​A return visit after twelve days. Again I parked in Shillito Wood and walked down to where the paths branch. This time I took the right branch north up to Smeekley Farm. I wanted to investigate climbing the hill in Smeekley Wood but the signage was very forbidding. Private land. No public access. To get a decent dose of exercise I walked up Car Road to the A621 and down and back by the left branch path to return to the car park followed by a stroll to visit the two wayside crosses hereabouts.

​It was a scorching hot April Saturday and the Peak District was clearly very busy. I was not surprised to find the car park at Miller’s Dale full up and having to wait about for someone to leave before I could park. I followed the Monsal Trail west for a short while to a viaduct. Here a path on the right leads down into Cheedale. It was very busy down here but beautiful. There were red campion everywhere. The path has the odd steepening where you have to scramble easily up and down -in this direction mostly down – limestone steps. They are very polished and would be treacherous in wet conditions . And of course there are the famous stepping stones as the river passes under spectacular limestone crags. There were queues here today.   

​After a couple of miles the path goes under a viaduct and then soon after another one. Here the Pennine Bridleway crosses the Dale and  tried right and followed it up a big hill which seemed very big in the intense heat to Mosley Farm which is currently a building site The Bridleway takes a long circuitous way round to Wormhill but for pedestrians there is a shortcut along a track leading to Hassop Farm. I walked through the village where there is an elaborate memorial to the distinguished engineer James Brindley born in this parish then turned back onto the Pennine Bridgeway which took me down to the north edge of Monk’s Dale. The ground here is rough and they’re is nothing like the crowds of Chee Dale. In the mile and half walk down the Dale I met one group of three people and that was all. Eventually I reached a footbridge off to the right which I crossed and climbed up to the road just above the now much emptier car park. .      

I was planning to go to Ladybower but the A57 was closed for roadworks so I thought I would try Hathersage. It was a weekday so parking might be feasible. It was, though my OS app showed a red cow icon right where the car park is indicating an impassible animal hazard of which there was no sign. From the main street I headed on BaulkLane  to a point just west of Bronte Cottage. From here there is a path over a field into a wood and over a footbridge to follow some more fields to Green’s House. The fields were yellow with dandelion and lesser celandine. I carried on up the track to Dennis Knoll carpark then up the long diagonal track leading onto Stanage Edge. I took a short cut, steep but straightforward up the right hand side of a small gully with a dry stone wall on the left. Once on the Edge I headed north to the north trig point then south to the south one. From there it was a steep descent to the road which I crossed and headed diagonally over the moor towards the other road picking up the path down to Callow just before I reached it. I was on the road again soon after passing Callow which is currently a building site. To avoid pounding tarmac I got back to Hathersage  by the track to Toothill Farm and the churchyard.