Matlock Bath - The Lovers' Walk
w/e 08 October 2017 All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
It's five years since we last featured Matlock when the Olympic
torch passed through in 2012 and it's an even longer ten years
since our Sentimental
Journey to Matlock Bath so a return visit was long overdue.
There may have been some subtle changes over the intervening
years but to the casual observer, North Parade looks very much
the same.
Our objective this time though was the other side of the river
so we walked past the still colourful flower displays to the
Jubilee Bridge.
The Jubilee Bridge opened to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden
Jubilee in 1887 was cleaned, repainted in its original colours
and reopened in 2014 and links directly to paths on the other
side of the River Derwent that are called The Lovers' Walks.
Anyone with a camera who crosses the bridge will surely have
a similar photo to this classic view of Matlock Bath showing
the Victorian Thermal Baths towards the right of the picture
on North Parade.
They may not however how this view also taken from the bridge
of the River Derwent in the opposite direction but at this time
of year it is just as attractive as the trees at the side of
the river beginning to don their autumn colours.
Turning left after crossing the bridge we walked a short distance
to the end of the riverside path before retracing our steps.
The path does continue further but at the moment a temporary
barricade bars the way and I remember a little while ago The
Lover's Walk was closed altogether because of the danger of falling
rocks. On the way back to the Jubilee Bridge we noticed the Old
Methodist Chapel which now houses the Matlock Bath Indoor Craft
Market.
We had already walked past the bandstand but as we returned to
the bridge (visible on the right through the trees) we noticed
an engraved stone that said it had been opened on June 29th 1893
by Mrs C A Peters. Mrs Peters was the wife of Charles Augustus
Peters, local businessman, patron of many philanthropic societies
and responsible for the Pavilion and Gardens Scheme in Matlock
Bath.
We continued beyond the bridge and walked to the south by the
side of the river. The Lovers' Walks not only follow the river
but also rise up the cliffs by means of several flights of steps.
This is one of them.
Eventually another bridge comes into view and moored on the other
bank are a number of small boats that are used in an illuminated
parade when darkness falls at this time each year when the Lovers'
Walk becomes a viewing area.
The bridge that crosses the River Derwent from The Lovers' Walk
into the Derwent Gardens was built in 1969 and from it is a good
view of the area of Derbyshire that is often called "Little
Switzerland". I wonder what the Swiss would think of we
referred to their homeland as "Big Matlock Bath".
To conclude our walk we now returned northwards on the opposite
side of the river through the Derwent Gardens and back to the
main road through Matlock Bath. Hopefully it won't be another
ten years before we return. There's much more about The Lovers'
Walks, Derwent Gardens and the Matlock Bath Illuminations on
the Derbyshire Dales District Council's website
where there are many photos and videos like the one below.
