David and Jacinta's Walks- 2023

A Stroll Around Great Langdale Another scorching day and, as we'd had plenty of great walks, we thought that we'd take it a little easy today. We plotted a woodland walk and then a return beside a stream, Great Langdale Beck. From The Piggery, we walked down to Chapel Stile and followed the signs to Great Langdale. After a short climb, we arrived at the path through the working slate quarry- a very impressive hole in the ground. Slate quarry above Chapel Stile Once out of the woodlands, the fields contained the occasional tree- this one caught David's eye. Blasted tree  The herdies were even more loth to move today- this mother and her offspring couldn't be bothered to move away from the path. Nothing to see here- move along, please The few ( Belted Galloway ?) cows on Basebrown Farm were all gathered under a single tree. Cows enjoying the shade On the start of our return, it felt as if we could have been in The Dolomites, albeit with the Langdale Pikes in the backgroun...

Elterwater We decided to take the "low route" today and embark on a circuit from Elterwater around to Slater Bridge and back to Chapel Stile. We started by walking the half mile from The Piggery (our Airbnb) to Elterwater, a pleasant stroll, and then striking out into the hills above the village. As we came to the top of our first track, there appeared the welcome sight of an informal "trackside café" offering tea, coffee and homemade cakes. One of the party treated herself to a coffee, while the other chose a chunk of lovely lemon drizzle cake. After our minor pitstop and admiring the farm's fluffy chickens, we took the pleasant route down to Little Langdale. Fluffy chickens From Little Langdale we walked on to the wonderful Slater Bridge which was a wonder to behold. Slater Bridge  The route then took us up to Stand End Farm and into the woods which eventually led to Colwith Force. It was a great spot to stop, have lunch, and admire the view of the waterfall- ...

Silver Howe We had a little guidance from Wainwright's "The Central Fells", which offered a nice route up Silver How from Chapel Stile, so it was nice not to have to use the car for a change. We started up through the bracken, soon gaining height and views which were lovely in the bright sunlight. Bracken and bright sunlight It was pretty hot and a ewe and her lamb were preferred to stay in the shade rather than run away from us- we passed within a metre of them. Unperturbed ewe and her lamb Sunlit uplands The walk to the top of Silver How was steady but interesting with undulating slopes and we made our way to the top without difficulty, notwithstanding not quite the route suggested by Wainwright. Almost dolomitic path After a break at the top we took a different route down which was quite steep to take us to a point between Grasmere and Dale End. We (inadvertently) followed a Corpse Road, stopping in a lovely spot with a view of the lake and opposite a (Victorian?) benc...

Pike O' Blisco Having arrived in The Lakes in the early afternoon, we decided to relive one of our former glories from roughly 40 years ago- Pike O' Blisco. We chose to start from Wainwright's suggestion of Stool End and, after about a kilometer of more or less level walking, we began the climb above Browney Gill- a steeper climb than most that we'd done recently. The weather was almost dolomitic and the views as spectacular. Jacinta chats with couple descending. Langdale Pikes in the background After a while, the slope eased and we were able to take in more views; we knew that the summit of Pike O' Blisco was only a few metres lower than that of Pike O' Stickle (the conical Langdale Pike) so we had something to gauge our ascent by. The climb eases a little- Pike O' Stickle behind/left of Jacinta As we got higher, other familiar hills came into view, including Bowfell. Bowfell looming in the distance On reaching the summit of Pike O' Blisco, we were rewa...

A Stroll Around the Longdendale Reservoirs We had decided on a relatively low-level walk today, so we parked up at Crowden and ambled around the flight of reservoirs running down from Woodhead. We crossed the Torside Reservoir dam to walk along the more pleasant, wooded southern side of the reservoirs. The water level in the Rhodeswood reservoir was high enough to spill out from the rectangular outflow- another "hole in the water". We decided to have some refreshments at the  Pixie Bakes Cakery and Coffee Bar  in Tintwistle where we'd had coffee last year in very different weather. On our return, we crossed the Bottoms Reservoir dam and admired the ornate "Gauging Basin". Bottoms Reservoir Gauging Basin On reaching the Torside Reservoir dam again, we decided to take the permissive path beside the reservoir itself, rather than taking to old road back to Crowden. Just under 10 miles, negligible ascent.

Eyam Moor, Abney Moor and Offerton Moor Another walk from "Day Walks in the Peak District", and a complement to the walk that we did on  May 4th .The walk starts from the Hathersage car park and rejoins familiar territory at the Leadmill Bridge, where there's a short overlap with the May walk. Inscription on Leadmill Bridge On reaching Hazelford Hall, the two routes diverge and this time we went more or less directly up to the Sir William Hill Road. Rather than following the public road, we used the byway to skirt Bretton Moor and stopped for light refreshments (including crisps!) at The Barrel Inn at Bretton. From there, we followed the (currently closed to traffic) road across Hucklow Edge- easy walking, and very quiet. It was clear why the road was closed- there were landslips to its south and the road itself had collapsed at its western end, although not to the extent of the Mam Tor road!  On nearing the Gliding Club, the route took a welcome break from tarmac, cuttin...

Castleton, Rushup Edge and the Limestone Way To Castleton on a sunny Thursday and another walk from the new Day Walks book. From Castleton the path passes three Blue John mines and the obligatory sheep and lambs.  Lamb owning the path On the way up to Blue John Cavern: Mam Tor looming ahead After the Blue John Cavern, it was on to Mam Nick- always a gathering point for the many people who climb up Mam Tor. We stopped for a snack with a very  tame (or cheeky) jackdaw who sampled various snippets. Jackdaw on the scrounge It was then a familiar walk up to Lord's Seat and Rushup Edge but it does not disappoint. This time we went down to the main road and then down the side road (very quiet!) down to Eldon Lane. We took a turning from here which led us into the long, straight Perry Vale which has nice views either side, but still feels a little like a road. The route then follows the Pennine Bridleway, where we passed a bunch of lounging goats. Lounging goats with one scratching hi...

Hayfield, Peep-o-Day and The Sett Valley Trail From the Trespass car park at Bowden Bridge we took a new route up the hill via the bridle way to the shoulder below Mount Famine, and then down familiar territory past Peep-o-Day. Rather than turning towards Whiterakes and Chinley, we continued straight up the track past Higher Hills Cottage, enjoying the views, the sheep with their lambs and the solitude- there was no-one else around. We were now reversing the route that we took back in February  Before we started our descent back to Birch Vale, we passed a section of drystone wall being rebuilt. Drystone wall being rebuilt The route went down to the main road at Birch Vale which, of course, allowed for a pit stop at the Sett Valley Café. Descent to Birch Vale We then picked up the Sett Valley Trail all the way back to Bowden Bridge. A nice walk of about six miles with 360m ascent. 2¾ hours.