Breakfast in the hotel was not available until 9am, but as the heavy overnight rain had not yet abated, and this was to be the shortest walk of the trip, there was no pressure to start early, so we indulged ourselves with an enticingly presented Full English.
We returned to Long Row, which in1792 was aligned up the hillside with a continuous sloping eaves line that is parallel with slope of the ground, rather than stepping up the hillside – a solution frequently copied later further north in the Pennines of Lancashire. When I first saw these blackened sandstone houses, they were rather down at heel having suffered a myriad of alterations. Around 1990 the Derbyshire Historic Buildings purchased one of the most dilapidated, rehabilitated and cleaned it, reinstalling a copy of the original windows and then placed it back on the market. Locals were surprised at the price it fetched, and by publishing the accounts of the upgrade, the Trust were able to demonstrate that, whilst only making a small surplus, it was still a viable proposition to improve them. Since that time, nearly all the properties have followed suit and houses in the Row are now eagerly sought after.
Across the stone paved road is another unusual house type where the mill supervisers lived – The Clusters, where 4 houses ‘cluster’ to form each building, each house having a quadrant. With gardens on all four sides these create a charming sense of place, part urban, part rural. Perhaps these were the forerunner of the ubiquitous sub-urban semi-detached?
On past the unitarian Church to the Memorial Gardens where a new Memorial ‘Sacrifice’ by Andy Mayers was added recently 100 years after the return of the soldiers from the western front in The Great War. Constructed of Corten steel it is worth walking through the garden to see it, facing back to France, evoking memories of so many lives lost, it is the face of Jim Green, one of the fourteen young man of Belper never to return.
Up the hill, the Market Place, once the village green, was paved in1881, the stones are still there, it was once surrounded by nine pubs. The millworkers were clearly a thirsty lot!
Leaving Belper by The Coppice we were soon crossing a sloping football pitch on the hillside that must be very difficult to play on! The Way follows an old packhorse route up Cowhill toward Bargate and then on meeting the road, changes route to the C17th Wildersey Farm. From here the route follows the break of slope on the eastern edge of the valley with views into the dramatic mill village of Milford. Although not on the direct route, Milford village really rewards a visit, especially if one is prepared to walk up and around the ‘back to back’ terraced houses and the ginnels and alleys hidden up the steep hillside.
We crossed Shaw Lane and through a field of very old horses, put out to pasture, laying on the grass. Through several squeeze stiles we joined the bottom of the very sunken Dark Lane as we entered into Makeney and past the Holly Bush Inn. The Holly Bush has maintained much of its original character internally with cast iron fire grates and a settle. Sitting in there you could imagine you are still living in the time of Jedediah Strutt.
Waking behind the Makeney Hotel we make our way along Duffield Bank. There is a right of way from here direct to Eyes Meadow in Duffield which forded the river near the current pipe bridge, but in the distance past, the owner of Duffield Bridge dug out the ford so that travellers could not avoid paying the toll to cross the bridge.
We could see there is no toll now, as we passed The Bridge Inn and walked across the Meadows below Eaton Bank. From here the spire of Duffield Church, to the west, on the other side of the river, rising above the trees, completes the pastoral scene. In front the Chimney of Peckwash Mill acts as a beacon. But, once there the path is squashed between the high boundary wall of the mill and the woodland at the base of the hillside, so the mill cannot be seen. In its heyday it was one of the largest paper mills in England, but in 1902 the owners of the nearby Georgian House won an injunction preventing smoke emitted from the chimney, which caused the business to collapse.
Duffield Bank and Eaton Bank, now covered in woodland were once a hive of industry, quarrying stone to feed the Victorian boom in construction from Viaducts to cathedrals. The Way enters one of these overgrown quarries, which is readily apparent when the route passes over an old quarryman’s bridge. When my children were young a house, built like a log cabin, could be seen through the trees in the quarry below. I told them this was where Goldilocks and the three bears lived as an encouragement to them to join me on the walk. The house is now hidden and I presume Goldilocks and the bears have moved on!
Emerging from Hierons Wood an unusually designed ecohouse can be seen, built with sycamore from the woodland and waste stone from the quarry. Down Vicarage Lane the Way takes a direct route by ‘Sea Wife’ down steps to The Town in Little Eaton.
Little Eaton is surprisingly self-sufficient with a school, church, chapel, cricket pitch and pavilion, tennis club, bowls, doctor, chemist, Co-op, post office, newsagent, café, butcher Barry Fitch, blacksmith and a multitude of businesses and meeting halls.
We walked on toward Derby Passing under the A38 and around the wide expanse of talbot’s turf fields and Lord Harrington’s oxbow fishing lake to the Derby Rugby Club on Haslam’s Lane. From there we could see Darley abbey Mills, now used as a unique wedding venue in the West Mill, and we stopped for a pot of tea on the new riverside terrace served by Darley’s restaurant.
Through Darley Village past the Abbey, a pub located in the restored C13th remnants of the original Cistercian Abbey – the only building in the village not restricted by covenant of the Evans Family, the mill owners, preventing the sale of alcohol
The final leg into town was along the recently constructed multi user path through Darley Park, and past the Silk Mill based upon Lombe’s original mill reputed to be the first factory in the world.
We stayed that night at the Cathedral Hotel on St Mary’s Gate. Beautifully appointed, we were welcomed by the patron James Blick, and enjoyed a gourmet’s delightful 5 course tasting menu.
