Catch your breath when you reach the houses. You'll notice the wooden sign pointing back down towards Matlock Bath but you want to turn to the left, walk through the cottages and head towards the wooden gate.

Peacock butterfly (Inachis Io)

This stretch of the walk takes you through luscious woodlands. The hedgerows are teaming with wildlife. Depending upon what time of year you're here you'll see plenty of birds, butterflies and possibly, if you're around at dusk, a few of Derbyshire's resident bats.

The two species of bat you're most likely to bump into here are the Daubenton's and Pipistrelle bats.

We took a walk through time on Otober 16th. Take a look at the pictures.

Daubenton's bat is a medium-sized species. It's suited to this area mainly because of the nearby River Derwent. It's a steady flyer, often seen skimming within a few centimetres of the water's surface and is reminiscent of a small hovercraft.

Daubenton's bats feast on insects close to the water surface. They have been seen taking prey directly from the water surface, using their large feet as a gaff or the tail membrane as a scoop. Daubenton's bats fly at about 15mph. Generally they eat small flies, midges, Caddis flies and Mayflies.

These little furry creatures roost in trees and tunnels, bridges, caves and mines - another reason they're particulary suited to this area.

At this stage of the walk the route zig zags through the woods and as well as the birds and bugs you can do a bit of tree and plant spotting.

Kids may like to start a plant detective scrap book, picking up leaves and finding out later which tree or plant they belong to.