Second half of the bluebell walk - Cromford Canal, Lea Bridge spur

 We finished our walk among the Bow Wood bluebells at Smedley's mill in Lea Bridge, and as it had turned out to be shorter than expected, plus Dylan the dog still looked fairly enthusiastic, we decided to add on a mile or so by walking along the Lea Bridge spur of Cromford Canal rather than heading directly back to the car.









The path's a little difficult to find from this direction, as it squeezes between houses than appears to continue through another's garden. This last section was once the old wharf for loading and unloading, and the slabs making the canal bank are still there.
As you continue the old canal becomes less obvious for a while - it's the dried-up ditch shown here.

More bluebells, but on the far side of the canal so had to be admired from a distance.

As the old towpath crosses the railway (which is crossing the Derwent before heading into Leawood tunnel), the canal becomes clear.

Then at Aqueduct Cottage, the spur joins the main Cromford canal, before crossing the Derwent. All these canals were part of the transport structure to enable local mills to send their goods out into the world. The most famous is probably Arkwright's pioneering mill at Cromford, but many others were soon built along the Derwent Valley.

The great thing about walking alongside canals is that the path is guaranteed to be flat, but by this time Dylan was getting tired and so we ambled very slowly back to High Peak Junction, and were just back at the car to see the sun set.