Cromford and the Black Rocks
| Published: 26th March 2008 21:47 |
Walking through the Industrial Revolution in a once quiet valley where history was made.
For many centuries Cromford, 'the ford by the bend in the river', was no more than a sleepy backwater. Lead mining brought the village brief prosperity, but by the 18th century even that was in decline. Everything changed in 1771 when Sir Richard Arkwright decided to build the world's first watered-powered cotton-spinning mill here. Within 20 years he had built two more, and had constructed a whole new town around them. Cromford was awake to the Industrial Revolution and would be connected to the rest of Britain by a network of roads, railways and canals.
Distance 5 miles (8km)
Minimum time 3hrs
Ascent/gradient 720ft (220m)
Level of difficulty Easy
Paths Well-graded - canal towpaths, lanes, forest paths and a railway trackbed, quite a few stiles
Landscape Town streets and wooded hillsides
Suggested map aqua3 OS Outdoor Leisure 24 White Peak
Start/finish SK 300571
Dog friendliness Dogs on leads over farmland, can run free on long stretches of enclosed railway trackbed
Parking Cromford Wharf pay car park
Public toilets At car park
Directions
1. Turn left out of the car park onto Mill Road. Cross the A6 to the Market Place. Turn right down the Scarthin, passing the Boat Inn and the old millpond before doubling back left along Water Lane to Cromford Hill.
2. Turn right, past the shops and Bell Inn, then turn left up Bedehouse Lane, which turns into a narrow tarmac ginnel after rounding some almshouses (otherwise known as bedehouses).
3. At the top of the lane by a street of 70s housing, a signpost for Black Rocks points uphill. The path continues its climb southwards to meet a lane. Turn left along the winding lane, which soon divides. Take the right fork, a limestone track leading to a stone-built house with woods behind. On reaching the house, turn right through a gate, and follow the top field edge.
4. After climbing some steps, climb left through the woods of Dimons Dale up to the Black Rocks car park and picnic site. The track you've reached is the former trackbed of the Cromford and High Peak Railway. Immediately opposite is the there-and-back waymarked detour to the rocks.
5. Returning to the car park, turn right along the High Peak Trail, which traverses the hillside high above Cromford.
6 . After about ¾ mile (1.2km) watch out for a path on the right leaving the Trail for Intake Lane. On reaching the lane, turn right and follow it to a sharp left-hand bend. Here, go straight on, following a path heading south east along the top edge of some woodland. (Note: Neither the path nor the wood is shown on the current OS Outdoor Leisure map of the White Peak.)
7. On nearing Birchwood Farm, watch out for two paths coming up from the left. Take the one descending more directly downhill (north west, then north). At the bottom of the woods the path swings left across fields, coming out to the A6 road by Oak Farm.
8. Cross the road and follow the little ginnel opposite, over the Matlock railway and the Cromford Canal. Go past the High Peak Junction information centre, then turn left along the canal towpath. Follow this back to the car park at Cromford Wharf.
Community Comment:
Add your comment:
You will need to sign in to post a comment to this article. if you do not have an AboutMyArea account, you can join now for free.
