David and Jacinta's Walks- 2023

 Hayfield, Sett Valley Trail and Peep-O-Day There was time for a short walk today as Jacinta had an evening commitment. We went to Hayfield, starting with our usual coffee at the Sett Valley Café. Their menu is quite varied and adventurous for such a small place. We walked up towards Chinley Churn- unlike our walk in February, the day was not clear. Climbing done- about to descend to Higher Hills Cottage We occasionally glimpsed Kinder through the mist but at least it was dry and still. We descended to Higher Hills Cottage, where they have accumulated (or acquired) huge numbers of horseshoes. Lots and lots of luck! From there, it was down past Whiterakes to Peep-O-Day. Whiterakes with Chinley Churn behind From Peep-O-Day we walked back to Hayfield, passing the Phosides, the bottom of Foxholes Clough and the ruined mill behind Phoside Farm. The ruined mill at Phoside Farm Despite the rather muddy and saturated paths across the last few fields, it was a very pleasant excursion in a f...

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.

  Hayfield, Sett Valley Trail and Peep-O-Day Farm As our diary was pretty full around the actual date of our 45th wedding anniversary, we decided to have a celebratory breakfast at the Sett Valley Café as we'd be saying that we should eat there for some time. On the way we passed a couple of llamas, which we'd not seen before. Llama 1 Llama 2 Breakfast was great- David had the All Day Veggie breakfast and Jacinta had the Shakshuka. We'll be using poached eggs on any shakshuka that we make in the future, rather than attempting to cook the eggs with the rest of the dish in the oven! Sett Valley Café flier After breakfast, we had a short excursion a little further along the Sett Valley Trail and then worked our way up towards Chinley Churn. It was lovely and clear, and we had a new perspective on Kinder. Mill Hill, Kinder and a cloud front Further view of Kinder, with the Downfall visible Before dropping down to Higher Hills Farm and Peep-O-Day we had a new view of Kinder Low,...

  Hayfield and Lantern Pike The forecast wasn't good, so we chose a local "old faithful" walk with plenty of options and (very important) a friendly café- Lantern Pike from Hayfield. The first section, along the Sett Valley Trail, ends at the Sett Valley Cafe where we stopped for a coffee, toasted teacake and peanut butter crunch- all very nice. The next section follows the Pennine Bridleway up towards Lantern Pike but, as the weather seemed to be deteriorating and it was pretty windy, we skirted the exposed summit. We did get a decent view of Kinder, though. Water was flowing down The Downfall, which had been pretty dry the last few times that we'd been up there. Kinder from below Lantern Pike It had been a good walk so we took the shortest route back to Hayfield, crossing the stream by the refurbished mill at Little Hayfield. Crossing the bridge at Little Hayfield Mill Even though it was a relatively modest walk, we were glad to have got out for a walk of 4.3 miles,...