Bamford Mill to Ladybower Reservoir Family Peak District walk

The Peak District is such a beautiful place to go walking and this Bamford to Ladybower Reservoir walk is one of my favourites.

For my birthday we headed out to the peaks and stayed at Ladybower Inn for 2 nights. It was a lovely 3 days full of fresh air and specular views. I wish we had taken our SLR; it was one of those “why didn’t we?!” moments when we realised, but we did get a nice video to make up for it! You read about day 2 when we spent the afternoon in Hathersage and Bakewell over here. This walk is from Bamford Mill to Ladybower Reservoir.

Bamford Mill to Ladybower Reservoir Family Peak District walk

Bamford

The first day, we got the train to Bamford and wandered down to Bamford Mill where our walk starts. Bamford Mill is somewhere we discovered last year and I can’t find much about it online, but you can find the location here. We just happened to stumble across it on a walk back from Ladybower Reservoir last year and it’s such a wonderful place. I really recommend going there, it’s very secluded, almost feels like a fairytale garden.

Our walk starts from Bamford Mill.

The village of Bamford is traditionally a mill village. It is so old and is featured in the domesday book. It is close to the River Derwent and has so many walking opportunities. The old corn mill in Bamford is now closed but behind it is a little nature-filled wier which ducks love to call home. When in bloom, it looks amazing, and you really have to stop and admire it. It is just a few minutes from the train station.

Across the stepping stones and across the bridge opens up to a field and we walked towards the right, you can make out a little path in the grass where previous walkers have been.

After a couple of gates and open fields, with beautiful views across the Peak District, sign posts direct you further on to the Thornhill Trail. Look out for the cows!

It’s not very far that the walk takes you up to Ladybower Reservoir, coming up South and passing Heatherdene (car park and toilets). Ladybower Reservoir speaks for itself; truly beautiful.

Even though we had not walked that far, a few miles; we felt ready to reach the b&b! A special mention to this place; they treat us so well, and catered for us more than I ever expected. After booking I emailed them about the breakfast telling them we were vegan and asking if there were many options on the menu for a meal after our walks, if not we would bring our own food. I couldn’t believe how they replied; telling me to provide them a list of meal ideas so a three course meal for both days would be created just for us. How nice is that? The hospitality was outstanding, our room was lovely, clean and big, no problems at all there. Shaun, who had sorted out our food for us and who I assume is the landlord; was very welcoming, but kept us to our own privacy. Our food on both days was really nice.

We had such a lovely time for our first day, and a restful sleep! What a lovely way to spend my birthday, I felt very lucky.

Thank you for reading and watching. I would love to know when you last got into the countryside? For ideas for countryside walks in the Peak District near Sheffield, read about these top 6 here.

Day 2 where we walk back to Bamford and go to Hathersage and Bakewell, read and watch that here!