 |
| A panoramic view of Baslow Edge |
My exploration of the historic architecture of Pilsley took me 2 hours and 10 minutes, with well over half of this time spent talking to people who I had met and briefly visiting Chatsworth Farm Shop and, just before setting off on my walk to Baslow, I bumped into a walking group from Sheffield who I also got talking to.
 |
| My route from Pilsley to Baslow |
Eventually continuing on my way, I stopped by the roadside to take in the view towards Baslow Edge, which I had traversed a couple of years earlier when taking a good look at the Chatsworth Grit that is exposed between Clodhall Crossroads and Fox House.
 |
| A panoramic view |
While taking a few more photographs of the gritstone edges on the skyline, the Sheffield walking group soon overtook me and, seeing that that they were taking the same public footpaths that I had planned for my walk, I followed them along the roadand across the fields.
 |
| The Sheffield walking group |
When leaving the village, the road follow the dip slope of the Ashover Grit, which outcrops in the area has a dip of about 5 degrees to the east; however, when taking the public footpath that heads north, it drops down steeply for 50 metres into a wooded valley along which runs the A619 road.
I had driven along this road very many times, which here forms an accident black spot known as the 13 Bends and, while keeping my eyes on the road, never realised that it occupied a valley cut down through the Ashover Grit into the mudstones and siltstones of the Marsden Formation by a precursor to Rymas Brook.
Taking my time to walk down the public footpath, which was quite steep and muddy in places, I had a good look at the topography of my surroundings, which I hadn’t appreciated before. By the time I reached the A619, members of the walking group were still waiting to cross this busy road.
 |
| The public footpath down to the A619 |
Following them up the hillside on the other side of the A619 and crossing Wheatlands Lane, I then followed the public footpath alongside a dry stone wall down towards Baslow. In places this was extremely muddy, following the recent period of heavy rain that had led to the cancellation of a field trip to Cressbrook Dale earlier in the week.
 |
| The footpath from Wheatlands Lane to Baslow |
I stopped very briefly to have a look one section of the dry stone boundary wall, where the gritstone was home to an extremely thick covering of moss, which looked liked the sphagnum that I had seen in the boggy ground formed at springs beneath the Chatsworth Grit at Burbage Edge.
 |
| Spaghnum moss on a gritstone boundary wall |
Reaching the Grade I Listed Baslow Bridge (1608), I stopped for a moment to take in the views of the River Derwent, which was in full flow, along with the uncommon C13 broach spire of the Grade II* Listed St. Anne’s church.
 |
| A view from Baslow Old Bridge |
Crossing over the bridge, I took a couple of photos of the tollbooth, which had been repaired since my previous visit and then a photo of the K6 telephone kiosk, which was one of the 12 listed buildings that was recorded on a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge for Baslow.
 |
| The tollbooth on Baslow Old Bridge |
Continuing to School Lane, the Grade II Listed Corner Cottage and Willow Cottage were next on my list to photograph. The Historic England description says that they possibly date to the C17, with C18 and C19 additions, but I didn't look at them closely and only took a couple of photos, from which I noted the gritstone walling and the stone slate roof.
 |
| Corner Cottage and Willow Cottage |
From the road, I took a photo of Baslow House, which is surprisingly not a listed building but has some interesting features, including two 2-storey bay windows and a large entrance porch that are built in gritstone with some elaborate carving.
 |
| Baslow House |
Noting the time before I had to catch the No. 218 bus back to Sheffield, I continued up School Lane to The Old Chapel (1706), an elegantly proportioned building constructed with squared and coursed gritstone, with massive quoins and dressings to the central doorway, which has a segmental arch and a keystone.
 |
| The Old Chapel |
No comments:
Post a Comment