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Vintage Rambles with rafa and Flake Bailey Bailey

5-MILE CIRCULAR WALK FROM HOMESFORD TEA ROOMS, ON THE A6 NEAR WHATSTANDWELL

This month we welcome a new recruit to our walking Pantheon, Say Hello to Bailey (affectionately known as Bailey Boo) who has volunteered his Mum and Dad to re-walk this classic walk. The walk starts and ends at Homesford Tea Rooms at Whatstandwell, which is a fantastic place for a bite to eat. It looks like Bailey and his family had a great time.

A lovely walk for you and your dog! This walk is fairly flat and should take around 2-2½ hours to complete. There is a range of terrain, with some muddy, uneven sections, which may be slightly overgrown. There are also a few sections of road, so take plenty of care and make sure you wear appropriate footwear.

START: HOMESTEAD TEA ROOMS A6, WHATSTANDWELL, DE4 5HJ

1. Standing with your back to the Tea Rooms, turn right along the main road. After passing a 50 MPH sign and just prior to a sign board reading ‘Conservation Crafts’ turn sharp left and back on yourself to join a signposted footpath going gently uphill. 2. Follow the path with a dry stone wall on either side. After a short distance pass by some houses on your left and then continue straight ahead to enter some woodland. Continue for some distance and then the path bears to the right. Now follow the path with a dry stone wall on either side until reaching a road.

3. Turn right and continue along the road for a short distance. Then turn left to cross over a stile which is set back a bit into some woodland and continue along a footpath going uphill. After some distance pass through a gap in a stone wall. Ignore the path on your right named Kings Lot path going steep uphill and continue straight ahead for a short distance to cross over a stile.

4. Continue along the path staying close to the edge of the woodland and keeping a dry stone wall on your left. After some distance cross over another stile and stay close to edge of the woodland with a dry stone wall on your left. Continue for some distance until coming out of the woodland, passing through a large wooden gate and onto a lane. 5. Turn right along the lane heading uphill. Continue for some distance until passing ‘Yew Tree Cottage’ on your right. Shortly after, the lane splits into two. Take the right fork and then after a very short distance bear right again to pass to the right of a stone carved with the name ‘Watfield Farm’.

6. Continue steep uphill, pass over a stile and then through a metal gate. Shortly after pass over a third stile and into some woodland.

7. Continue straight ahead with a wall on your right and eventually pass through a gap. Continue straight ahead for a short distance and then begin to descend sharply. On the way down the hill pass through two more gaps and then into an open field. 8. Cross the open field, pass through a gap and onto a road. Cross straight over the road and continue straight along a lane sign posted ‘Bridleway’. Continue along the lane for some distance and then pass through a metal gate. Continue straight ahead for some distance and pass through a second metal gate. 9. Continue straight ahead until reaching a T junction. Turn right and immediately pass through a metal gate. Continue for a short distance and then follow the path around to the left. Continue for some distance until reaching a finger board sign. Bear left and uphill following the sign for ‘High Peak Trail’.

10. After a short distance ignore the path bearing left and steep uphill and bear slightly right passing by a wooden bench on your right. After a very short distance turn sharp right onto a trail sign posted for ‘High Peak Junction’. Continue for some distance going downhill until passing through a tunnel underneath a road.

11. After a short distance pass a railway carriage on your right and then continue with a canal on your left. Continue straight ahead until passing ‘The Wharf Shed’ on your left and then after a short distance turn left onto a footpath sign posted for ‘Ambergate’. 12. Continue straight along a footpath with a canal on your left. Eventually pass over a railway bridge and then continue with the canal on your left for some distance until reaching a tunnel. Just prior to reaching the tunnel turn right onto a footpath sign posted for ‘Homestead Cottage A6’. 13. Continue through some trees for some distance and then turn right to cross over a river bridge. Continue to pass through a tunnel underneath a railway line and then continue to follow a tarmac lane back to a main road.

14. Turn right along the main road back to the tea rooms.

This walk is for illustrative purposes only. Voice Magazines Ltd takes no responsibility for anyone who chooses to follow this route and encourages all walkers to obey all byelaws and signs and to respect the area they are walking in, ensuring they pick up all dog mess and obey the countryside code at all times.

Homesford Tea Rooms

High Peak Junction Cromford Canal

Whatstandwell