Cromford – Matlock Loop – Walking in the Derbyshire Dales

A glorious morning of sunshine awaited us after a few overnight showers on the motorhome roof in the Cromford Meadows car park. We set off just after nine following a breakfast of egg and beans on toast. Our route took us out of Cromford, uphill in a southerley direction to pick up the Midshires Way on the ridge above the village. From here we followed the well signposted route over numerous styles and past many typical stone houses, as far as Alderwasley Hall, where we took a left on the lane down to the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. Here we crossed the busy A6 and walked North along the Cromford Canal for 3 miles back in to the village of Cromford. With 7.5 miles under our belts we stopped off at the motorhome for a cup of tea and a change in to a lighter jacket.

Suitably refreshed we continued towards Matlock Bath past Masson Mills, now a shopping centre and museum, until we were able to turn down to the river at Derwent Gardens. A short walk through the gardens led us to a bridge over the river and the Lovers Walks on the other side. We continued along the river bank as far as possible until the path came to a halt and an abrupt switchback led us steeply up hill. Continuing over the hill we eventually came out by the Heights of Abraham cable car and another path leading sharply uphill to High Tor and eventually in to Matlock. At £20 each we certainly weren’t tempted by the short cable car ride.

From Matlock we followed the busy road and river in to Matlock Bath, where we couldn’t resist fish and chips at the Taste of the Waves chippy. Great value at £11.95 for fish, chips and beans for me and pie chips and gravy for the good lady wife. Matlock Bath is ever popular with bikers and has a fair number of chippys and amusement arcades for such a small place. The walk back to the motorhome was unremarkable being on the footpath with the main road to our right and the river to our left. This second leg added a further 6.5 miles, giving a total of 14 miles for the day.

All in all a fairly easy walk with just a few sharp uphill sections and plenty to see including; good views across the valley, lots of wellkept tucked away houses, beautiful gardens along the side of the river and plenty of opportunity for browsing and eating in Cromford, Matlock and Matlock Bath