MATLOCK AND BONSALL WALK
THE WALK
Matlock and Bonsall Walk is a glorious walk with magnificent views. Climbing up from Matlock, the walk soon reaches the unusually designed St John’s Chapel, built into the hillside. After a further climb through woodland and open fields, the Victoria Prospect Tower appears on the left.
The path goes past the attraction, The Heights of Abraham. The hillside hereabouts is riddled with mine shafts, a reminder of the days when lead mining prospered in this area.
After passing through an attractive area of woodland above Matlock Bath, the route descends to the ancient lead mining village of Bonsall. The return journey follows the Limestone Way and, after a steady climb, provides fantastic views over Matlock as it gradually descends to the start of the walk.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 3 – The unusually designed St John the Baptist’s Chapel was commissioned as a private chapel in 1897 by Mrs Louisa Sophia Harris, a local landowner. And internally fitted out without regard to cost. When it was declared redundant, the charity, the Friends of Friendless Churches, took it under their care in 2002. Since taking it over, the charity has arranged repairs, including rebuilding the gates and cleaning and repairing the chandeliers. It is a designated Grade II* listed building.
Point 5 – Since opening to the public in 1760, people have travelled from all over the world to the Heights of Abraham to explore its underground caverns, wander the woodland paths and enjoy the breathtaking views. When Queen Victoria visited Matlock Bath in 1844, she ascended the Heights of Abraham on a donkey. Nowadays, visitors usually use the country’s first-ever alpine-style cable car system, installed in 1984. The comfortable and smooth journey – included in your entry ticket to the Heights of Abraham – carries you from the valley floor to the hillside high above and provides some truly stunning views of the surrounding Peak District. Guided tours of Rutland Cavern and Great Masson Cavern, both part natural and part lead mines, are included in the attraction’s admission price.
Point 6 – The ancient former lead mining village of Bonsall, with little groups of cottages huddled together on odd plots of land along winding streets, adds to the charm of this attractive, scattered village. At the centre of the village is an interesting group of stone houses and the King’s Head, a delightful 17th-century inn. In front of which is the much-photographed market cross, which has a slender circular shaft topped by a ball and surmounted by 13 steps.
Point 8 – The Barley Mow is the home of the world hen racing championship. It takes place annually in the pub car park. Over the years, the event has garnered considerable media attention and has even gained international recognition. It first took place at the Barley Mow in 1992, but locals claim that the tradition dates to well over 100 years, when local farmers in the village would bet a penny and race their hens past a bucket.
WALK DETAILS
Length: 5.5miles.
Start: Matlock Bridge. Car parking may be difficult at peak periods. Check facilities available before travelling.
Location: On the A6 Derby to Buxton Road.
Terrain: Hilly and can be wet and slippery underfoot.
Refreshments: Bonsall has the Fountain Tea Rooms, the King’s Head and the Barley Mow public houses. Matlock has a range of teashops, public houses and restaurants to suit all tastes.
THE ROUTE
1. From Matlock Bridge, cross the A6 with the railway station on your right. Walk to the left of the former bank premises and keep left to follow the Limestone Way sign up a flight of steps into a field.
2. Partway up the field at a signpost, take the path to the left signed ‘Derwent Valley Walk’ and go through a stile and across a short field. Head for the top right-hand corner of the next field and go over two stiles to follow the path alongside the wall on the left.
3. The path bends first right and then left before returning to the side of the wall as it leads you down to St John’s Road. Take a careful look at St John’s Chapel before continuing up the access road.
4. Turn sharp right by the entrance to Cliffe House up a narrow tree-lined path beside a high wall. The path bends to the left, emerging from the trees in a field by Masson Farm. Continue across the field and over a stile before following a signed path uphill over a further stile along an obvious path that begins to angle more sharply to the left. The Victoria Prospect Tower is to your left.
5. On reaching the side boundary of the Heights of Abraham, walk by the wall for a few yards to take a signed path to the left. The Great Masson Cavern is near this point.
6. Cross over a service road following the path through thick woodland. Turn right on leaving the wood past Ember Farm to walk down the lane into Bonsall.
7. Turn right and, within a few yards, go through the church lych gate and keep left through the churchyard before descending a flight of steps down to the road through the village. Go to the left down the road for a few yards and then turn right up The Dale.
8. In about 100 yards, take the path to the right leading up the hillside. At the top, turn left down a short slope to view the Barley Mow. Then retrace your steps and go to the left down a track by the first house.
9. Cross two fields to reach the far corner in the second field, where you turn right over two stiles to follow a surfaced path (re-surfaced by German prisoners of war in the 1940s) down to the road through the village by ‘The Cross’. Go over the road to join the Limestone Way, which is clearly signed, and follow the walk up an enclosed path which bends sharply to the left and then right, eventually arriving at a ‘T’ junction of paths where you head uphill.
10. Continue straight on at a stile by a gate, but at the next gate take the stile on the right and angle across an open field to the left to walk alongside the wall opposite to a stile into a lane. Cross the lane and walk a short distance to a stile on the right. After crossing the stile, keep close to the wall on the left, drop downhill to go through a swing gate into a lane.
11. Turn right up the lane and after 30 yards go over a stile on the left to another stile in the bottom left-hand corner, through a small field and over the farm lane.
12. Walk down the following field close to the boundary, going to the left at a waymarker and then straight on along a clear path. With Masson Mount House on the left, go through a small field and some bushes to cross a private road, taking the stile opposite down the field to rejoin the path used at the beginning of the walk and return to the start.
MATLOCK
