Tea at "Robin Hood"

This is one of my favourite short walks - along the Cromford Canal to the oddly named hamlet of Robin Hood near Whatstandwell.

We left the car at High Peak Junction car park and quickly crossed the footbridge to the canal (it pays not to hang about as there is a sewage farm here!)   From the junction and the information centre you take the path on the opposite side heading away from Cromford and passing Leawood Pumping Station.  The canal is shallow and silted up these days, overhung with trees and home to reeds and weeds, making it useless for boats but ideal for waterbirds and wetland creatures.  And it being late April there is the added attraction of watching families of tiny fluffy duckings bobbing around their mothers. The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust have been doing quite a lot of felling along the path, which is opening up the tree canopy to more light and will doubtless encourage more wild flowers.   

 The path runs along with the river Derwent down to your right and the canal on your left, and at one point Crich Stand is briefly visible ahead, on its cliff of quarried limestone. It seems odd that the canal is at a higher level than the river, but as canal, road, river and railway all share the same ribbon of flat land at the bottom of this wooded valley, I guess they all have to fit in somehow!

At one point the path passes under a narrow brick tunnel and in another under this charming little bridge.  Eventually the canal curves and the tiny hamlet of Robin Hood comes unexpectedly into sight.  The Old Sawmill was apparently once the place where gritstone from Dukes Quarries above was sawn up and loaded onto barges for transport. Today it is a very pretty looking B&B with a lovely situation overlooking the water and backed by a steep slope up to Oxhays Woods, where the quarries used to be located.  A brook must have provided the power for the mill, and can still be seen rushing through a series of archways.  Beyong the Sawmill is a footbridge and crossing it you come into an area of woodland crisscrossed by footpaths. The wild garlic plant (Ransoms) flourishes in this shady spot and the smell at this time of year is so strong it's hard not to think about garlic bread!

A short stroll through the woods and up a tarmac lane leads to the entrance to Oxhays Woods (full of bluebells still) on the left and the Oakford Cottage Tearooms on the left.  I love this place - not for the quality of its scones, but for the wonderful view from its terrace. On a bright day it's a real suntrap and I could sit for hours just enjoying the vista across the valley to Shining Cliff Woods.  It's open from Wednesday to Sunday each week, but there are only a few tables and at peak times John the owner closes the gate.  Last time we came we had to wait quite a while for a table.  You have been warned. But if you can squeeze in, it's worth the wait.  Some ducks and a peacock are usually strutting around or squabbling over crumbs in the garden field below. 

The attractive aluminium tableware is, I was informed by John, called "Piquotware", and has the ability to keep tea scalding hot for ages. He and his wife collected 14 sets for use in the cafe by scouring eBay.  

Eventually of course one has to pay the bill and descend the hillside again for the walk along the canalside back to High Peak Junction.