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A steady climb raises you above the hurley burley of Matlock Bath to a more familiar Peakland landscape.
Distance 8 miles (12.9km)
Minimum time 5hrs
Ascent/gradient 1,200ft (365m)
Level of difficulty Medium
Paths Narrow woodland paths, field paths and unsurfaced lanes, lots of stiles
Landscape Fields and wooded hillsides
Suggested map aqua3 OS Outdoor Leisure 24 White Peak
Start/finish SK 297595
Dog friendliness Dogs on leads over farmland
Parking Pay car park at Artists Corner
Public toilets At car park
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© The Automobile Association 2008. © Crown Copyright Licence number 100021153
1 Cross the A6, then take St John's Road up the wooded slopes opposite. It passes beneath St John's Chapel to reach the gates of Cliffe House. Take the path on the right signed 'To the Heights of Abraham'. The path climbs steeply through the woods before veering left across the fields above Masson Farm.
2 By the farmhouse the waymarked path rakes up to a gateway with Victoria Prospect Tower directly ahead. Turn right beyond the gateway, and climb to a stile at the top of the field. Beyond this the path threads through hawthorn thickets before passing an entrance to the Heights of Abraham complex.
3 Ignore an engineered path and continue uphill along the perimeter of the complex, then turn left, over a stile. After crossing a wide vehicle track the narrow path re-enters woodland.
4 At the far side of the woods, turn right along a green lane, passing close to Ember Farm. This pleasant lane winds down pastured hillslopes into Bonsall village.
5 Turn left by the church along a lane that becomes unsurfaced beyond Town Head Farm. The lane comes to an abrupt end by the high fences of a quarry. Turn left here and follow a wide track around the quarry perimeters.
6 The track bends right and terminates at a large gate. Here, turn left along a narrow path through woodland high above the Via Gellia (in the valley below), then take the left fork after about 200yds (183m).
7 Turn left at the next junction, following the path waymarked for the Derwent Valley Walks (DVW). This climbs further up the wooded bank, then turns left, tracing a mossy wall on the right. It rakes across the wooded hillside, passes a large complex of buildings, then climbs away past some cave entrances to a lane at Upperwood. Ignore the next DVW sign and continue along the lane between cottages, and past the entrance to the Heights of Abraham showcave.
8 The road, now surfaced, descends towards Matlock Bath. Just beyond a sharp corner, leave it for a stepped path through the woods. Climb some steps to a high wooden footbridge over the Heights of Abraham approach road, and then continue on the woodland path. You'll pass under the Heights of Abraham cable cars before joining a track that has come in from the left.
9 This joins St John's Lane and the outward route at Cliffe House.
Between Matlock and Cromford the River Derwent forges its way through a spectacular, thickly wooded limestone gorge. At Matlock Bath it jostles for space with the bustling A6 highway, the railway to Derby and a string of three-storey houses, shops and amusement parlours, built by the Victorians, who flocked here to take in the healing spa waters. On the hillside to the east lies the gaunt castle of Riber, while Alpine-type cable cars glide up the Heights of Abraham, above cliff tops to the west.
The original Heights of Abraham, which the hillside must have resembled, rise above Quebec and the St Lawrence River in Canada. There, in 1759, British troops under General Wolfe fought a victorious battle with the French under General Montcalm. Both generals were to lose their lives and the encounter earned Wolf, and Quebec, an unenviable place in English place-name folklore, to be joined later by Waterloo and then Spion Kop, from a different colonial war.
Matlock Bath doesn't have time to catch its breath: it's Derbyshire's mini-Blackpool. Yet there are peaceful corners, and this fine walk seeks them out. It offers fine views across the Matlock Gorge. Spurning the cable car, it climbs through the woods and out onto the hillside above the town. The Victoria Prospect Tower peeps over the trees. Built by unemployed miners a century ago it's now part of the Heights of Abraham complex.
Above the complex, a little path leads you through delectable woodland. In spring it's heavy with the scent of wild garlic and coloured by a carpet of bluebells. Out of the woods, an attractive hedge-lined unsurfaced lane weaves its way through high pastures, giving distant views of the White Peak plateau, Black Rocks and the cliffs of Crich Stand.
At the end of the lane, there's Bonsall, whose Perpendicular church tower and spire has been beckoning you onwards for some time. In the centre of this old lead mining village is a sloping market square with a 17th-century cross. The Kings Head Inn, built in 1677, overlooks the square, and is said to be haunted.
The lane out of Bonsall takes you to the edge of an area of old mine shafts and modern-day quarries. Here you're diverted into the woods above the Via Gellia, a valley named after Philip Gell who built the road from the quarry to the Cromford Canal.
Those who wish can make a short diversion from the woodland path to see the Arkwright Centre and the canal in Cromford. The main route swings north, back into the woods of the Derwent Valley, passing the high hamlet of Upperwood, where fleeting views of Matlock appear through the trees.
Explore the Heights of Abraham more fully by taking the Alpine-style cable car, which was built in 1984. Included in the fare are trips round the showcaves. There's also an interpretation centre and a restaurant in the complex.
The Kings Head Inn at Bonsall is a fine old pub that is said to be haunted. They prepare very good bar meals here. You could also try the Barley Mow in The Dale just off the Via Gellia. This is a popular 17th-century inn with real ales and a reputation for excellent food.
St John's Chapel, seen early in the walk was designed and built in 1897 by Sir Guy Dauber for Mrs Harris, who lived at Rock House, a short way down the hill. It was meant to serve the parishioners who found it difficult to reach St Giles at Matlock, but also it was a place for those who preferred a High Church service.
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