On the first Saturday of the month, the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway runs a railcar from Duffield to Wirksworth at 8:20 in the morning. Its stated purpose is to carry people to the monthly farmers market in Wirksworth; I suspect that the railway needed to get the railcar up the track anyway, and decided that they might as well carry a few customers at the same time. To me, it looked like the perfect way to start a walk on the Ecclesbourne Way.
So, if you want peaceful, pleasant, and distinctly downhill (at least, the direction we walked it), the Ecclesbourne Way fits the bill. We enjoyed setting a good pace and not stopping much. But if you want more variety of scenery and history, go from Wirksworth to High Peak Junction, or Duffield to Belper.
The railcar was a funny little thing, more like a tram than a train, with stripy seats and a good view at the front through the glassed-in driver's compartment. Toby glanced at the other passengers and decided that he was the youngest by a long way. I guess not many teenagers get up early on a Saturday morning to travel on vintage rolling stock. We chugged steadily along the track, pausing at a couple of level crossings where the guard had to hop off and open the gates for us to go through. The railcar then stopped again for him to get back on. I wonder if a guard has ever been left behind?
We alighted at Wirksworth station just before 9:00 and crossed the tracks to the haphazard cluster of buildings. There was a large Ecclesbourne Way sign on the corner of one stone wall. Excellent; we were in the right place.
Following well-signposted footpaths, we were soon up a hill looking back over Wirksworth. The route mostly went along tracks and quiet lanes. I only had to check the OS map app a few times when we were crossing fields and the route wasn't clear. Toby and I were walking the reverse of the official route, so I was tracing the line on my paper maps, not the digital one.
We passed a Peak and Northern footpath sign, and a hollow tree which either of us could have stood up in (the entrance was a bit narrow, though). We decided not to take a detour to the radio masts on Alport Heights.
I thought we would see a few villages along the way, but the route mostly bypassed them. At Idridgehay we were on the other side of the railway. Then we walked next to a large stream for a while before I suddenly realised that this was, in fact, the River Ecclesbourne, whose valley we were descending.
The river led us to a neat stone bridge where a road crossed. We could have turned right into Turnditch, but as it was 11:00, we turned left to Shottle station to see the 11:16 train pass through. There was also a selection of benches to eat our lunch on while we waited.
Due to the recent hot dry weather, the engine was a big blue diesel rather than steam, pulling a string of maroon carriages. Nobody got on or off the train at Shottle. We hoped that it hadn't stopped just for us.
Continuing onwards, we crossed the Ecclesbourne on a wooden footbridge. The river here has been "re-wiggled" and a dam removed to help salmon find their way upstream. A board told us about the project, and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has before-and-after photos on their website.
We headed uphill to Windley. Some light showers passed over. We could see the rain sweeping across the hills across the valley, but we didn't mind getting a little wet. At Windley we took a small detour to stay on the road through the hamlet. We passed a small chapel. Despite the notice board displaying the verse, "Knock and the door will be opened to you", the chapel door was firmly closed.
The rain had stopped and Windleyhill Farm had a colourful collection of plants in pots. It was downhill to the main road, and back to familiar territory as we approached Duffield. This section has a lot of sheep. Some of them were enjoying the river, too. One sheep showed quite an interest in Toby's satsuma.
By the time we reached the paved path next to the Ecclesbourne on the outskirts of Duffield, Toby's smart watch told us we'd walked for 4 hours and covered 18.5 km. The watch was also on 2% battery, so he turned it off and we decided to call it 20 km altogether. That deserved an ice cream!
I have to say that the Ecclesbourne Way isn't the most interesting walk, although the valley is pretty and the paths are mostly easy to follow. There are no particular high points or places of interest along the way. It was also very quiet. I think we saw one cyclist and a man with a dog, until we got near Duffield.
5 July 2025 20 km / 12.4 miles
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