Written by Deborah
11 of us travelled to Derbyshire on Friday 14th June to do some walks in the Dales of the Peak District organised and led by Norman. We organised our own accommodation, most in Bakewell, but Jackie, Jane and I stayed a few miles away in the tiny village of Over Haddon, which was handy for the first walk of 9 miles on Saturday as it started there! The walk was along the riverside paths and fields, with a short but steep stairway out of Lathkill Dale, much of which was the first National Nature Reserve in the Peak Park in 1792.Â
On Saturday evening, Norman had booked a table for everyone in the Woodyard restaurant in Bakewell. David (who had broken his toe!) and Diana (who has a damaged Achilles tendon) had spent the day exploring the area, joined us for this, which was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
On Sunday we took a 10 mile walk starting in Baslow, which was quite steep to begin with but soon evened out. At one of the highest points of the walk near Curbar, is a large rock which traditionally was mandatory for a young man to climb to prove his worth to his intended - and it was very steep indeed! Needless to say, none of us attempted it.Â
Unfortunately Jackie, Sue and I did not complete the entire route as Sue discovered her phone was missing and by contacting her daughter Liz with whom she had location sharing, we managed to find where she had dropped it and retraced our steps. Given that Liz was in Athens, this was a magnificent demonstration of how wonderful modern technology can be in such circumstances and I highly recommend that those who spend a great deal of time alone should share their location with someone for times of emergency!
On Sunday we parked in Beeley and did a fabulous walk through the grounds of Chatsworth, with a stiff climb up from the village, passing waterfalls and the Hunting Tower. We took a break at the visitor centre in Chatsworth where most of us had an ice cream.
This was a great weekend, really relaxing and fun with great company. Huge thanks to Norman for organising it all.
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