The path in the first half of this section follows the river quite closely. It had been raining a lot in the weeks prior to our visit and when we passed through this woodland the overflow from a stream joining the Derwent was taking a shortcut along the path.
A lot of the land alongside the river here is pasture land and we were lucky to see recently born lambs in the fields.
The walk and the river is joined by the Peak Rail heritage railway for most of the way into Matlock.