Meet report: Sun 16th March

[Stephen Warwick]

A rather confused start to this walk – fourteen of us left Baslow at the appointed time but after several messages and phone calls we had gained two more by the time we had reached the top of the steep climb to Chatsworth’s 16th century Hunting Tower. A delightful traverse of Stand Wood followed, with views over Paxton’s 19thC aqueduct folly and down to 17thC Chatsworth House (its 16thC predecessor, once the home of Bess of Hardwick, was closer to the river – only Queen Mary’s Bower remains of it). Next stops were the Bronze Age sites of Park Gate stone circle and the ring cairn of Hob’s Hurst House. In between we lost and regained two of the party who had back-tracked in an unsuccessful search for lost property. We had sight of a medieval guide stoop as we began the traverse of Gibbet Moor – its name a macabre reminder of crime and punishment in earlier times. We passed another stone circle, barely visible amongst the heather, before taking the tricky path above Umberley Brook. We crossed the site of Baslow Colliery, last worked in the mid 19thC with nothing remaining now to reveal its presence, and made our way along the top of Dobb (Chatsworth) Edge before descending through an old quarried area which once provided some of the stone for Chatsworth House. Passing the Jubilee Rock (commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 1897) we made our way back down to Baslow and welcome cups of tea in the Cafe on the Green. Thanks, everyone, for a very enjoyable day – 4 000+ years of history in 9.5 miles..
Steve W

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