Re: Bob's Bits.
Rowsley – Friday 28th April 2017
It’s only just occurred to me that most of my walks are beside water. There’s something reassuring about walking alongside a river, perhaps it’s the knowledge that it’s hard to get lost while in its company, same with the sea. If it’s on the correct side you can put your map away and get on with letting nature purge away your stress. Today’s walk enlists the help of the river Derwent as it lazily passes Chatsworth House on its way to Rowsley.
About an hour’s drive from home to Rowsley and the large car park situated behind the ‘Peak Shopping Village’ where a sign announced a four hour free stay, but two quid if you want a couple of extra hours. I decided to err on the side of caution and purchased a ticket. It had been a completely cloudless sky during the journey, but now one or two fluffy cumulus clouds were scattered around, nothing to worry about, and it seemed a degree or two warmer here than it had been at home.
I crossed the river bridge on the busy A6 and took a right turn into a side road that led through the outskirts of Rowsley and on to a steep climb up into the country. Not having had the benefit of a bacon sandwich this week I foraged around in the rucksack and found a left over serial bar from last week. It did the job, although trying to eat and climb at the same time was not easy as the need for more air increased it hampered chewing and swallowing. As I left the last small farmstead behind and progressed from a tarmac road onto a bumpy track, the sun was warm on my back, and the silence was overwhelming, I just had to stop and contemplate this beautiful place with breathtaking views.
As the lane levelled out I came across an intersection of three paths “Follow the Blue arrows” my guide suggested, so having identified one stapled to a fence post, I took the left path. After descending through a wood for ten minutes I had a nagging feeling that this was not the correct route, and when a farm appeared to my left I consulted the map. The map disagreed with the printed directions, there should be no farm, so I retraced my steps back to the top of the hill passing a couple of walkers who I had passed once while going down the hill. I decided no words were necessary, but a knowing nod between us indicated that we both know what the situation was, shoddy navigating on my part.
Ironic really that I met an ‘off road’ cyclist who had got himself lost, and I managed to direct him back onto his chosen route. A bit like the blind leading the blind. Anyway, after a ten minute chat and no further navigational errors I was soon striding across the well manicured grass of the deer park down to the village of Edensor with its tall church spire. The cafe’ there was too good to ignore, so after a bowl of homemade mushroom soup and a wholemeal roll about the size of a Yorkshireman’s flat cap, I crossed the road adjacent to Chatsworth House and joined the River Derwent. At about five miles and half way, the river would be at my side more or less all the way back to Rowsley.
The good weather had filled the car park at Chatsworth House and the sun glinted off them neatly parked on the side of a hill behind the house. The house was not very photogenic today as scaffolding and plastic sheeting covered half of the building, hiding the work that was going on behind. Quite a few people walking alongside the river, some with playful dogs, but the further I walked alongside the river the less people I came across, and as I crossed the road to find a kissing gate and stile I was back into the solitude of the countryside. I paused against a large Oak tree half way across a grassy field and once again drifted away in the peace and quiet with just a distant moo from an indignant cow. Had Mrs Fox followed me?
I dispatched my final fragmented serial bar, no rations left, but it didn’t matter as I was in sight of the road bridge I had crossed at the beginning of my walk and I would soon be jostling in the traffic while making my way home through Sheffield. I would soon be back to the man made world of noise and hassle planning my escape for next week.