Codnor Castle 25th March 2022

 This was the same route from last October. This time with Ben and Meg.

Short Video Clip

An excellent short walk on a hot day for March.

About 4 Miles

Broomfield - Smalley Jan 25th 2022

 Another new local walk. Anne gave Meg and myself a lift to Broomfield college where the plan was to walk back to Smalley via Stanley Common and Smalley Dam. However, part way through I made a change of direction and came back via Morley.

The first mistake was the footpath near to the Broomfield entry. The footpath entered a field and after a circuit of this field I couldn't find a way out. I could see the disused railway the other side of the fence and a brook but no way to get to it. I went back to the road and after a scary section of narrow footpath and vehicles hurtling around the bends I saw a gap in the hedge opposite which gave us access to the disused railway.

The trail up to Lime lane was nice and easy ....straight ahead.

Once I crossed Lime Lane the footpaths became less easy to follow, so when I finally got to the intersection with the Centenary Way I decided to turn left and follow that to Morley where I could pick up the trail I knew back to Smalley via Morley , Breadsall Priory Golf course, Brackley Gate and Woodside.

Brilliant walk , with lots of options to vary it, so I'll definitely be repeating this.

The walk mapped above is about 7 miles. Given I started at the wrong point and had a couple of navigation errors I covered 8 miles today.

Smalley - Denby 9th December 2021 and 13th January 2022

 This was  local walk I haven't done before , so it was nice to do something to the West of the village.

I downloaded the map as an offline map to my phone, so the navigation was quite straightforward. When I had tried this previously I had used a 30 year old paper map, and some of the initial paths are poorly maintained and signed.

Very enjoyable walk, which I repeated on 13th Jan 2022,

lovely walking stick - xmas present from Jake and Aleks

This will now be a regular walk, and I am looking forward to doing it in warmer , dryer weather.

Approx 2.5 miles

The Chevin 22/11/21

 Apart from local walks direct from home  I haven't done any 'hiking' for a while , so it was nice to jump in the car and drive to Belper for a short wander along the Derwent.

This was the second time I have done this walk, and because my memory of the route wasn't spot on I made a couple of navigational errors that probably added a mile to the actual walk. I am confident now I can do this route again without a map, and it is a great route for Meg - around 4 miles, and not too much driving.

View from the Chevin towards Belper

Final climb up to the Chevin

Only a few pics as I was using my phone. 

About 5 miles. An excellent walk on a crisp, clear November morning.Meg enjoyed a brief dip in the Derwent also.

Codnor Castle 25/10/21

 This was something I have been meaning to do for ages. It is a relatively local walk and we have lived in the area for 30 years, so about time ....

The start point was Codnor Park Resevoir, and followed the route below anticlockwise. Apart from the road section through Codnor Park village (approx 1/2 mile), the rest of the route was on good tracks and a canal tow path.

The pics were taken on my phone and are not in sequence.

Codnor Park Resevoir

A dammed section of the disused Cromford Canal

Codnor Castle

The closest thta you can get to Codnor Castle is about 50 yards as it is fenced off by English Heritage.

Really glad to have finally done this walk. It isn't far to drive to the start point and at 4 miles makes it a comfortable 1/2 day walk including driving. This will definitely be a regular,