In reply to Archmagos_Dominus:
Good to hear! I understand that one of the more significant obstacles to this was the turf farmer just north of the Derby rugby club who thoroughly opposed the footpath being upgraded to a bridleway, instead they have upgraded the cycle path immediately alongside the A61 up to the Little Eaton A38 roundabout.
They could logically take the Makeney road from there and upgrade the footpath on the W bank of the Derwent past Belper, add a new bridleway leading from Bridge Hill to Ambergate on the W bank.
Follow Cromford Canal to Cromford and then ride through Starkholmes (quite a steep climb, may need to come up with a better route here).
That sounds like a really nice ride and wouldn't need an obscene amount of investment given the safety improvement. I might do a similar ride up to Baslow when we're allowed to stay away from home again, second day could take me as far as Bamford or Hathersage!