It was 8 am and I was already hayfeverish, headachey and hot. Why on earth was I setting out to walk through the middle of Derby, when I could be up in the hills of the Peak District? No one was forcing me to do this section. I could skip it entirely. But I knew I wouldn't, because this was the next part of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. And besides, I had a suspicion that it would be better than it looked.
Alvaston Park was certainly a good start. It's a wide sweep of green grass and mature trees. I used to come here quite often when the boys were small. I was glad to see some of the planets were still there - although Mars has had a lot of feet standing on it, I think. Here's a tiny Toby in 2013 with Mars...
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| ... and a more battered Mars today. |
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| Alvaston Park |
I kept off the roads for a while by following a cycle route. Even when I joined the traffic, it wasn't bad. The factories and office blocks had roses outside. This road, now the A5194, used to be the A6 coming into Derby from the southeast. It tracks the Derwent all the way from Shardlow up to Matlock and beyond, so it seemed appropriate to follow it here. Plus it was really the only alternative to the riverside path.
This is railway territory; Alstom has one of its largest train-building sites here. Locomotives were parked nose to tail in sidings. I crossed the new bridge over the mainline.
Coming into Derby, there was new development on the site of the old Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. I was pleased to see statues of Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale; women are sadly under-represented in the public sculpture department.
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| "pepperpot" towers from the old hospital |
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| The Lady of the Lamp |
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| almshouses |
Taking photos in a town is obviously a good way to start conversations. As I framed this view of St Peter's, a woman on a mobility scooter asked me, "Do you know about that church?" I used to volunteer for the debt clinic there, so I admitted to being familiar with it, and asked what she would like to know. "Oh no," she said, "I want to tell you something," and brightened my day with the news that when the plague struck, the victims were buried in the churchyard standing up, for lack of space.
A little further along, I popped into the Market Hall, which has been refurbished recently. It was full of light and space - and not much else, but hopefully that's because it was Monday, and it gets busier at weekends. A young man asked if I was a local (I decided the simplest answer was "yes") and said it was his first time coming in since the remodel, too. He was nostalgic for the way it was when he was ten.
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| market hall interior |
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| Council House |
I reached the Council House and got onto the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. I'll tell you why I didn't walk the bit between Darley Park and the Council House in a few minutes. The Derwent River was looking rather pretty in the sunshine.
Now the walking was very easy. A paved cycle path ran next to the river, fringed with green and keeping the city at a respectful distance. Shopping centres, warehouses, and the Pride Park stadium all stuck their heads up in the background, but were kept at bay by brambles, nettles, and hawthorn.
When I reached Alvaston Park again, I stopped for an ice cream. Lemon crunch - yum. Sadly the lake was absolutely seething with blue-green algae. That can't be good.
I continued past the BMX track, under several bridges, and behind the tip. At one bend of the river there was a large pebble beach.
Finally it was time to leave the river path. I cut through Derwent Meadows, with its remarkably tall poplar trees, and crossed a pedestrian bridge over the dual carriageway bit of the A6.
On the other side was Alvaston Community Nature Area. Being right next to a main road, I'd expected something a bit scruffy - the kind of place where kids ride bikes and teenagers leave beer cans under the benches. It wasn't like that at all. Not a single beer can or bicycle. No benches either, though, so I had to sit on a patch of grass under the trees to eat my sandwich.
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| looking up at lunchtime |
The last little bit of walking took me through the shopping centre of Alvaston and along London Road. It really is a long road; the house numbers were in the thousands! I passed the English Martyrs Catholic Church and a dentist offering affordable smiles. Funny that, I always thought smiles were free.
That thought put a grin on my face all the way back to Alvaston Park. It had been a good walk after all.
16 June 2025
9 miles / 15 km
blue line: Derby to Alvaston --- yellow line: Derwent Pilgrimage
And now, if you'd like to know why I missed out Darley Park: I'd done that section the previous Thursday, joining some lovely people doing a Derwent Pilgrimage. Their aim was to raise awareness of pollution in the river, and four ladies were walking from source to mouth, accompanied by others along the way.
I met them by the weir at Darley Bridge, where a woman from the Rivers Trust was explaining the fish ladder. Due to these bypass systems, salmon are able to make it up the river to spawn, where previously their way had been blocked by the weirs.
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| old and new bridges |
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| passing the Silk Mill |
About eight of us walked through the park and past the Silk Mill to the River Gardens, outside the Council House. There we dipped our feet in the river (not something I ever thought I'd do!) and were joined by members of the Rise and Sing choir. They taught everyone a simple song in four-part harmony. Singing by the river on a warm summer's evening with a group of strangers was really rather special. We scattered rose petals in the water - the geese were sorry to find that it wasn't food - and the leader of the pilgrimage read a declaration of the rights of the river. It was a strange but delightful occasion.
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