RETURN TO THE FLEET - BACK ON BIRCHEN EDGE

We really haven't been doing terribly well lately. Yet another gap has occurred in our walking due to unforeseen circumstances, so we've missed another week. But sheer determination has us out today, despite being under the influence of a streaming cold. And we are lucky. The weather is relatively mild, and we are able to ignore the wind and the sogginess from previous rain.

We're a little late meeting up; road works on the A57 (for PC) and a slow photocopier for me (long story) sets us back a bit, but it doesn't really matter as we don't have a long walk planned. There aren't many vehicles in the car park next to the Robin Hood pub (just off the A619) but there is a new Pay and Display machine. They seem to be creeping in everywhere.

A brief catch up then we're pulling on the layers, even the woolly hats make their first appearance in a while. Mollie is put on the lead and we make our way down to the road for the short walk up to the footpath.

We know it isn't long since we were last here so it is all very familiar, but that doesn't stop Mollie bounding off when we let her have a run in the woods once we are through the gate and on the path. Mollie loves stones and rocks, picking them up and tossing them to us to throw for her. They aren't good for her teeth, and we won't play, but that doesn't curb her enthusiasm.

We don't let her run too far before we put her back on the lead again, and we're climbing up through the rocks onto Birchen Edge. As soon as we're up the views open up around us and we're really glad of the clear skies, although the wind is a bit strong.

It's a steady amble along the edge, although one worrying aspect is the large number of cow pats! My aversion to cows is well known, and I am not particularly keen on meeting the depositors of these overlarge dollops of manure. They are not made by diminutive beasts.

We head towards the monumental rocks - the three ships - (see our walk Outlaws and Heroes dated 2.3.12) to celebrate the success of Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar. There are a couple of groups of climbers working on the edge so we amble up to the ships for a closer look before continuing on our way, happy that we have had no sightings of cows.

It isn't long before we reach the trig point and decide that we need to descend if we want to eat our lunch out of the wind. We drop down and scout around, eventually settling on a rock sheltered by a few spindly trees.

As Mollie tucks into biscuits we have the last of PC's Cointreau followed by a nip of my Ramblers. I'll have to make some more before winter sets in, there isn't much left. Then it's coffee and sandwiches before the buns come out.

These are new to us; chocolate tarts with fresh cream and orange curls. At first sight they seem to be quite light but when it comes to eating them they turn out to be seriously calorific! Shortcrust pastry cases, a thin layer of thick chocolate custard covered with moist chocolate brownie topped with fresh cream and orange chocolate curls. (PC should have taken a photo, but she was half way down hers before she thought of it!) They are seriously good, but would have been filling had they been half the size. PC is undaunted and eats all of hers, but I end up sharing that last of mine with Mollie, who doesn't complain.

Feeling very over-stuffed we decide that we had better get going. We make our way back to the path and walk beneath the ridge, watching some of the climbers as they work their way up the rocks. The narrow path broadens out and soon we are heading back towards the road, the car park and our cars.

It hasn't been a very long walk, nor an eventful one (thanks to the lack of cows) but it has been good to get out. It has been chilly and breezy, but that has helped to keep the head cold at bay. Fingers crossed we'll be able to get into some kind of walking routine again.

OUTLAWS AND HEROES - Robin Hood to Nelson

Wow! This is unbelievable. Another fine day on the horizon, and our walking day too. Are we lucky or are we lucky? (Perhaps it's time we starting buying lottery tickets!) Yes, the sun is already shining even though it's only just past 9.30 am and it feels like SPRING, even though it isn't, officially, for a while yet.

We pull up in the car park at the side of the Robin Hood pub, the well known hostelry on the Chesterfield side of Baslow nestling beneath Birchen Edge. There's plenty of room for our cars even though there are already four mini-buses here and some other vehicles too. On sunny weekends this car park is usually full to overflowing with a scrubby field across the road being pressed into use for the excess, but no such problems mid-week.

Today's walk is going to be much shorter than usual - family commitments demand attention - but we're still looking forward to it, and so is Mollie. She's quickly settled down to the idea of these outings and seems delighted to be with us (the dog biscuits in my pocket have nothing whatsoever to do with her enthusiasm).

No need for waterproofs today but somehow the rucksacks don't seem to be a lot lighter as we leave the car park and walk the few yards up the road to the beginning of the path to Birchen Edge. As we walk up the slight slope PC has a moment of consternation - is that a stile at the top? She had an injection in her hip yesterday and has been told to 'take it easy'. Somehow a stile doesn't quite fall into that category, but she needn't have worried. It's a gate (phew) and we're straight through it and onto the broad path.

It's light woodland here and, for now at least, sheepless so Mollie is allowed off the lead to chase sticks and stones - one of her favourite hobbies.

Meanwhile we walk along catching up on what has been a hectic week on the domestic front. Oh, is it good to talk.

There's a path up to the right, climbing steeply up onto the Edge, but we decide to keep to the 'low road' where the going is easy. We'll be able to go up to the Edge later on and with less effort. Even from the lower path, though, we have fantastic views down towards Baslow and of the surrounding moors.

The rocks of Birchen Edge rise steeply on our right and there's already a group of hard - hatted climbers making their way up.

Seems too much like hard work to us, but to each his own.

After a while the woods (if the sparse clusters of birch trees can really claim to be serious woodland) thin out even more and the moor unfolds before us. It isn't late and we aren't planning to walk too far but it seems the spot to fetch out the flask so we make our way across the tussocky bleached grass to find an appropriately sized rock to sit on. Out comes the coffee (no Ramblers today, the short walk doesn't warrant it) and we sit in the sunshine enjoying our drinks, watching the horses in a field up ahead and enjoying the peace. There isn't another soul about. Probably just as well really, we wouldn't want them listening in on our conversation.

It's a very mellow feeling, and one that we'd love to prolong, but we decide we'd better move on so we retrace our steps to the path and begin to look for a spot where we can go up onto the Edge. There isn't a clear path but we're pretty good at finding our way and eventually we spy a possible route up. It's one of those paths that you can't see from a distance but when you're on it you can follow it fairly easily, and it takes us up onto the Edge with relative ease. Then we turn and look back. The view from here is stunning. So much reward for so little effort.

Then I notice cows grazing down below. Effectively they are on the same part of the moor as us, there are no field boundaries or walls, and they have left 'evidence' all along the Edge, which means they are no strangers to the view from here, but I am really really glad that today they are a long way off.

Firstly we amble along the path running NE but it doesn't really go anywhere, or rather it doesn't go anywhere we want to go, so we turn about and set off towards the trig point (310m) on the Edge. Just before we get to it, though, we find the perfect spot to sit down for lunch. A slight landslip near the edge of the ridge has left a bench shaped depression on the ground. It's as though it was made for us and it would seem ungrateful if we ignored it.

So we eat our sandwiches and drink our coffee (Mollie has her water and biscuits, naturally, although she does seem hopeful that she'll get something better) whilst enjoying the sun-enhanced view. Then it's bun time. PCs turn today, and because we're having to forgo the Ramblers she's brought chocolate cheesecakes as a special (super-high calorie) treat. And a treat they are, even though we only have one spoon between us and I have had to fashion another 'spoon' from some plastic packaging with my trusty boys-own knife. Ray Mears would be proud.

We check the time and know we can't linger too long, so up we get and continue along the path, past the trig point and towards the huge mounds of rock ahead. They are very impressive when approached from this direction and we can almost see why they were chosen to be the 'Three Ships'.

On the right, on the edge of the Ridge is Nelson's Monument, a tall obelisk with a sphere on the top commemorating Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The three ships are named after three of those in Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar:

Victory,

Defiance and Royal Soverin (yes, that's the spelling). The Victory and Royal Soverin were 100 gun ships whilst the Defiance carried 74 guns. At the base of the Defiance is another carving in the rock, much eroded, with the initials ?EC? and the date 1766. We can only speculate what this relates to the date of birth of the carver or of someone on one of the ships, or some other significant moment in time for someone completely unrelated to the Battle of Trafalgar with the carved date predating any notion to erect a monument to Nelson.

We leave the ships, the monument and the climbers (who seem to be using the monument as a focus) and continue on our way, conscious that we have to make it back to the car park early. This section of the walk is level (apart from the rocks in the path) and easy whilst still maintaining the wonderful views.

The path does become quite narrow in places (we have to step aside to let someone pass in the opposite direction) and since we've found it easier to let Mollie run loose instead of tripping us up she rewards us by rolling in some cow poo! Ungrateful dog - glad she's going home in the car with PC and not me!

Eventually the path curves around and we make a quick descent down the steep path we'd ignored on our way out. Then we're back on the 'low road' again and only have a short stretch back to the car park.

To say it has only been a short walk it has been an excellent one. The weather has been great and the views spectacular for minimal effort. It's no wonder this is such a magnet for the weekend walkers or less adventurous, but mid-week it's a pretty good choice as the crowds are out of the way.

Fingers crossed that the Spring weather continues for next week.

SEPTEMBER SUNSHINE WITH SUNGLASSES, SUN CREAM AND SLOE GIN

FROM BASLOW TO WELLINGTON'S MONUMENT, THEN ON TO THE ROBIN HOOD FOR A RETURN THROUGH CHATSWORTH

Today we have something quite unexpected, even though it has been forecast. A stunningly blue, clear and hot late September day. This is what is called an Indian Summer. Long may it last!

We meet up in the large car park at Baslow keen to follow a route we last walked during our 'dog days'. After some memory dredging and using our fingers to help calculate, we reckon it must have been about 8 years ago. A long time to leave before revisiting a good walk.

Before we set off we sort out our rucksacks, and I pull out a small bottle of Sloe Gin - the final product from our walk back in October last year where we managed to salvage some sloes in Deepdale. Rather than carry an unsafe glass bottle around with us (or at least, that's the excuse we use) we feel it's better to sample the gin before walking. Who cares that it isn't yet 10 o'clock? Yes, it's a good one. Pity we haven't got PC's to sample yet (get it bottled, girl!) but this taster certainly puts an additional rosy glow on the walk.

We pay our dues at the parking meter, wincing a little at the cost, then don rucksacks and cross the main road. Where we pause to study the map. Well, it is 8 years since we last walked here and finding the way along residential roads is always harder than moorland paths. We think we're sorted, and set off up behind the italian restaurant (it looks nice, must go sometime) and talk about work, or the lack of it, for those leaving university.

Just as we begin to wonder if we're going the right way we see Bar Road ahead of us and turn up it. This should take us up towards Baslow Edge, and with a few more pauses to check our route we're soon on the tree lined track that presses steeply upwards. There are cows in the fields and walkers aplenty. There's also a heat haze covering the view so that PC is worried that her photos won't turn out.

By now we're discussing upcoming university choices and 6th form choices. Both are equally traumatic. We're also feeling the heat now, so PC ties her hair back with a shoelace and I zip off the bottom of my trousers to make them into shorts. We find a nice boulder to sit on and have a quick drink before we head on through the gate and onto the moor. Good job we have plenty of water with us.

We go through the gate and onto the well trod path up onto the moor. We seem to remember that last time it had been very muddy, rutted and churned up here, possibly by motorbikes, but maybe we're on a slightly different path. It doesn't look to have suffered much recently.

To our left it looks as though there are old quarries gouged out of the hillside, long disused now with tumbled stones being buried by heather and bracken. To the right are superb views across towards Birchen Edge and beyond. There are plenty of people out now, too. Hardly surprising given the glorious weather.

Ahead of us there's a bench, and it doesn't take any persuasion for us to go and take a seat, shrugging off our rucksacks and settling down to enjoy the view. We haven't been walking long, admittedly, but a comfy bench is just too good an opportunity to miss. Sunglasses and sunhat are now essential but we're not complaining.

We've obviously bagged a choice spot, quite a few couples and small groups hover close by for a while hoping we're going to move, but we could quite happily sit here all day. Eventually one party of three, plus dog, sidle towards us and as we start to sort out our rucksacks they stand so close we feel as though we should be on first name terms! The moment we move away, the pounce, and are on the seat before the bench has had time to cool.

Cresting the small rise in the path we can clearly see Wellington's Monument to our right and the prominent Eagle Stone to the left with someone at its base clearly considering climbing it.

We move to the right then realise that the path we need actually started somewhere back down the way we have come. We must have missed the turning since we were enjoying the view so much (or talking to much). Undaunted, and despite eating apples freshly picked this morning, (our concession to healthy eating, they counteract the buns), we follow a very steep narrow path downwards. We're obviously not the only ones to have missed the right turning, but this path would be a little bit scary if the ground was wet. It would probably produce a swift, slippery decent with an uncomfortable landing.

But today the ground is dry and with the help of a few tree branches we make it to the path beneath the Monument with minimum fuss.

Here it is cool and shady, and quiet. There's no one else to be seen or heard as we walk along the slowly descending woodland path. Moss covered boulders loom out of the undergrowth and there's a smattering of golden leaves on the floor. The tree canopy is thinning but most trees have yet to make the dramatic change into autumn colours. Apparently plant life has been lulled into thinking that this is another Spring, and in some parts of the country Spring flowers are already making an appearance. They'll be in for a shock. We see a toadstool the size of plate, then another 'fairy toadstool', the red and white spotted poisonous fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). PC duly takes a photograph.

We pass through a small gate which leads us to a path between a hedge and a wall. Beyond the hedge is a large house and garden which can be glimpsed from time to time. The path takes us down towards Bar Brook and a beautiful stone footbridge across it. From this bridge the dominating view is of the massive concrete bridge which arches over the brook to link the houses with the road. It's an eyesore, and one that we wouldn't like to have the expense of maintaining.

From the bridge we climb slowly up to the road (A621) and emerge into the sunlight once again. It's a fast road, so we have to be careful as we cross over to the stile adjacent to the cottage opposite. Once again we're amongst trees, but these are sparse and consist mainly of spindly birches. The path climbs slowly uphill with plenty of inviting boulders. Eventually we choose a conveniently shaped one to sit on for lunch which gives us good views despite having a stone wall in the foreground.

Salad, sandwiches and coffee are consumed along with the bun - iced cinnamon swirls. Not quite as good as they promised, a little on the dry side and very heavy, but full of essential calories. PC declines a nip from the secret flask (freshly prepared Ramblers Restorative), convinced that added to the earlier sloe gin it will be overkill. So the Ramblers is safe for another week.

It's hard setting off again on a full stomach with the sun beating down, but it isn't far until we've reached the highest point on this side of the walk where we inspect, but don't climb, the huge gritstone rock formation. From here it's all downhill, and crossing the close cropped grass we come upon the remains of an enclosure - clearly marked on the map but not so clear on the ground if you aren't looking for it.

Down the path to the road (A619) we have to negotiate and awkward (for us) stile before facing the traffic again. Swiftly crossing we plunge steeply downhill (via stone steps!) to the wooden footbridge crossing the beautifully named Heathy Lee Brook. The last time we crossed this bridge it was extremely slippery underfoot, but since that ancient time the bridge has been replaced - a plaque stating that it was put up in 2007 after the floods. We hadn't realised, though, that the waters had been so strong as to wash away the original bridge. Must have been scary.

(We remember the floods with stark clarity. We were actually out walking near Derwent not expecting the weather to be quite as bad as it turned out to be. In the end it took me 5 hours to get home as all routes were closed. Oh yes, very memorable.)

Now it's an easy stroll along the back-tracks of the Chatsworth Estate, with one or two rather high stiles to negotiate. We remember the last stile as being a real trial to the dogs last time, but this time we're on our own, and it's a trial for us instead. Then we're into the park with the afternoon sun beating down on us. In the distance we see a herd of deer running, the antlered stage bringing up the rear. Then I realised that we're in a 'field' with cattle. I make a quick dash for the stile, even though the beasties don't even notice us.

We follow the fence around to the Canon Gate which leads us onto the Baslow path. Not far to the car park now, and there are people coming along the path in droves. The good weather has certainly fetched them out.

Naturally, the car park is heaving when we get back, and the inside of the cars boiling. Just enough time to finish off the water and plan for next week. It's been so good revisiting an old walk that we'll try to do the same again.