Category: Tansley

Tansley Woods and Lumsdale Waterfall

It had been a quiet day. The sun was shining and I needed to stretch my legs. What better than a short walk from home to raise an appetite.

I walked through Tansley, past the Gate Inn and down the knoll to the bridge and continued up the very pretty lane. This is an ascent, perhaps slightly steeper than you might expect, but nothing too strenuous. At the point where the road veers to the right, continue up the track with the woods right in front of you. The views across the valley to Matlock Bath are particularly nice here. After a short distance there is a path leading into the woods. I don’t think it is marked as a footpath? Again, there are short ascents here and there, but by and large it is just a serene place to walk, dotted with remnants from mining in this area. Every now and again, you get steep drops to the side of the path so do take care. Having said that, there are many paths and you will do well to find yourself on the one marked on the map, but nonetheless you will eventually end up roughly where you were expecting. There is a path eastwards out of the woods that I reached, and I had intended to follow this direction, but I was enjoying the woods too much, so took a path that I thought would lead to the top of Lumsdale where the new houses are being built. This is indeed where I ended up, though slightly further up than I was expecting. The path eventually joins the main Chesterfield Road, and you are obliged to walk a little way down that before taking the road to Upper Lumsdale.

Again, you don’t need to follow the road very far. After about 100 metres there is a footpath over a rickety bridge that takes you just above the stream and to the side of the meadows. It has the air of an ancient path, that eventually reaches a junction where you can turn left to go back into the woods or right to go to the stream and the eventual waterfall. This path had a different air to it, with ramshackled stones bobbling about the path, which I expect will form a stream of its own in winter. At the bottom is an attractive set of stepping stones. I was met by two ladies saying to some young child playing in the stream to ‘mind the glass’. They knew this area well and for years had been finding remnants of bottles and some stonewear that looked as if it had melted. Judging by the thickness and colours of the glass, these fragments are probably 70-100 years old. It is a mystery why they are there. The ladies said, despite their research, they hadn’t been able to find a business or a pub etc further upstream that might have been their source. Who knows?

Continuing down the path beside the stream, I found more fragments, and then I was at the road again. This leads to two mill ponds, and old works and buildings all linked to milling in various forms, that was prominent in this area in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is worth spending time reading the noticeboards dotted around as they give a fairly comprehensive view of the industry in this area. This whole area is now owned by the Arkwright Society, Arkwright being responsible for innovating all the activity in this area. You can also read a potted easy-to-read history of this area by looking at the baldhiker.com website.

The Lumsdale waterfalls themselves are tucked away out of sight. There is a gate on a corner, which I assume is always open(?). Head through this and up a few steps, make your way across some stony boulders and you find yourselves at an angle half way up the waterfall. It has been a very dry summer, so there was a relatively small amount of water today, but this didn’t stop all the youngsters and teenagers (and older) from frolicking about, jumping across stones and blazing a trail downstream (not advised). It is very pretty and I can imagine it would look even more splendid at dawn or dusk, when you might be lucky enough to have it all to yourself.

A few strides down the road and you come to a footpath sign, with two leads – one going eastwards and the other westwards towards the top end of Matlock through the trees. I took the easterly path, across fields and meadows back to Tansley.

This was a delightful late afternoon / early evening walk and one I suspect I shall do on many occasions. It was just about 4 miles long, with 650ft or ascent and descent, so nothing very strenuous, but just enough to let you know you have done some exercise and more importantly spent time enjoying and exploring the natural environment.

Tansley Circular

I had almost persuaded myself that it is time to close my blog. It’s not been the best of years, with two moves in eight months, both being complicated for different reasons. Then, I have had minor but painful health issues over the winter, followed one month ago by a heart attack, necessitating a stay in hospital, an angioplasty and a stent. I had only been in my Tansley house for two weeks when this happened. However, one month on, I am doing remarkably well, and once we sort out my medications so that I don’t have so many awful side effects (muscle pain in particular), I think I shall be back to climbing mountains and writing blogs.

This evening was the first time I have really been out since the heart attack. I could tell I was recovering because I was getting very itchy feet and even more irritable with myself and others, whereas for the first 2 weeks I was too exhausted to do anything. It has been a very muggy day here in Derbyshire today, so after a bite to eat (good healthy home-made fish salad), I donned my walking shoes and took off on my first venture in Tansley – very gently of course; must be sensible.

I walked through our village – it is a pretty village, with a quiet atmosphere. I took the path that I believe goes to what is called the Fete field. The footpath continues through it, but a game of football was taking place, so I took the side route, through the brand new, very small housing estate to Whitelea Lane. For a small country road that only goes to Tansley, it was surprisingly busy. It is uphill for about half a mile, nothing too strenuous and there are some lovely views. Before reaching Neville’s farm, I turned onto a footpath beside some old cottages, going into the wood. This is a very pretty, well-used path, with established trees. Before reaching the end of the path, I turned left, and again went uphill – I was beginning to think my cardiologist might not be too happy if this continues – but I stopped regularly as there was so much to see. The wild flowers were just beautiful, and so many varieties, and when I reached the top of this short hill, the views in all directions were stunning, and almost unexpected. Tansley is already at 450′ odd of elevation, and it didn’t seem as if it were possible to go much higher, but today’s highest point was 831′.

Lane in the woods
A peak at Tansley through the trees

The footpath continues flat for a short distance before reaching Knabhall Lane. I have driven along this lane before when the main roads have been closed and thought how lovely it is, as it is a gentle climb to the top with open views, or in my case, a gentle descent down into the valley. There were swallows everywhere. Eventually, the lane joins the main A615 to Alfreton, at the corner with the big garden centre. However, it is only a very short walk before you turn off to the right on another footpath, to lead between some beautiful houses and gorgeous countryside before returning to the top end of Tansley. I had checked this out when I was on Knabhall Lane to make there was no significant ascent, and it is as I expected, almost flat. From here, it is just a hop and a skip down and around a few corners to my new house on Bentley Walk.

The meadow at the start of the ascent
The hills beyond Matlock
Riber Castle Overlooking Taansley
The footpath between lovely houses
A timeless scene
A field

There is a big debate going on right now, as Tansley is rapidly expanding its housing (ergo, I have moved here), but it is not expanding anything else, no shop, small school, narrow lanes – the archetypal village. The infrastructure can’t really take the proposed developments, especially the water, all of which has to drain into a little brook just down from where I live. Matlock has always flooded – they may just make matters significantly worse if they keep building on all the high land above Matlock. The two recent developments on this side of the road are small (46 houses where I live, and less at the top) but the proposed plans are rather bigger. As I walked through one of the areas for the planned development, I did think that if this did get passed, this would be the least unpopular development. The field is flat, with no seemingly particular interest, and bordering just a few houses. Access would be very tricky though. I don’t necessarily support any development in the village – it is important to try and retain the integrity of a small village community, and as an interloper, who isn’t really entitled to have a view, the current developments are more than enough – any more, and the village will change its character.

I think this will be a happy home and place for me to live. I can do numerous walks on footpaths or minor country lanes in three directions, and the fourth direction takes me to Matlock 1.5 miles away, but still being able to use footpaths for a large section of the walk. And we do have buses (when they come!).

So, with luck, and no setbacks, I shall continue my blog and try and provide you with a variety of scenery in and around Derbyshire as and when I can.

Distance: 3 miles (1hr moving time): Total Ascent 397 ft; Total Descent: 400 ft; Minimum Elevation 498ft; Maximum Evelation 831ft

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