A walk to Sutton Scarsdale Hall

[Please note that since I posted the original blog the image has been changed. I went back today, the 2nd April, and took another photograph in the April sunshine, in between the showers.]

It was great to get out and enjoy some warm sunshine yesterday. I led a walk with ten other Derbyshire Dales group members from Grassmoor Country Park. It's not an area we walk in that often which is a shame because it's an interesting area. Many walkers only want to walk in the Peak District but not me.

We followed the Five Pits Trail initially [with me taking the wrong turn at one point]. This brought us into Heath which if I'm not mistaken [judging by the shade of blue paint on some of the houses] includes some Chatsworth Estate properties. We crossed the bridge over the road leading from Chesterfield to Junction 29 on the M1 as the cars ground to a standstill below.

Half an hour later we enjoyed lunch [in the sunshine] at Sutton Scarsdale Hall - the ruin of an 18th century Hall which apparently rivalled Chatsworth in terms of grandeur. In the 1920s though it was stripped bare of roof, interior decor and most everything else so that all that is left is a shell.

Sutton Springs Wood is an interesting area where there are rather large bungalows in a woodland setting - we followed a track [that is also a footpath] through the wood having to get out of the way of the odd car as we went.

We finished at 2.30pm having kicked off at 10am.

The two of us then went to Hardwick Hall where we paid a visit to the tearoom and had a walk round the garden which is just beginning to show signs of life. The photograph shows the front of the Hall - I should perhaps have held the camera slightly leveller ! My apologies.