Froggatt Edge, Curbar Edge, Baslow, River Derwent, Derbyshire.
[17.5 km] Wed 02 Apr 2014

OS Grid Ref: SK 25525 77505
Lat/Long: +53.293895, -01.618524

I had a misty drive with some heavy rain on my way to Froggatt in the Derbyshire Peak District. It’s the first time I’ve visited this part of Derbyshire. At the north end of Froggatt Edge is the official car park but it would cost me £4 for the day so I moved to a nearby lay-bye on the A625. The weather was disappointing as I was in cloud with very poor visibility. The Froggatt Edge path is good underfoot and the first part is through trees, which looked very atmospheric in the gloom.

The rocky outcrops were to my right but I could hardly see them. To help me I was using an old ‘Waking in Derbyshire’ guide book which was published in 1969 and cost 4/6.

My first objective was a stone circle which is clearly marked on the map and fairly close to the path, so I had no trouble finding it. The path continued along the top of Froggatt Edge then along Curbar Edge. I left the trees and was now walking through boulder outcrops of various sizes and shapes.

A dry stone walls to my left looked like It’d recently been re-built. At the southern end of Curbar Edge I came to a man and land rover. He was replacing a gate with a new one just before the descent to the road above Curbar. I stopped to chat for a while and he let me be the first person ever to walk through the new gate.

He told me of some bible references on stones on the lane so as I walked down the lane to Curbar I kept a look out for them. The first stone was on the right and carved was MATT 16.26. That’s Matthew 16.26 in the bible which is “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Further down on my left and by an old stone trough was a stone with John 5.24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."

I soon reached the outskirts of Curbar then turned left along a lane. At the end I turned left up a footpath and came to my second objective, an interesting round house. It is a grade 2 listed building and is English Heritage Building ID: 81536 dated from around 1780 with a wonderful circular stepped squared masonry roof. It is reputed to have been used to keep prisoners overnight whilst in transit to other gaols or court hearings. Further up the path I came to the 5 flat stone markers for the graves of Thomas Cundy and his family. Carved in the stones are ‘T.C’, ‘A.C’, ‘O.C’, ‘N.C’.

I continued south and came to a stone structure on what seems to be the Derwent Water Pipeline. I headed up though the mist to the Wellington Monument which is a stone cross placed on a large boulder. It commemorates the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852).

I returned down the path for a short way then descended Bar Road into Baslow where I crossed the old stone bridge to follow a minor road by the River Derwent and an amazing long weir. I soon left the road and followed a path across a wet field then a muddy track to join the river for a short while under the A623 then up into Calver. A track took me past the refurbished Calver Mill (now private) and on to the Old School House which is now a camp/caravan site. I re-joined the riverside as far as Froggatt Bridge where I crossed over and followed Spooner Lane.

The lane is fairly unique as it is paved along the centre, presumably so pedestrians had a dry walk while carts would make do with the unsurfaced sides. The path crossed open fields for a while then into some fascinating woodland before emerging at the road at Grindleford. I immediately turned right up a track and into Hay Wood. As I climbed I walked back onto the low cloud and emerging into the car park at the summit I was in the same bad visibility as when I started. A short stretch of path took me back to the lay-bye on the A625 and my car.