Mid-Length Walking Report for May

Our May walk was to Cromford, Homesford and Lea Bridge.
With a daunting weather forecast for the day the walk had been in jeopardy. However from an initial five souls in the Cromford carpark at 9:45 the number doubled at 10:00! There was rain at the beginning of the walk so the first talk had to be brief but we did learn that Richard Arkwright had roots in Preston and connections in Nottingham before establishing himself in Cromford. The rain eased and by coffee time had stopped completely. After a gain in height of 380 feet there was a steady decent to the A6 at Homesford. The next ascent brought us to Lea Hurst, the childhood home of Florence Nightingale before we turned North West through fields and woods to the village of Lea Bridge witnessing a fine carpet of bluebells on the way. Bow Wood, a designated bluebell wood, was the lunch stop and the stage for a Robin Hood ‘tale’. We emerged from the wood to have good views to the south west- Cromford, Cromford Meadows and Willersley Castle. Upon return to the carpark we had covered a distance of 5.8 miles and gained in total a height of 1000 feet, (and equivalent decent).


Thank you to Dave Kay and Ian Raynor, our intrepid walk leaders!
The whole group adjourned to the Hurt Arms at Ambergate for well-deserved refreshments.
The group’s next walk, on Monday June 19th will be to Litton/Cressbrook Dale – to be led by Paul and Steph Haigh.