Strenuous Leader: Malcolm Distance : 10 miles
We will head east out of Bakewell crossing the Monsal Trail with a steep short climb through Manners Wood. We will cross Calton Pastures before heading north to the charming village of Edensor where we will pause for lunch before picking up the Derwent Valley Heritage Way with views of Chatsworth House. We will head south on a flat path through Calton Lees down to the village of Rowsley before ascending to the woods at Bosuns Corner and from here we go to the Monsal Trail via Coombs Farm back to Bakewell.
After the initial climb through Manners Wood this is a relatively gentle walk on good paths.
Moderate Leader: Pamela Distance : 8.5 miles
We will leave the coach park and warm up the legs before climbing through Manners Wood, a good path to cross Calton Pastures will be used to get us to Edensor where we will pause for lunch before making our way to the Derwent Valley Heritage Way with views of Chatsworth House. We will make our way via all things Calton i.e. Calton Lees, Calton Houses and Calton Pastures before climbing again to Ballcross Farm to drop down to Bakewell via the golf course. If its dry this will be a smashing day.
Easy Leader: Jackie Distance: Approx. 5 miles
We will be leaving from the coach park today, so please return to the coach after visiting the toilets.
We set off with a short uphill to join the Monsal Trail (disused railway) for an easy stretch, followed by a track uphill for just over a mile (not steep, just steady incline) passing Coombs Farm. Somewhere along this track we will hopefully find somewhere to sit to have our lunch. We then proceed downhill on good tracks past Aaron Hole Plantation, Bowling Green Farm and Haddon Park to reach the River Wye which we follow back to Bakewell.
Mostly good tracks but could be muddy through meadows along the river. If it turns out to be exceptionally muddy along the river we can do a little uphill and return to Bakewell along a quiet lane.
NOTES ON THE AREA
Although there is evidence of prehistoric, Iron Age settlement in the area, Bakewell itself was probably founded in Anglo Saxon times, with settlers being attracted by a cluster of warm springs.
The crossing of the River Wye, where the Grade I-listed five-arch bridge now stands, was key to Bakewell’s establishment as a meeting and crossing point and led to the town’s development as a trading centre, a market being established in 1254. There was an abortive bid in the 18th century to develop Bakewell as a spa town similar to nearby Buxton.
The name Bakewell means a spring or stream of a man named Badeca or Beadeca, so deriving from a personal name with the Old English suffix wella. In 949 it was called Badecanwelle and in the 1086 Domesday Book Badequelle.
Bakewell Parish Church, now a Grade I listed building, was founded in 920 and has a 9th century cross in the churchyard. The present church was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries but was virtually rebuilt in the 1840s by William Flockton. By Norman times Bakewell had obviously gained some importance as it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The construction of the Lumford Mill by Richard Arkwright in 1777 was followed by the rebuilding of much of the town in the 19th century, and now tourism is the main industry, thanks mainly to its standing, since 1951, as Derbyshire’s capital town of the Peak District National Park.
You will find a paradoxical, yet harmonious mix of ancient and modern, with bistros and boutiques incongruously sited in historic surroundings. Special events are spread through the year, including the renowned agricultural and horticultural show as well as well dressing week, which reaches a climax with the annual gala and an arts festival.
You will be ‘tickled pink’ by one of Bakewell’s more unusual features hidden away in one of the medieval courtyards. There, complete with lopsided walls and latticed windows, is the ‘pink building’, a florist’s shop full of character and charm and crying out to be photographed. If you want an area which captures completely the atmosphere of the town then head for King’s Court, another of the secluded squares which litter the cluttered jumble of Bakewell’s back streets.