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| After the bustle and noise of Matlock Bath it comes as a surprise to find just over the hill a peaceful village like Bonsall nestling in a deep dale. Bonsall is a village of many parts; The steep road up from the Via Gellia is called The Clatterway. At the village green The Dale splits off to the left while the High Street carries on all the way to Town Head. Between Town Head and The Dale is Uppertown while just along from The Dale is the hamlet of Slaley.
Bonsall has a long lead-mining heritage and once boasted five pubs. The moor above is pock-marked with the remains of lead-mines and the village comprises mainly small lead-miners and weavers cottages.
At the centre of the village is an old market cross on a circular base of steps outside one of the two remaining pubs, The King's Head, dating from 1677. Just along church lane is the Victorian church, which overlooks the village. Over in The Dale is the other remaining pub, The Barley Mow, which hosts the annual Bonsall Chicken Race on the first Saturday in August.
Bonsall Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - The Pavilion at Matlock Bath | 
1 - Bonsall Market square | 
2 - Cromford - Scarthin and millpond | 
3 - Matlock Bath | 
4 - Matlock Bath from above the Temple Hotel | 
5 - River Derwent at Matlock Bath | 
6 - Middleton by Wirksworth cottages | |
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| Brassington is a former lead-mining village, nestling high on the southern edge of the high ridge of Limestone which forms Minninglow, Harboro rocks and the outcrops above Middleton by Wirksworth.
 Brassington Church
Nearby Harboro Rocks are an outcrop of Magnesian Limestone which has been eroded to form a line of rock pillars, very popular with the rock climbing community. Within the edge is Harboro Cave, a substantial cave which was inhabited from prehistoric times until relatively recently. When Daniel Defoe made his journey around England in the 1680s he came across a family living in this cave.
Bradbourne lies about 1 mile west of Brassington. It too has a fine church which is also partly Norman in construction. The point of greatest interest however is the Saxon Cross which stands in the churchyard. This probably dates from the 8th or 9th centuries and, though made from soft sandstone and very weathered, is still quite impressive.
Brassington & Bradbourne Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Bradbourne church | 
1 - Bradbourne church - Norman arch | 
2 - Bradbourne church - Saxon stone | 
3 - Brassington house | 
4 - Brassington village | 
5 - Carsington Water and boats | 
6 - Harboro Rocks - entrance to Harboro Cave | 
7 - High Peak Trail - Hopton Incline |
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| Carsington and Hopton are two small villages to the north of Carsington Water that run into each other along the single narrow lane that connects them. They are well placed for exploring Carsington Water and the southern edge of the Peak. There is a pub at the Carsington Water end of the village.
Hopton Hall, which is hidden behind and interesting and curvaceous high brick wall, is the home of the Gell family, who have been here since 1208. They were the lords of the manor of Wirksworth and became rich on the proceeds of lead-mining. Many of their tombs are in Worksworth church. Others were more widely famous - Sir John Gell was a Parliamentarian general during the Civil War and held Derby for Parliament. He brought the Mace here from the House of Commons when Cromwell finally dissolved Parliament during the Commonwealth. Another Gell founded the school at Wirksworth and yet another built a road to connect the lead-mines along the Griffe Grange Valley above Cromford - this became known as the 'Via Gellia' and is now the A5012.
Carsington & Hopton Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Brassington house |
1 - Brassington village |
2 - High Peak Trail - Hopton Incline | |
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|  Greyhound Inn
It's a busy, bustling place at the junction of the A6 and the Via Gellia (A5012). There are several shops in the area around the Greyhound Inn, including the magnificent Scarthin Bookshop. On the other side of the A6 the road to Cromford Wharf and the Cromford Canal takes you to Arkwright's Mill, which is now a major visitor attraction, and the village church, which contains Arkwright's tomb and lies in a secluded spot near Willersley crag. Opposite the crag on the other side of the Derwent is Willersley Castle, built by Arkwright as his home and now a hotel. Just up the A6 toward Matlock is Arkwright's grand and imposing Masson Mill, which now houses a useful and interesting shopping complex.
Cromford Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Richard Arkwright |
1 - The Pavilion at Matlock Bath | 
2 - Black Rocks, Cromford | 
3 - Black Rocks climbers |
4 - Bonsall Market square | 
5 - Cromford - the Greyhound Inn | 
6 - Cromford Canal and Wharf |
7 - Cromford - Scarthin and millpond | 
8 - Cromford - High Peak Junction | 
9 - Matlock Bath and High Tor |
10 - Matlock Bath | 
11 - Cromford - Willersley Castle | 
12 - Cotton Doubling machine at Masson Mills | 
13 - Masson Mills |
14 - Matlock Bath from above the Temple Hotel |
15 - River Derwent at Matlock Bath | 
16 - Steeple Grange Light Railway | 
17 - Steeple Grange Light Railway engines | 
18 - Steeple Grange Light Railway train | |
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| Grangemill is situated at a crossroads on the Via Gellia, the A5012 road from Cromford to Buxton. There are a few houses, the former mill, and a pub called the Hollybush.
Ible is situated on the hilltop just to the east. Relatively untouched and untroubled, it is one of the Peak's best hidden little hamlets, with a small cluster of farms on a bluff overlooking the Griffe Grange Valley below.
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| Hognaston is a sleepy little village within sight of Carsington Reservoir, in the south of the White Peak.  Hognaston
The village has some fine old houses and boasts a pub, the Red Lion, and a post office. It is a beautiful and quiet place, having been bypassed by the road which now serves the reservoir, and a good centre from which to explore the area.
Hognaston Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Carsington Water |
1 - Carsington Water and boats | 
2 - Hognaston village | 
3 - Carsington Water Visitor Centre | 
4 - Carsington Water Dam | | | |
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| Idridgehey is a winding strung-out village along the B5023, the route from Wirksworth to Derby. It has a pub, the Black Swan, and some nice looking houses.
Further west, and much higher up, is the small hamlet of Kirk Ireton. This interesting place name suggests the original inhabitants were Vikings who arrived here via Ireland. It is now a pretty hamlet with a rather distinctive public house where the beer is still drawn from the barrel tap rather than via a pump.
There is some very good walking around here, with fabulous views available from the nearby Alport Heights and bluebell woods on the line of the ridge to the west.
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| Matlock, the county town of Derbyshire, is a former spa town situated at a sharp bend in the River Derwent, where it turns south to carve its way through the ridge of limestone which bars its route towards Derby. Just downriver of the main town lies Matlock Bath, which is enclosed by the limestone cliffs of the gorge and contains the main tourist attractions of the locality.
 Matlock church at Matlock Town
 Matlock Bath
The coming of the railways in the 1870s transformed Matlock again, this time into a resort for day-trippers from the Derby-Nottingham area and further south. From then on Matlock spawned tourist attractions in the form of show caverns, cable railways, petrifying wells, pleasure gardens and even recently a theme park. The evidence of the change which came over the place can be seen best at Matlock Bath, where the amusement arcades along the main road provide a sharp contrast with the elegant Victorian villas above.
 Matlock Bath from High Tor
The town has a full range of shops and facilities, however the principal hotels are both in the Bath - the New Bath Hotel is out on the road to Cromford opposite Wildcat crags and the Temple Hotel is on the hill below the Heights of Abraham.
The tourist information centre is now at the Peak Rail
shop on Matlock Station. The telephone number is 01335 343666.
Matlock Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Richard Arkwright |
1 - The Pavilion at Matlock Bath | 
2 - High Tor |
3 - Bonsall Market square |
4 - Cromford - the Greyhound Inn |
5 - Cromford Canal and Wharf |
6 - Cromford - Scarthin and millpond | 
7 - High Tor and Riber Castle from across the valley |
8 - Matlock Bath and High Tor | 
9 - Matlock view |
10 - Matlock Bath | 
11 - Matlock church | 
12 - Matlock - Riber Hall |
13 - Cromford - Willersley Castle | 
14 - The cable railway to Heights of Abraham |
15 - Cotton Doubling machine at Masson Mills |
16 - Masson Mills | 
17 - Matlock Bath from High Tor | 
18 - Matlock from High Tor | 
19 - On Giddy Ledge, High Tor |
20 - Matlock Bath from above the Temple Hotel |
21 - River Derwent at Matlock Bath | | |
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| Middleton by Wirksworth (so called to distinguish it from another Middleton near to Youlgrave) is perched high on a hillside above Wirksworth and Cromford.
Founded in Saxon times as a farming hamlet around an unusually high spring, the village developed in the 17th and 18th centuries as a lead-mining centre (like nearby Wirksworth) and a few of the older buildings in the upper part of the village date from this period.
The arrival in 1825 of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, which passes just below the village, brought rapid change. Middleton sits on some of the purest limestone in Europe, and the ability to transport this stone meant that large quarries developed all around the village and higgledy-piggledy groups of quarrymens' cottages spread across the hillside. Among other things, Middleton stone is noted for being used for WWI war gravestones.
The quarries around the village closed in the late 20th century and Middleton is now more of a commuter village with some light industry centred around the former quarries.
The village is spread out around a long main street with several narrow sections where it passes between old buildings. There are two pubs and a post office, plus a nice Victorian church and several Non-Conformist chapels, only one of which is still active.
DH Lawrence spent a year here living in a cottage on the road down to the Via Gellia to the north of Middleton.
Middleton by Wirksworth Photo Gallery - click on the images to enlarge- Click Here for a slide show
0 - Middleton Top Winding Station |
1 - Middleton by Wirksworth cottages | 
2 - Middleton by Wirksworth view |
3 - Steeple Grange Light Railway |
4 - Steeple Grange Light Railway engines |
5 - Steeple Grange Light Railway train | | |
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