With Teemu and Vilma. one of my favourite walks with two of my favourite people. I have lost count how many times I have done this. Park by bridge in Bakewell. Down Coombes Road. Left at Alpacas. Over golf course. Up through trees. Over Calton Pasture, that magical place. Through New Piece Wood. Down to Edensor. (Lots of fallow deer around here today.) Down River to Garden Centre. Up to Calton Houses. Right at Plantation and across south bit Calton Pasture and so home. Then we drove to the Crispin at Great Longstone for food. Lovely day.
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The 1:25,000 OS map - but not the 1:50,000 - shows a path approaching Hob Hurst's House from a minor road a couple of kilometres to the east. A little north of where this starts, just round a corner, is a place you can park. So I did. Down to start of path where a stile gives access to path. It's a pretty scruffy path but its a path. Pretty muddy today but this spring everywhere is. From Hob Hurst's House I walked along the top of the moor to the summit of Beeley Moor where there is a grouse butt. There was a vestigial path some of the time but it was rough going then more of the same to the trig point, From the trig point a few yards leads to the road which can be followed back got the start. But to reach itt there is a double barbed wire fence and wall to cross. There is no gate or stile or any other break until the stile I started at and at my age doing gymnastic things on barbed wire fences is no longer so easy as it was, The wall has points of weaknesses where it ids damaged. The fence does not. There is a path of sorts follows the fence o the moorland side. I followed it for a bit but got fed up and did a little gymnastics. Thence an easy walk on tarmac back to car. Something called 'Storm Kathleen' happening this weekend but there seemed to be a bit of a lull to catch a stroll. On a nice day the tricky bit round here is just parking. Happily it was't that nice and I fould a space on the long lay-by by the A57 Snake Road between the Ladybower traffic lights and the big bridge. Over the big bridge and up gentle slopes to the farm past blackface sheep with highly impressive huge curly horns. A footpath cuts over a field to avoid the farm policies. Then a steep pathless walk over dead ferns led to the rocky summit. It was seriously windy. It's a lovely little hill with a lot more character than you would think looking at it from the road. There is another pointy top bit a little to the north. I think the south top is higher but did both just to be sure. I had thought to make the walk a little longer but the weather did to feel like it was improving so I headed back down the farm track and so home.There is a place to park in Perry Dale halfway between Peak Forest and Perryfoot opposite the driveway leading to Slacksdale Farm. It was a easy walk from here to the top of Gautries Hill, up the road a bit, through the woods on a footpath and then up across a big field full of sheep. I got back to where I parked cutting directly across the stragely empty fields to Nether Barn. I went down the road a bit then through a gate ad up a track to the west ed of a narrow strip of woodland halfway up Eldon Hill. On past the sinister gash that is Eldon Hole and so up Eldon Hill. A few sheep around. No cows. And no people. It had looked busy driving through Castleton but up here it was only me. Walking down towards Old Dam I saw where all the cows were, cooped up in barns still. I did see a young calf in a field by the village with some goats for friends. And coming out the village back towards my parked car a couple of llamas. Llamas 2, cows 1. A rare win for team llama
With Anastasia and Helen. We were staying at a place next to the BP garage on Lake Road. From here we headed north across the town to find Vicarage Road which leads to Rothay Park where it becomes a path which leads to a pretty stone bridge after which we turned right and followed a lane for a short distance before picking up a long driveway of the left. This zigzags steeply uphill past some houses before becoming a path that ;eads eventually to Loughrigg Tarn near Skelwith Bridge. But we were not going there. About halfway to the Tarn a path, actually or than one as there are many minor variant routes hereabouts, headsoff right and meanders delightfully round little knolls and past a little tarn before landing us on the very crowded summit. The descent north to Loughrigg Terrace is much more unrelenting and steep. At one point I slipped and managed to sprain my knee which borthered me a little all the way down and then rather a lot more the next day. But we got down to the Terrace and turned right to walk along it going right at a fork to visit the cave and then on down to the car park at Pelter Bridge. Here we picked up the same lane we had left before taking us back to the bridge by Rothay Park and home where we played Monopoly. It was a beautiful first day of 2024 and everyone was heading to the Peak District including me. I parked in the centre of Holme which was surprisingly not hard on a day when so many car parks were choked full. From here I walked up Meal Hill Road to the right of the children's playground and soon went right at a sign. From here is a pleasant walk over field paths up and down to Digley Reservoir. Go left, cross reservoir, go up hill a short way. left again, The path bends right then at a junction go left. This is Nether Lane which follows the north flank of Marsden Cough passing the derelict Goodbent Lodge. Jut after this a path branches off south and heads off down the eastern flank of Black Hill in two huge curves before turning into the relentlessly straight Issues Road which goes all the way back to Holme eventually curving round to the right and changing name to become the same Meal Hill Road on which you began. It is easy to park in Thorpe Salvin on a rainy November day, I took the path from the east of the village that meets up with path along the Chesterfield Canal. I followed this east past a lot of locks as far as Turnerwood and I went right and south across a big muddy field in the rain to Bottom Farm. From Top Farm past the gliding club then another endless more big muddy fields in the rain to Loscar Commons and so back to the village, skipping the shortcut over Loscar Field as I had had enough of mud. It was muddy. It was rainy. With Helen and Anastasia. We parked in the big car park at the south end of the Fewston Embankment then followed the path along the reservoir past the hall to Swinsty Embankment. At Swinsty Cottage we took the path on the left along the river. Up to this point it was all very busy with dog walkers and joggers and all sorts. But after the cottage we had the place to ourselves. We walked along the riverside and up the hill to Washburn Farm. At one point we were sharing a field with a huge bull but it was a reassuringly big field and he was reassuringly far away. We went north from the farm to reach High Field Farm on the edge of Timble. Life was complicated a bit by the fact that the footbridge over Timble Beck marked on the map no longer exists and we had to wade over. From Timble easy down North Lane back to start. Then off to Harrogate where Helen treated us to cream teas at Betty's. |
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