From Steamy Architecture to Rude Ladies: Alderwasley Walk



We popped in to High Peak Junction first of all, to take a peek inside Leawood Pumping Station, which was in steam today. 

Some steam enthusiasts with bushy beards had one of the two large boilers well stoked up and the massive beam engine inside was busy lifting water from the River Derwent to feed the Cromford Canal.  In the days when the canal was working, barges moving through the locks between here and Langley Mill, plus leakage from the canal (at a higher level than the river) meant that water had to be pumped in to keep boats from grounding.


Two steam boilers, once stoked up and one empty


It is the first time I have been inside this sturdy Victorian building, and I was impressed how well the volunteers keep it.  It was interesting to see the water surging into the canal, under the surface, and the ducks no doubt enjoyed the jacuzzi effect.

From thence we drive on to Ambergate, and parked at the station, where the day's walk proper began.  The first stretch, into Shining Wood, leads through a strange expanse of derelict factories, the "Wire Works", where ruinous old houses, massive abandoned concrete and steel warehouses, and a clutter of brick outbuildings, are slowly being invaded by nature. It would make a great setting for one of those films about most of the earth's inhabitants being killed by an alien bug, a murder story, or a trendy urban backdrop for some futuristic fashion shoot.

Abandoned house near Wire Works

Happily, the ugly factories eventually give way to the green slopes of Shining Wood.  Apparently this woodland is very ancient - being part of Duffield Frith, a Norman hunting forest once owned by the de Ferrers family.  There are some very old and beautiful sweet chestnut trees along the path, with their characteristic gnarled and furrowed trunks and long sawtoothed leaves. The path was quite steep and wet where a little stream was trying to adopt the path as its bed, but I made it to the top without getting my sandal clad feet wet.  Here the path emerged into meadow land, which looked to be part of the Alderwasley Hall estate. A wide expanse of wildflowers brightened the slope down to our right.  Ahead, the Hall now a private school) provided a landmark to steer by.



In Shining Cliff Woods


Emerging onto a lane we decided to make a detour to visit St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in the village.  This early 16th century "chapel of ease" was apparently abandoned for many years but rescued in 1980 and converted into the parish hall.  The main gate to the chapel grounds is locked but an entrance to the graveyard is hidden further up the lane. I was interested to examine the reputedly haunted building, because it is said to have a medieval  "Sheela Na Gig" carving - one of those rude semi pagan carvings of a hag displaying her naughty bits.  We found the worn exhibitionist ancient set into the wall of the South front, at a convenient height to photograph.  One has the feeling that she was not originally built into this part of the chapel.  The stone looks too large for the wall, even though the roofline was once lower.  On a Victorian photo of the chapel which I found on an archaeology web page, she does not feature at all.  Perhaps she was moved here in one of the 19th or 20th century alterations to the structure.

Photographing Sheela

Back on the path we wended our way back down into the river valley and crossed the river and the busy A6 road at Derwent Hotel.  The ivy clad pub was closed up, and we concluded that like so many other hostelries in the area, like the late lamented Holmesford Cottage, it had fallen a victim to the current recession. 

Musing on the dismal state of the national economy, we walked down a long stretch of canal towpath along the Cromford Canal.  This part was even more leafy and weedy than the Cromford to Whatstandwell section and there was not the evidence of tree clearance that we had seen on previous walks along the canal.  With the trees now in full leaf it was quite shady and the sky threatened rain, but it came to nothing in the end.  Feeling in need of refreshments we took another detour at this point - to the "greasy spoon" trailer in the bikers' layby that plies its wares on the noisy road between Ambergate and Matlock.  The bill of fare centred exclusively around butties - bacon, sausage, egg etc and a strong reek of frying fat filled the air.  Scared of a cholestrol induced heart attack simply from inhaling, we bought a tea and a hot chocolate and sat on the nearby wall to drink it while we eyed the bikes.

From there it was but a short stretch to a hump backed stone bridge where the canal starts to peter out, and descending to the road near the Hurt Arms we soon found ourselves back at the station car park.