Swiss Lake in Chatsworth Park

Only 3 of us this week, me Rob & Ike and we decided to go to have a look at the Swiss Lake in Chatsworth to see the autumn colours. With the clocks changing this Sunday we thought 07:00 was a good start time. Previously i had got up at 03:50 to have a look at the 3 planets out of my bedroom window which faces east. I got my bean bag and balanced my camera on it and did a couple of shots then back to bed. Up at 06:20 and looked out the window to a fantastic pre dawn glow, out the window again with my camera and a couple of shots before getting ready to go up to our Robs.
We left at 07:00 and parked up at the corner of Beeley Lane and we were the first one's there. It was quite cold +2  degrees but lovely and fresh. A walk on the track past the woods over the style in the wall then it was straight down until we got to the edge of the woods on the Chatsworth estate. The track wound around past some log piles and then to the lake. To our surprise it was half empty obviously having some work done to it. I had to pick my spot to get a decent picture. We had our breakfast there and i had to have some drink from our Rob and Ike because i had forgot my water for my tablets. It was a slow walk back and through the woods there was a couple taking pics of mushrooms so i knelt down to take some shots myself and that's when i had dropped my phone. From there it was straight back to the car.

This weeks route to The Swiss Lake

3 planets looking east above Belper

Pre dawn glow  above Belper

Lovely tree lined drive

Looking towards Chatsworth from Beeley Lane

Odd looking clouds

Great "pony tail" on this moo

Fungi half way up a tree

Log piles everywhere

Didn't expect to see this in the Chatsworth woods

Ike

Rob & Ike

Swiss Lake

Rob

Tree hugging session

More great fungi

I think this is where i dropped my phone

Got the beady eye from this cow

The track back to the car

I was the only one parked here when we arrived.

This was a nice walk of just over 4 1/2 miles and in good weather. I think we have seen more people than we have ever seen before on a Sunday morning on this walk and most of them seamed to have dogs. I have a quick trip up to Sheffield tomorrow to retrieve my phone from the honest folk that found it.
See you next week.

Lovers Walk and Willersley Castle

Robs hand is fixed  so it was his turn to drive today and it was another late start at 07:00. We didn't go far parking up just outside the entrance to Cromford Mill. It was still dark with the sun not rising until 07:37 and the light didn't get much better throughout the morning (that's my excuse for the sometimes dodgy pics). We walked a short distance along Lea Road then took the footpath up the lane and then across open fields towards Starkholmes. If the light had been good there would have been some fantastic views with all the autumn colour. We crossed the fields and into some woods before we eventually came out on the Starkholmes road where we found a war memorial. We have all been past this before but never even spotted it. From there the footpath took us downhill towards Matlock Bath and the footpath ended up outside the cable car station. We walked along to the train station through the car park and started on the Lovers Walk track. This meandered up and down and ended on the top of the cliffs that you can see when driving along the A6 opposite Gullivers Kingdom. We stopped there for breakfast with great views in front and the cable cars behind us. From there it was downhill through the woods to the riverbank where we came out in the grounds of Willersley Castle. Some great views of the Masson Mill with reflections in the still water above the weir. We eventually ended up at the castle where we went in to have a look at the famous light well and then back to the car and home.

This weeks route just over 4 1/2 miles

Looking downstream from the bridge next to St. Mary's Church

Off Lea Road

Looking across the valley you can see Willersley Castle to the right of the big tree in the middle of the pic.

Ike

These little hills are apparently old  ant hills grown over

Ike & Rob

Geoff getting over the style

This appears to be a young oak tree growing in an old gatepost.

Just liked the look of these grasses.

Just thought these were unusual trees

No idea what this is all about.

Mysterious old gate leading to nowhere

Starkholmes war memorial

Nice feature, probably a spring in the past

View looking down to the cable cars

This was going uphill

There was a few of these dodgy viewing area's straight over the edge of the cliff

Looking down onto the Fishpond and the Pavilion in Matlock Bath

Gullivers Kingdom

Great view back to the cable cars

Ike, rob & Geoff

Rockfalls from the cliffs above

Footpath down to the river.

Masson Mill built in 1783 by Sir Richard Arkwright is now part of the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site

Masson Mill and the weir.

This tree looks like a face

Beautiful autumn colours

The famous light well in Willersley Castle

Geoff photographing the light welll

This is a  stunning grandfather clock in Willersley Castle

Willersley Castle is a grade 11 listed building and was built as a mansion house for  Sir Richard Arkwright. Originally named Willersley Hall and built on the slopes of Wild Cat Tor. In 1791 a fire broke out before it was completed. Uunfortunately Arkwright died before all the repairs had been done and the building completed.

The Lodge at Willersley Castle

 A cracking walk this although the light levels weren't that good for pics we walked through a great variety of scenery and again the good thing was that we were only a few miles from home.
See you next week