Masson Hill 28th March 2022

 First walk I have tried from the Walks in the White Peak book by Mark Richards. 

Start point was the car park at Cromford Wharf. Leaving the car park and crossing the road there is a gate leading to the footpath past St Mary's Church and Scarthin Rocks. After crossing the A6 and walking through the town centre past Scarthin Books I picked up the footpath signposted to Bonsall and Matlock Bath. 

From there it was a steady climb along the side of the Derwent Valley before reaching Ember Farm.

At Ember Lane the footpath is signposted to Bonsall. However, to get to the top of Masson Hill I had to walk through the farm which wasn't very walker friendly (gates that wouldn't open, grumpy farm dogs etc.), Pretty soon the footpath seem to fade away, so for the final climb, we just puashed our way up through the gaps in a bank of gorse on the hillside.

View from the top

Another view from the top

Looking at the map of the area Masson Hill is the highest point around at 338 metres.  I couldn't find the path off according to the book, so I retraced my steps back through the farm to Ember Lane.

The rest of the walk was straightforward, dropping down to Bonsall and then down the hillside along the edge of a quarry back down to Cromford.

St James Church Bonsall

Bonsall - bottom of Ember Lane

Scarthin Rocks

St Mary's Church

Great to try a new walk after months of local walks around Smalley.

OS OL 24. About 4 miles.