North-east of Darley Dale, between the moorland and Chesterfield, the village of Holymoorside is a good starting point for a walk in the countryside between the village and the outskirts of Chesterfield.
I parked near the Bull's Head and walked towards Chesterfield along Holymoor Road ...
There's a well used path through the fields though and I was soon following this ...
This forms part of the South Chesterfield Way ...
When I was there a couple of years or so ago the footpath had oil seed rape on both sides ...
The boundary of the parish has been marked by eight boundary stones, one of them pictured here ...
I don't know to what 'Low Years' relates ! Is it the name of the area ?
I was following the path in the Hipper Valley ...
... and soon a pair of Canada Geese with six goslings passed me by ...
A coot gave me a glance from private property ...
At the end of Walton Dam the route I was following did an 180 degree turn [or thereabouts] through the houses and gardens north of Matlock Road ...
For the next half a mile or so my route passed between garden fences too ...
Eventually I reached Matlock Road along which I have travelled for over 60 years I suppose though I have never crossed it in this way ...
I had seen the odd walker following the path south and away from the road though. Now I was doing the same ...
This path ran through and along the edge of the Chesterfield Golf Course where I was warned to 'Beware' ...
A wide path proceeded into Walton Wood ... with hardly anyone about.
... where waymarking was probably superfluous ...
On the south-western side of the wood I was greeted by aromatic wild honeysuckle and a tree-topped hill ...
It was at this point that I walked north-westwards inside the woodland ...
... the owner of the private woodland made it clear what you could [and couldn't] do on the public footpaths !
Hopefully I reached Matlock Road without being in breach of the law. I crossed the road to the north-east of Walton Lodge, walking through the fields ...
After some road walking I picked up another footpath on the eastern side of Holymoorside to bring me back into the village.
I found a seat in the churchyard, made friends with a cat and sat enjoying a slightly stewed cup of coffee which had been in my flask for far too long.
This walk was followed on the 28th May 2011
Length of walk ~ 5.96 miles *
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 204.94 miles
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 28th May 2011 ~ 726.68 miles
45 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was still averaging just over 4.5 miles a walk.]
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap