Monday 7th June - Baslow/Curbar Edges
(Pathfinder White Peak Walk #21 (7.25 Miles) 4hrs 45mins
We stayed at the Samuel Fox Country Inn in Bradwell on Sunday night. The Inn isn't 'cheap' at £115 per room, but it was worth the cost. The inn only has five rooms and only one of these has a bath so you need to request it upon booking (we like a good soak after a long walk).
Also contacting the Inn direct rather than going through Late Rooms or similar will possibly get a better rate, we noticed some offers on their website so worth a look there.
The reception was very welcoming. We were shown around our room - complimentary Thorntons chocolates, tea/coffee, even some port and a bowl of fresh fruit.
There was a large flat-screen TV and the room decor and fitments were very tasteful and stylish. A very comfortable place to be. The one negative that might be a concern to some was that the inn is situated on a main road. Because of the warmth of the evening we left the windows open all night and obviously this meant we had a bit of traffic noise, other than that 10/ 10.
The evening meal in the restaurant was set at a high standard, but prices were not overly expensive for the quality of the food (approx £56 for our meals, three courses each, not including drinks from the bar). The menu was simple (not exhaustive descriptions), but the food was nicely presented and well cooked. Very friendly staff - though one girl did appear to do almost everything - but very efficiently and polite at the same time. No pretentious airs or graces here, good food presented well with no over the top waffle (good beer too!!).
Having had a most comfortable night at the Samuel Fox Inn, we had a very substantial breakfast (juice/toast/full cooked english and fresh croissants and jam/tea/coffee) we decided to set off on another walk as the weather looked reasonable.
http://www.samuelfox.co.uk/
We checked out and headed off in the car to the start of the walk in the pay and display in Baslow (£4.70 all day)
The walk took us on a fairly long and steep-ish ascent from the centre of Baslow, past houses then out onto a rough track, and eventually rising to the approach to Baslow Edge. We rested here on a bench and took in the view, with Wellington Monument nearby and Chatsworth House Estate in the distance. From there we took a left up onto the edge itself, passing a large stone (Eagle Stone) on the right of the path. We took a detour from the main path as suggested by the guide book to walk nearer to the edge itself among very large rocks as can be seen above.
Further along can be seen the larger Curbar Edge, which we continued onto later.
The viewing point above allowed you to pick out certain landmarks seen from Baslow Edge.
Having enjoyed the view, we continued on, dropping down then up onto Curbar Edge.
Curbar Edge was larger and even more impressive particularly walking among the large rocky outcrops right on the edge itself. The views across the Derwent Valley were stunning.
Having spent quite a bit of time here admiring the views, we moved on, stopping regularly to admire the viewpoints.
(Pathfinder White Peak Walk #21 (7.25 Miles) 4hrs 45mins
We stayed at the Samuel Fox Country Inn in Bradwell on Sunday night. The Inn isn't 'cheap' at £115 per room, but it was worth the cost. The inn only has five rooms and only one of these has a bath so you need to request it upon booking (we like a good soak after a long walk).
Also contacting the Inn direct rather than going through Late Rooms or similar will possibly get a better rate, we noticed some offers on their website so worth a look there.
The reception was very welcoming. We were shown around our room - complimentary Thorntons chocolates, tea/coffee, even some port and a bowl of fresh fruit.
There was a large flat-screen TV and the room decor and fitments were very tasteful and stylish. A very comfortable place to be. The one negative that might be a concern to some was that the inn is situated on a main road. Because of the warmth of the evening we left the windows open all night and obviously this meant we had a bit of traffic noise, other than that 10/ 10.
The evening meal in the restaurant was set at a high standard, but prices were not overly expensive for the quality of the food (approx £56 for our meals, three courses each, not including drinks from the bar). The menu was simple (not exhaustive descriptions), but the food was nicely presented and well cooked. Very friendly staff - though one girl did appear to do almost everything - but very efficiently and polite at the same time. No pretentious airs or graces here, good food presented well with no over the top waffle (good beer too!!).
Having had a most comfortable night at the Samuel Fox Inn, we had a very substantial breakfast (juice/toast/full cooked english and fresh croissants and jam/tea/coffee) we decided to set off on another walk as the weather looked reasonable.
http://www.samuelfox.co.uk/
We checked out and headed off in the car to the start of the walk in the pay and display in Baslow (£4.70 all day)
The walk took us on a fairly long and steep-ish ascent from the centre of Baslow, past houses then out onto a rough track, and eventually rising to the approach to Baslow Edge. We rested here on a bench and took in the view, with Wellington Monument nearby and Chatsworth House Estate in the distance. From there we took a left up onto the edge itself, passing a large stone (Eagle Stone) on the right of the path. We took a detour from the main path as suggested by the guide book to walk nearer to the edge itself among very large rocks as can be seen above.Further along can be seen the larger Curbar Edge, which we continued onto later.
The viewing point above allowed you to pick out certain landmarks seen from Baslow Edge.
Having enjoyed the view, we continued on, dropping down then up onto Curbar Edge.
Curbar Edge was larger and even more impressive particularly walking among the large rocky outcrops right on the edge itself. The views across the Derwent Valley were stunning.
Having spent quite a bit of time here admiring the views, we moved on, stopping regularly to admire the viewpoints.
The route from here dropped very steeply via a rocky narrow track through woodland. I would not recommend this on a wet day as it could be slippery.
Once past this slow section things improved as we came out at Froggatt Bridge (which we could see in the distance earlier from Curbar Edge). Once over the bridge, the walk took a riverside path (watch out for those cows again!) for a mile or so.
We crossed the river in Curbar village, then a bit of a steep uphill slog and it started to rain (not too heavily though). We pressed on for a while and it evened out and the rain slowed, allowing us to enjoy the mile or so back to the start point at Baslow.
We left Baslow and headed off to our new B&B near Matlock - Holmefield Guest House for two nights.
We had a Victorian style room with a slipper bath in the bedroom itself as well as a large en-suite.
The only thing we found was the room decor was a bit dark, making the whole room look very dim (Victorian style I guess - does what it says on the tin!!)
Nice view though over countryside/hills, and if the weather had been better there was a large terrace with table to sit out overlooking the views. The rain prevented this though!!
Tuesday was a total wash-out - no walks, so after a reasonable breakfast (not a patch on Samuel Fox Inn though) bit of shopping at Masson Mills near Matlock Bath, Aquarium visit, and then drive to Buxton and a walk around the shops.
We took a meal at Holmefield on Tuesday evening, which was okay, again not as good as the night previously at Samuel Fox, and it was a similar price, but lesser quality.
I think the weather took the shine off Holmefield, as I am sure it would have been much more pleasant if we could have relaxed outside enjoying the views with drinks etc.....
Wednesday we left after breakfast, returning home and reflecting on the three excellent walks we had and decent weather for the most part.
Will definitely return to the Samuel Fox Country Inn.
Our Walk Score: 7.5/10
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