Peak District day 2: The Manifold Valley and Dovedale

After Saturday's scones and jam, we had high expectations of breakfast and most ordered the full English.... We were not disappointed, except perhaps that we didn't all finish the large plates of locally-sourced food put in front of us. When we'd finished, Christine put the fruit salad we hadn't finished into a tupperware box for us and we were given a choice of cake for when we returned.

We headed off to Illam for to do the Dovedale walk I'd originally planned for Saturday. Ilam's an attractive village, but very busy. However, Illam Hall is a National Trust property (used as a Youth Hostel), so we were able to park there. After some consultation, other members of the party found the way to the river that I already knew because I had a new hi-tech device know as an O/S map.

There was a lovely wooded path along the River Manifold through Ilam Park that eventually emerged into more open countryside and climbed up the side of the Manifold valley, this was quite a long climb that eventually reached a large farmhouse. We could see some 4x4s around some rocky outcrops above the farm and assumed that this was a shooting party. As we got closer, it was clear that this was actually a gathering of 4x4s - they were taking turns to drive the steepest sections. There were marshalls (who were even friendly to us townies) and safety wardens and very many more vehicles than we originally saw.

We soon reached the escarpment along the top of the Manifold valley with a lovely views (that would have been improved for a little more sunshine). It was a super walk along here, that then turned into a gentle climb to the highest part of the walk, marked

by an isolated and deserted farmhouse (cue the quips about whether Ocado would deliver).

There was then a longish descent to Wetton where I'd planned a lunch stop at The Royal Oak. We walked into the car park as the church clock struck noon, and the latch of the pub was raised. The food looked great but, after the mammoth breakfast, none of us was hungry enough to eat, but we needed a rest. Some of us were obliged to sample local beers from the Wincle brewery while we listened to (and debated relative the merits of)  Abba's greatest hits.

The post-lunch stretch needed some tricky navigation, by the person who'd drunk most beer, through several fields with indistinct paths and little signage. However, we made it successfully to Stanhope and then soon to the head of Dovedale. By this time, the sun had come out and it would have made good place for a picnic. As expected, Dovedale got busier as we got further down the valley. It was easy to see why- this is a lovely place, with easy paths and with good connections. And it was a Bank Holiday Sunday. We stopped for fruit salad before it got too crowded.

We knew we'd reached non-hiker territory when we reached a rock covered in picnicers, some with pushchairs. Thorpe Cloud, a sizeable limestone hill, came into view after more crowded paths. The stepping stones at the base had a big queue and, at the other side, there was a ambulance. Civilisation had been reached. We soon got the the car park, which was completely full and had a long queue. This was clearly an afternoon to walk to Dovedale, not to drive.

The views back to Dovedale during our walk back to Ilam were spectacular, even with sheep or humans in the way.

We drove back to Bakewell in time to have tea and cake in the garden. A perfect end to a classic walk.

Dinner was a little quieter this evening - we chose Le Mistral based on the menu outside. As it happened, there was a 'two mains and a bottle of house wine' deal. Although the wine was served in smaller measures than the previous evening, fun and good conversation was had.

I wimped out of full breakfast on Monday and successfully assembled a good sausage and tomato sandwich, despite Christine's doubts about whether it was possible with the soft bread. After a stroll and a cup of coffee in the sunshine around Chatsworth, and a visit to their farm shop to buy a excellent chicken and ham pie, we set off home. My attempts to avoid the traffic at Matlock Bath resulted in  us spending an hour to queue to get through Ashbourne.

A super weekend. Where next year?

View Dovedale in a larger map

Peak District day one: Lathkill Dale

Even though there was no Royal Wedding or Jubilee to avoid, we planned another long weekend away with Alison and David - this time to the Peak District, staying in Bakewell.

We made a 7am start, planning to stop for breakfast around 9. Despite the rain, we made such good progress that the place  I had in mind (where we joined the A38) before its opening time and so had to find somewhere else. There are plenty of places to eat when you don't need one. But not on the A38 apparently. We even pulled into a signposted Little Chef, only to find that it had closed down. In the end, we found a 'transport caff', without much expectation. It turned out to be pretty good and very cheap - my doorstep bacon sandwich was just fine. It even had a Italian-style coffee machine.

I'd planned to do a Dovedale walk, starting at Ilam. However, it had a significant amount of ascent and was around 10 miles, so I was persuaded to postpone that one and find a alternative. I had a Lathkill Dale walk up my sleeve, so the main challenge was refolding the large double-sided map in the back of the car.

We started on 'Long Rake' above Youlgreave, and headed downhill along the Limestone Way in overcast conditions with some drizzle. This cleared gradually, and it was bright by the time we reached Halls Dale. By this time, we'd passed a large number of teenagers, some carrying packs as large as themselves, on a DoE training weekend. We descended steeply into Halls Dale and, rather than turn along it towards Lathkill Dale, we climbed out the other side and through a  farm, then crossed a few fields to join Lathkill Dale at its start.

This stretch of the dale was narrow and enclosed, and seemed significantly warmer than the surrounding fields. There were plenty of Wood Anemones, and a very pleasant path amongst the limestone, but no sign of the river at this stage. This certainly felt like upland Britain.
The dale gradually widened and signs of the river emerged, eventually becoming wide enough to need a bridge. The river is crystal clear, shallow and quite fast flowing. No sooner had I mentioned that we should keep a lookout for Dippers, than we saw one on the opposite bank, along with some grey wagtails.There were lots of Butterbur on the banks too.

Having had a cooked breakfast, we decided to skip the detour to the pub at Over Haddon and press on in the hope of finding a tea shop (mostly for cake) in one of the villages. The botanical highlight of the walk was in the next stage - snakes head frittilaries.

The route crossed to the other bank, and a little further from the river, until we got to Alport, at the confluence of the Lathkill and the Bradford, only to be disappointed that it didn't have a tea shop. Never mind -  Youlgreave was only a short distance along Bradford Dale. It turned out that Youlgreave doesn't have a tea shop either. However, the first of its three pubs advertised afternoon tea, so we gave it a go. The coffee was apparently OK, but I choose beer, which was good. The 'cakes' were of the Happy Shopper brand, very cheap and of the quality you'd expect. Not what we had in mind.

The last stretch of the walk was up a long but well-graded 'quiet lane' (a road on which drivers should expect to encounter walkers and rider), regaining all the height we'd lost at the start of the walk.
It was a short drive from there to Castle Hill Farm House B&B, a charming small cottage run by Christine. Within minutes of arriving, Christine asked us if we'd like tea and scones. As the pope is indeed catholic, we said yes. These were served with jam and cream and were perfect.

Christine recommended The Peacock for dinner. This was lively and very busy. We shared the 'snug' with a couple from Newmarket. Although the drinks on our side of the room were slipping down pretty quickly, the half of the conversation coming from the other side of the room was getting animated and slurred, especially when they found out Rosie is a Norwich girl and we could have an 'accents' discussion. The food at The Peacock was just what we wanted - proper pub food. We all chose pie (three chicken and ham, one steak and ale). Excellent!

View Lathkill Dale in a larger map