BONSALL HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM WALK
THE WALK
It takes a little while for the Bonsall Heights of Abraham walk to really inspire, but when it does, outstanding views over the Derwent Valley make the effort of climbing Ember Lane well worthwhile.
As you pass the Heights of Abraham, cable cars glide back and forth from Matlock Bath, taking visitors to the top of the pleasure grounds that have been in use since the 1780s. Across the valley is the spectacular High Tor, and behind that the village of Starkholmes.
The return journey is along the Limestone Way, before heading for Town Head and then turning off Bonsall’s main street up Stepping Lane. From this point, a gentle perambulation around the outskirts of the village takes place to enjoy the many fine views.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 2 – Cable cars glide back and forth from the Heights of Abraham, taking visitors to the top of the pleasure grounds that have been in use since the 1780s. When Queen Victoria visited Matlock Bath in 1844, she ascended the Heights on a donkey. Nowadays, visitors typically use cable cars, which first began operating in 1984. The more energetic take the more strenuous option and walk.
Point 5 – The walk passes the unusually designed St John the Baptist’s Chapel, commissioned as a private chapel in St John’s Road off the A6 road. It was built in 1897 by a local landowner after a row with the Rector of Matlock. It is a Grade II* listed building. After becoming redundant, it has been cared for since 2002 by the charity, the Friends of Friendless Churches.
Point 6 – In 1851, Ralph Davis opened a small hydropathy on Matlock Bank. John Smedley acted as his medical adviser, and two years later, he bought the business from Davis and immediately started to expand. He built the Hydro, commonly known as Smedley’s Hydro, to his design, which soon catered for more than 2,000 patrons per year. Hydropathy continued to flourish, and the town grew until the First World War. But, after that, the number of hydropathic establishments began to dwindle. Smedley’s Hydro is now the home of Derbyshire County Council. The further development of Matlock owed much to its location on the main railway line between London and Manchester. It came to an end in 1967, when the line north of the town was closed.
Point 12 – 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: 5.5 miles.
Start: Park by the roadside at the bottom of The Dale by the Fountain, opposite the recreation ground.
Location: Off A5012, Cromford to Buxton road.
Terrain: Some moderately steep sections, but nothing too strenuous. OS Explorer Map OL24.
Refreshments: The Fountain Tea Rooms in the heart of the village. –Barley Mow Barley Mow, this friendly little pub stages the World Hen Racing Championship in August every year and has connections with UFOs – The Kings Head, established in 1677, a lovely old pub in the village centre.
THE ROUTE
1. By The Fountain, go through a stile to enter the Children’s Playground and ascend a flight of steps on the left towards the Churchyard. Keeping the church on your left and the school on the right, walk to the road. Here, you turn left and then, in a few yards, right into Ember Lane.
2. Continue up the lane and immediately after passing Ember Farm, turn left into an area of woodland. Follow a clear path that eventually passes behind the Heights of Abraham attraction and goes over a wall stile.
3. Follow the signed path diagonally to a stile at the bottom of the field. Angle to the left across the next field, going between two gateposts, into a field with a large collection of thorn bushes. Walk to within 50 yards of the bottom left-hand corner of the field and turn left through a stile.
4. Keeping the field boundary close on your right, pass Masson Farm and follow the narrow path around the farm. Continue along a clear path through an area of woodland before swinging to the left and following a high wall, leading to the entrance of Cliffe House and cottages. Here you turn left and walk down the road.
5. Immediately after passing St John the Baptist’s Chapel, turn onto the path above the road through an area of woodland. After leaving the woodland, follow a grass track round a hollow in the field, before returning to a wall on the right. Keep alongside the wall and then cross two stiles into the field opposite.
6. Angle to the left along a path marked by edging stones to a gap in the hedge, maintain the same direction in the next field, with views of Matlock, before turning sharply left in the third field by the footpath marker post and walking to the top of the field.
7. Go over an access road and carry straight on for a few yards to reach a stile and cross the corner of a field to a gateway opposite. The path continues straight ahead along a clearly marked route, climbing up through a series of fields to cross a farm road to the right of Masson Lees Farm.
8. Continue diagonally right through a small field and in the next continue alongside the hedge on the right to a lane, where you turn right and then in a few yards left, by ‘Geoff’s Seat’.
9. Angle to the right across the first field, and after going over a stile, keep close to the wall on the right in the second. Go over the next stile you come to, cross the corner of a field and reach an access road.
10. After crossing the road, continue straight on over the next field until, after passing a barn, the path bends to the right to a stile in the hedge. Here you turn left and follow the track round as it gently descends. At a fork in the track, keep descending to the right and continue to maintain the same downward direction. You soon reach an access road to some houses, and shortly after that, you turn left onto the road through the village.
11. Turn right between the houses opposite Bonsall Cross and head up Stepping Lane, a narrow track with many steps. At the top, cross a small field to a stile 20 yards from the left-hand corner. You now continue along an easy-to-follow route through a series of walled paths and small fields to enter Bell Lane. Carry straight on at a ‘T’ junction of roads passing Hollies Farm.
12. After passing Brumlea Farm, the road swings to the left and just around the corner, turn left through a stile by a footpath sign, and descend a small valley through three fields. At the bottom of the valley, go down the road and then fork left down The Dale, opposite Bonsall Wesleyan Reform Chapel, passing the Barley Mow on the way back to the starting point of the walk.
BONSALL
