Lea Bridge - Whatstandwell - Alderwasley - Lea Bridge

Paul John Bridgett

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A walk that finds some tranquility within easy reach of one of the main roads through Derbyshire and some of the busiest towns.

The route begins with an easy canal towpath alongside the derelict section of the Cromford Canal, which offers some chances for wildlife watching with much to see. Then climbing almost constantly, steeply in places, to the mid-point of the walk, a remote former coaching inn.

The return is somewhat shorter, following little-walked paths and short sections of quiet village lanes. All stiles were present when walked and mostly well-marked.

The central point of this walk is The Bear Inn and Hotel alongside a narrow road on the edge of Alderwasley. This is a popular pub, offering a good-value menu, if a little expensive. They also offer some interesting beers on hand pumps, including Moorland's 'Old Speckled Hen', Black Sheep and Greene King's IPA when walked. The interior has mostly wooden flooring, even so covering muddy boots is appreciated. Outside there are several bench tables in a grassed area beside the pub for periods of better weather than experienced while photographing this route.

This is mostly easy walking, though this area is notorious for stiles disappearing with no apparent way out of a field in places. The area is not frequently walked for some reason, though with careful checking of a 1:25000 scale map the route can be found without too many problems.

England - Central England - Derbyshire - Peak District

Features

Birds, Flowers, Great Views, Industrial Archaeology, Nature Trail, Pub, River, Toilets, Wildlife

10/28/2017 - Philip Cross

We did this walk on a beautiful sunny October day. The walk is well described and we didn't encounter any problems following the route. A couple of field gateways were very wet so we have marked the walk not to do when the weather has been wet. For the record my GPS records an ascent of just over 1100 feet - not a problem even at 70!!

1/25/2011 - David and Lesley Fowkes

We have walked this route on several occasions most recently 22/01/2011, we have always found it a great walk no problems with map, pictures or route. However on this walk called again at the Bear Inn and found prices had rocketed £3.00-£3.30 a pint for real ales these prices not displayed in the bar, other pubs in area seem much fairer with smaller increases we won't be calling in again.