Derwent Valley Walking Tour

About

Saturday 15 October 2022 | 10am - 5pm
10:00 – 17:00
WALKING TOUR £14

Start/Finish: Derby Train Station foyer

Duration: 7 hours

Distance: 10 km

Difficulty: easy

Surface: paths and pavements

Highlights: UNESCO World Heritage Site, cotton mills, model village, start of industrial revolution, Richard Arkwright.

This tour will be led by Barry Joyce MBE, the man who led the delegation at Helsinki to get the Derwent Valley registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Barry has spent a lifetime dedicated to the conservation of this area and we cannot wait to listen to his tales from the valley. The route will start at Derby Train Station where we will take the train firstly to Belper, to look at the Grade I listed Strutt Mill (one of the earliest fire-proof buildings in the world), before hopping back onto the train up to Cromford, to look at Richard Arkwright's mills, recognised as the world's first mechanised cotton mills, as well as the model village settlement built for his workers. We will then walk back along the Cromford Canal to Whatstandwell, taking in Leawood Pumping Station, an Italiante pumphouse built in 1848 to transfer water from the River Derwent to Cromford Canal. From Whatstandwell we will take the train back to Derby Train Station where the tour ends.

Please bring suitable walking shoes, any drinks and snacks. Lunch break will be in Cromford.

Train tickets are not included in the tour price.

Please buy your own train ticket from Derby to Cromford. An Off-Peak Day Return is usually £6.90 and can be used all day on the Derwent Valley line. If your are travelling with other people, you can get a group ticket and save 1/3.

If you are getting to Derby by train, a cheapest option could be an Off-Peak Day Return ticket from your home station to Cromford. Most connections change in Derby Train Station where you can meet us in foyer, without exting the barrier.

If you would like to join us from Nottingham, an Off-Peak Day Return ticket to Cromford is usually £10.90 and we will be on the 9:17 train.

If you need any assistance with your travel to and from Derby, please get in touch.