She’s done it! Reflections writer Rosie Gilligan has walked every inch of the 55-mile Derwent Valley Heritage Way to raise money for Brainstrust and Ashgate Hospice. Here’s her account of the last section between Little Eaton and journey’s end at Shardlow.
THE RIVER DERWENT begins life 2,000 feet above sea level near Bleaklow and then drops 1,400 feet before entering Derwent Reservoir. Downstream from Ladybower Dam, it descends a further 550 feet before reaching the Trent and, in its last eight miles, snakes in increasingly large loops across the flat countryside south of Derby…