Local industrial heritage walk

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Last Saturday it was a beautiful day so I took the opportunity to walk in the sun from our rented hovel to the barns. I went via my parents house and from there it was a bit of a nostalgia walk as it took me partially along our route to secondary school when we were saving our bus money as teenagers. I took some photo's along the way as it is mostly a rural footpath sort of walk with quite a bit of industrial heritage thrown in.

Leaving the 'modern' housing estate and following the footpath away from the roads and houses, the path takes you under the disused railway bridge and intersects the new part of the 'Ripley Greenway' path which follows the route of the long since removed railway line. I haven't walked this yet but it is on my list!

My footpath eventually leads past Padley Hall to a small hamlet called Hammersmith. Padley Hall dates back to the late 15th century, and apparently author and poet DH Lawrence was a frequent visitor to the hall. (Read more about the hall here).  At the end of the Hammersmith cottages, the road continues onto the left but this is where you take a right turn onto the coach road. This is probably not fit for coaches any more as it is a bit pot holey, and it definitely needs care if you are cycling. At the end of the coach road the reservoir comes into view and eventually the disused Butterley works buildings. The reservior is not huge as reservoirs go, and was originally built as a top up for the Cromford Canal which opened for use in 1794.  The Butterley Works are listed under the Ancient Monuments  Act for the C19 blast furnaces, late C18 canal tunnel, underground wharf and related mineral extraction works. For more info, read here. There are some really interesting sources of information on the internet, but I particularly like this short video merging the original buildings with the remaining buildings today.

After the Butterley Works a short distance away is the Midland Railway Centre with steam and diesel engines. 

I should really have continued along the road but was tempted by the footpath sign after the railway centre. It was a lovely day and I couldn't resist, and it was lovely to be in the fields, but blimey was it muddy. The stiles were a bit of a challenge as well, so not many photo's of the walk up the fields.