low wall into a field and follow the wall round to the right and through a very muddy gap in a hedge. Cross the drive of Lea Hurst. Follow the hedge line to your right and pass through the deer gate in the corner of the grassed area. The steel tube with domed top is an air vent for the Derwent Valley Aqueduct from Ladybower reservoir to Derby and Leicester.
You enter a large sloping deer park. Follow the wall line on your left down to another deer gate at the bottom. Turn left onto a path signed to Ambergate that leads down to the canal towpath by the canal tunnel, where the alternative route rejoins. Turn right.
[11] Follow the towpath back to Whatstandwell (about 1.5km). If you’ve parked by the canal you will arrive directly at the car park.
If you started at the station follow the towpath under the road bridge and after 150m turn right over the station footbridge.