Chesterfield Round Walk Chesterfield Round Walk – Introduction 2 of 37 For a century the countryside surrounding Chesterfield couldn't have been more different. The western side, out towards the Peak District, has long been a beautiful landscape of rolling green hills and narrow wooded valleys watered by streams flowing down from the moors – whereas the eastern side could only be described as industrial. Today the collieries have been reclaimed, their tips and lagoons converted into pleasant country parks, the railways that served them into walking and cycling trails. Many of these areas have now matured, obliterating all traces of their more grimy past. The following route is a 34 mile circular walk exploring the varied countryside just beyond the suburban fringes of Chesterfield. The town can often be visible from vantage points, particularly on the higher ground to the west and east. There are six convenient sections between points served by public transport and with parking opportunities. It can therefore be explored leisurely either as a series of linear walks using buses, out and back walks from a car, or as part of circular walks of your own devising, using OS Explorer Map 269 (Chesterfield & Alfreton) It can even be walked in a day, as is the case in the Chesterfield Area Walking Festival each May – or over a weekend. The route is described in a clockwise direction, though comprehensively way-marked in both directions. With the aid of grants a number of new stiles, gates and footbridges have been erected, footpaths cleared and improved, and information boards placed at viewpoints along the way. Appropriate footwear is recommended as some popular paths and bridleways can remain muddy all year round. This has been substantially based on the official guide to the Chesterfield Round Walk, researched and written on behalf of the Chesterfield & NE Derbyshire Ramblers in 2005 by Rob Haslam, author of Walking South Yorkshire and the Sheffield Greenway. The Oak Leaf Graphics Round Walk leaflet with the route directions, together with line drawings by John Morris, is still available on request, although some ancillary information such as bus arrangements has changed in some cases. Many thanks to all the original project team – Dennis & Beryl Ransby, Geoff Bell, Gavin Johns, and Sheila McCree – and to all those Ramblers members who have supported and maintained the route in the intervening years. The maps on these pages have been based on rowmaps The underlying maps are provided by Ordnance Survey OpenSpace © Crown copyright and database rights 2012 Ordnance Survey. The coloured lines that have been superimposed on this map show rights of way. solid red line: footpath; solid fuchsia line: bridleway; solid green line: restricted byway; solid blue line: byway open to all traffic. The Round Walk route is shown as Chesterfield Round Walk 3 of 37 Unstone to Brimington Clear footpaths and tracks across gently 6 miles undulating, mainly arable, farmland Highlights : Stubbing Wood and the Chesterfield Canal Parking : Crow Lane or Church St. Buses to and from Unstone: Traveline East Midlands Chesterfield Round Walk 4 of 37 Cross over the B6057 (Main Road) in Unstone and follow Crow Lane. Once across the River Drone, bear right along the signposted driveway. Bear right in front of Siscar House and follow the drive with the central grass verge to Ramshaw Lodge. Take the path to the left of the entrance, cross the footbridge, and ascend through a gap in an old railway embankment to a kissing gate in the hedge. Turn left along a short section of enclosed path, leading to the access road to Woodsmithies Farm, which you follow uphill to Hundall Lane. Turn right and in 300 yards reach the Miners Arms. Cross Windmill Lane and enter the drive of the house opposite, immediately bearing right along the path between fence and hedge. Continue up the narrow field with a large hay barn on your right. Pass through two metal kissing gates and turn left at the T junction. Follow the bridleway round to the right and carry on alongside the southern boundary of Stubbing Wood. Turn left at the road and then bear right in 100 yards towards West Handley. Chesterfield Round Walk 5 of 37 As you approach the hamlet take the second of two footpaths on the right, past a large stone barn. Go through the gap and along a short grassy track. Bear right in front of the field gate, between fence and hedge, and maintain an easterly course alongside the hedge on your right. Where the hedge ends, take the right-hand path to the signpost in the hedge ahead. Now go straight across the middle of the next field, down into the dip and ascend to the right along the clear narrow path climbing to the top of the field. Pass through the wide gap and follow the hedge on your left over the brow of the hill to the main Eckington to Chesterfield road. Take the Staveley road opposite, leaving it at the sharp left-hand bend to continue past the post box along a farm road. Beyond the buildings the enclosed track becomes a splendid green lane, descending gently for half a mile in a southerly direction. Cross a couple of tiny streams and climb between fences to Parkhouse Farm. Chesterfield Round Walk 6 of 37 Opposite the attractive farmhouse turn left along the track to Whittington Road. Turn left and descend to the bottom of the hill. The Barrow Hill Engine Roundhouse Shed is along the road to your left. Turn sharp right before the bend along the lane past the Handleywood Farm complex. This roughly surfaced track heads west over the hill towards New Whittington. Follow Staveley Road for 100 yards to a bend, and turn left at the Trans Pennine Trail signpost to pass under the railway. In 200 yards you cross the River Rother, soon to reach the Chesterfield Canal Chesterfield Round Walk 7 of 37 Cross the new bridge and ascend Bilby Lane. Shortly after it becomes walled on both sides, leave it left along a wide fenced track. Go through double wooden gates and stay alongside the fence on your left to reach a wide gap, through which immediately turn right and follow the fenced hedge on your right, heading south-west, with the square tower of Brimington Church on the skyline ahead. Cross a stile and turn left along an enclosed path through the allotments. Turn right at the end past a 'No Tipping' sign, following the tiny stream to the road. Cross over and ascend Damon Drive, veering right at the top, and then left up the steps before the playground. Continue ahead along Chapel Street past the post office, bearing left behind the pub and past the toilets to the main road. Bus services to Chesterfield run through Brimington. Chesterfield Round Walk 8 of 37 Brimington to Heath There are country lanes and hard tracks amidst the 7 miles green fields in the central section of this stretch, but also some of the finest woodland paths in the county Highlights : West Wood and Sutton Scarsdale Hall Parking: off the main road in Brimington Buses to and from Brimington: Traveline East Midlands Chesterfield Round Walk 9 of 37 Chesterfield Round Walk 10 of 37 Turn left towards Staveley along the main road for 300 yards until the footway on the right ends. Branch right for 75 yards to the end and turn right into the field at the footpath sign. A pleasant grassy footpath heads south, following the line of trees on your right. It passes a cunningly disguised radio transmitter and dips down to a footbridge. Continue ahead up the slope to a stile leading into recently planted woodland. There is a good view of the palatial Ringwood Hall, now a hotel, from here. Where the path forks, ascend right to a stile. After a few yards bear right again. You should now be walking parallel with the fence above you on the right through woodland. Emerging into a wilderness of bracken you keep along this path, now with a steep drop on your left. The path curves down left into the valley bottom before swinging right around the perimeter of an overgrown pond. You soon reach a substantial footbridge leading into the ancient Westwood. The climb is at first steep, but levels out when you meet and turn right along a good track. After 100 yards veer right at the fork. As you merge into the next track pause to look back over your left shoulder at the two wood-carved sentinel figures. Continue downhill to cross a wide footbridge. This smoothly laid track, which for a while follows a deeply cut stream bed, brings you out of the wood at Lodge Farm. Brimington Westwood Chesterfield Round Walk 11 of 37 Chesterfield Round Walk 12 of 37 Take the signposted footpath left into untamed pasture, crossing a gap in the hedge into a somewhat more manicured field. Veer left to the bottom corner, cross the footbridge, and ascend steeply for about 20 yards to a T junction. Turn left and curve up to the right for a few yards. When you see the power lines through the gap ahead, look for a clear path off to the right. C ol um n 123 Follow this out of the wood, across a narrow field and between the houses to a cul-de-sac, where you turn left. Descend the steps, ignore the path going left, and continue alongside the wooden boundary fences. The way becomes narrow and enclosed, but hopefully kept clear of encroaching vegetation.