Sheffield to Derby

Veer off the route and it’s a stiff climb back up!
Picture of a vintage car
Fighting it out with the infernal combustion engine – Crich.
The run goes Beeley Moor, Jaggers Lane, Top of Slack, Crich, Bull Bridge. At the bottom, after the railway bridge turn right and you have a short stretch on the busy A610 Ripley Road before turning left onto New Road. This takes you to Heage (look out for the working windmill) then head for Ripley, with a steep climb but it’s the last one of the ride! Immediately after the A38 bridge turn right onto Denby Street Lane & go Kilburn, Horsley, which is basically the line of the Ryknield Street Roman road & Coxbench, becoming the B6179 immediately after you go under the A38, and there are cycle lanes down to Little Eaton where the route goes onto the pavement for NCN Route 54, a mostly stress-free ride following the river into Derby City Centre – watch for kingfishers. Update: Derby Industrial Museum (Silk Mill) has re-opened as the Museum of Making. There is some cycling information & parking available at the Pride Park exit from Derby Station, as well as the main entrance.
The River Derwent in Derby
Suggested refreshment spots: Scotland Nurseries Cath Cafe Riber View. Cliff Inn, Crich (near the tram museum) Old Post Office Tea Shop, Crich The Tap, The Smithfield, Alexandra Hotel & Brunswick Inn, Derby (all close to the station) Rutland Arms, Sheffield (just past what used to be the National Centre for Popular Music, or “kettles”) From Derby you can continue on NCN route 6 to Melbourne, Loughborough and Leicester, or return via the Pennine Cycleway to Parsley Hey as mentioned above, or head for Nottingham. From Sheffield you can get on to the Trans-Pennine Trail to Leeds, York, Manchester, Liverpool & Hull.
Turn by Turn Instructions from Holmesfield to Derby
  1. Northern Common, continue for 1.5 miles
  2. L. Cowley Lane, next to Rutland Arms
  3. Dobbin Hill
  4. Highlightly Lane
  5. B6051 New Rd
  6. Unthank  Rd up and up. There is a farm on the way up that sells cake, check it out!
  7. Far Lane
  8. Buckleather Lane. Continue onto Slatepit Lane
  9. You will see Pudding Pie Hill & Radio Mast, head for it!
  10. R B6050
  11. L Top Lane. Cross A619 Baslow Rd. Continue onto Syda Lane
  12. Longside Rd Continue onto Flash Lane (unmade road – if not  suitable to L. Beeley Lane, R. Chesterfield Rd, L. Flash Lane)
  13. Cross B5057
  14. Slight Left Jaggers Lane
  15. Wirestone Lane Cross A632 Continue on Holestone Gate Rd
  16. Lickpenny Lane. Continue on High Lane, Lea Moor Rd, Shuckstone Lane. You will see Crich War Memorial in the distance – head for it!
  17. Slight Right Plaistow Green Rd, Cromford Rd
  18. R Bowns Hill, Continue on Surgery Lane, The Common, Crich Rd, Bullbridge Hill
  19. (Scenic Detour: Dimple Lane, Lyname Rd, Bobbinmill Lane, Front St, Allan Lane, L. Bullbridge Hill)
  20. Ripley Rd A610
  21. New Rd.Continue on Ridgeway Lane, Slack Lane, Shop Lane.
  22. Brook St. Continue on Dungeley Hill, School Lane
  23. Eagle St Continue on Ripley Rd, Upper Hartshay (B6374) 
  24. Street Lane
  25. B6179 Derby Rd. Continue to Derby! Join cycle route at Little Eaton. 
If you get cold/tired there are trains from Matlock to Derby with quite a few stations on the way. Alfreton station isn’t far from Crich on the Eastern side.  You can get to Derby by the National Cycle Network (York to Derby) – but it’s a bit of a long way round via Worksop & Nottingham, and you might indeed wonder why you are heading east to go South – that route does however follow the flattest route avoiding major towns. Another way to get there is to head for Parsley Hey and take the Pennine Cycleway, also known as the Tissington Trail at this point, down to Ashbourne.
However, this route takes you up into the high ground of North-East Derbyshire, before releasing that energy in a fast descent to the Derwent valley – going the other way, you would find it a steady climb followed by an exhilarating descent into Sheffield. There’s a fair bit of up and down in either direction of course, and if you have a choice of starting points it might be an idea to check which way the wind’s blowing before you set off. Either way, it’s a great day’s ride, with regular East Midlands and Cross-Country trains between Sheffield and Derby to get you home – if you’ve still got some energy, you could always make it a circular ride either via the Pennine Cycleway or Route 6 through Nottingham. Sheffield to Derby the pretty way:- You need to be heading in a southwesterly direction as you leave Sheffield. There are options here – a quieter route through Holmesfield, or the main drag of Abbeydale Rd. You can also go up Mickley Lane from Totley or use the Sheaf Valley route to get to Greenhill via Hutcliffe Woods and Beauchief Drive. If you take the long shot along Abbeydale Rd, you will climb up to Owler Bar. Stay on the Baslow road & hang a left at Clodhall Lane,(the Curbar turning), up to the back of Pudding Pie Hill & right at the Xroads, then follow your nose (OS map 119 helps) along the ridge keeping Chesterfield below to the left. It’s a Balcony route, with fantastic views to both left and right.
Veer off the route and it’s a stiff climb back up!
Picture of a vintage car
Fighting it out with the infernal combustion engine – Crich.
The run goes Beeley Moor, Jaggers Lane, Top of Slack, Crich, Bull Bridge. At the bottom, after the railway bridge turn right and you have a short stretch on the busy A610 Ripley Road before turning left onto New Road. This takes you to Heage (look out for the working windmill) then head for Ripley, with a steep climb but it’s the last one of the ride! Immediately after the A38 bridge turn right onto Denby Street Lane & go Kilburn, Horsley, which is basically the line of the Ryknield Street Roman road & Coxbench, becoming the B6179 immediately after you go under the A38, and there are cycle lanes down to Little Eaton where the route goes onto the pavement for NCN Route 54, a mostly stress-free ride following the river into Derby City Centre – watch for kingfishers. Update: Derby Industrial Museum (Silk Mill) has re-opened as the Museum of Making. There is some cycling information & parking available at the Pride Park exit from Derby Station, as well as the main entrance.
The River Derwent in Derby
Suggested refreshment spots: Scotland Nurseries Cath Cafe Riber View. Cliff Inn, Crich (near the tram museum) Old Post Office Tea Shop, Crich The Tap, The Smithfield, Alexandra Hotel & Brunswick Inn, Derby (all close to the station) Rutland Arms, Sheffield (just past what used to be the National Centre for Popular Music, or “kettles”) From Derby you can continue on NCN route 6 to Melbourne, Loughborough and Leicester, or return via the Pennine Cycleway to Parsley Hey as mentioned above, or head for Nottingham. From Sheffield you can get on to the Trans-Pennine Trail to Leeds, York, Manchester, Liverpool & Hull.
Turn by Turn Instructions from Holmesfield to Derby
  1. Northern Common, continue for 1.5 miles
  2. L. Cowley Lane, next to Rutland Arms
  3. Dobbin Hill
  4. Highlightly Lane
  5. B6051 New Rd
  6. Unthank  Rd up and up. There is a farm on the way up that sells cake, check it out!
  7. Far Lane
  8. Buckleather Lane. Continue onto Slatepit Lane
  9. You will see Pudding Pie Hill & Radio Mast, head for it!
  10. R B6050
  11. L Top Lane. Cross A619 Baslow Rd. Continue onto Syda Lane
  12. Longside Rd Continue onto Flash Lane (unmade road – if not  suitable to L. Beeley Lane, R. Chesterfield Rd, L. Flash Lane)
  13. Cross B5057
  14. Slight Left Jaggers Lane
  15. Wirestone Lane Cross A632 Continue on Holestone Gate Rd
  16. Lickpenny Lane. Continue on High Lane, Lea Moor Rd, Shuckstone Lane. You will see Crich War Memorial in the distance – head for it!
  17. Slight Right Plaistow Green Rd, Cromford Rd
  18. R Bowns Hill, Continue on Surgery Lane, The Common, Crich Rd, Bullbridge Hill
  19. (Scenic Detour: Dimple Lane, Lyname Rd, Bobbinmill Lane, Front St, Allan Lane, L. Bullbridge Hill)
  20. Ripley Rd A610
  21. New Rd.Continue on Ridgeway Lane, Slack Lane, Shop Lane.
  22. Brook St. Continue on Dungeley Hill, School Lane
  23. Eagle St Continue on Ripley Rd, Upper Hartshay (B6374) 
  24. Street Lane
  25. B6179 Derby Rd. Continue to Derby! Join cycle route at Little Eaton. 
If you get cold/tired there are trains from Matlock to Derby with quite a few stations on the way. Alfreton station isn’t far from Crich on the Eastern side.