Autumn Footprints 2015 - The Last Walk
w/e 15 November 2015
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
It's been another November week full of overcast
skies and dull days. In the few periods when it did brighten
up I was otherwise engaged so when it got to Saturday afternoon
and the clouds decided to let the precipitation fall on Ilkeston,
it reminded me of a couple of similar days in September when
I got drenched during the Autumn Footprints walks. It also reminded
me that not all the walks in this year's programme had been on
wet days so looking back to the final walk of the Festival, I
thought this is as good an opportunity as any to have another
look at the last walk of the event "Along the Derwent to
Duffield" which took place on Sunday September 27th.
  The circular walk of about four miles began on
St Peter's Park at the Village Hall in Little Eaton. I arrived
in good time and was able to spend ten minutes or so trying to
get a decent picture of numerous Red Admiral (left) and Brimstone
(right) butterflies that were fluttering round the flower beds.
But as the clock ticked round to 2pm a small group of us set
off through the park to Duffield Road.
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Near the end of September, autumn was beginning to make its presence
felt but there were still plenty of lovely flowers on show in
the gardens of the houses on Duffield Road (and elsewhere for
that matter).
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Our walk took us out of Little Eaton along Eaton Bank from where
we dropped down to pass the foot of the Peckwash Mill chimney.
This was instrumental in the demise of the mill which stood at
the side of the River Derwent. Originally a corn mill dating
from the eleventh century powered by the river water, it became
a paper mill in the 1700s when owned by the Tempest family. Eventually
a steam engine was installed to power the mill with a resulting
chimney later to be made higher. It was completed in 1895 but
the prevailing westerly winds blew the smoke directly to a row
of cottages on the hillside, ironically built for workers at
the mill. By 1906 a wealthy householder living to the east of
the mill obtained a permanent injunction that banned the use
of the chimney and the company went into liquidation as a result
but the chimney still stands as a landmark in the Derwent Valley.
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The chimney now stands in a small wooded area and the path runs
close to a high wall on the other side. The mill itself stands
by the river on the other side of the wall.
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When the wall and wood ended we continued across a field to return
to Eaton Bank at the Bridge Inn and then turned left to cross
the Derwent to reach the western bank of the river at the rear
of the inn.
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Turning away from the river, we passed St Alkmund's Church at
Duffield and crossed the footbridge over the railway before continuing
across another field into the village itself.
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A little way along the main road in Duffield, we turned down
a lane and crossed a small water course. This is in fact the
River Ecclesbourne, a tributary of the Derwent.
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We again crossed the railway, this time passing under the lines
and entered the Duffield Millennium Meadow a Local Nature Reserve
(LNR) containing a wooded area as well as grassland and wetland
areas. The walk was described as looking out for "wildlife
and historical features" and having seen some of the history
particularly at Peckwash Mill, here we had the opportunity to
commune with nature where about a thousand different species
of plant and animal life have been observed since the setting
up of the site at the millennium.
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Leaving the LNR we made our way back to Little Eaton and after
crossing the Derwent again near the Bridge Inn walked up Eaton
Bank and then continued to climb up Rigga Lane (above) to pass
the Blue Mountain Cottages where the enjoyed some pleasant views
over the Derwent Valley.
This is the view from the Blue Mountain Cottages
across the valley with the Peckwash Mill chimney that we had
passed earlier in the afternoon in the centre.
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To conclude not only the walk but also this year's Autumn Footprints
Walking Festival we continued along Rigga Lane over the narrow
stone footbridge at Rigga Quarry that we have crossed many times
previously on various walks and then back down Vicarage Lane
to the Village Hall.
Click this link
for more photos plus a route map of the Duffield walk.
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