DAMPLY UP AND OVER DERWENT

The vague plan of hiking up to Lost Lad today is scuppered by the weather, too much intermittent fine rain and low cloud along with patchy fog. But all is not lost, even if the Lad is, and there is always somewhere to walk around Derwent.

We park in our usual spot, and notice as we drive down that a lot of the smaller car parks now have the dreaded parking meters, though not ours, or not yet! A quick walk down to the centre at Fairholmes and we discover that all facilities are closed as there is work being done higher up the dams which has cut all the power. Ah well, onward.

We cross under the dam wall and head along the far side reservoir.

The blossom is starting to come out on a few of the trees, soon the branches won't be so bare.

This is a pleasant easy lane to walk on, and although there are usually quite a few people doing the circuit of the dam, today we are pretty much alone. The weather certainly has a lot to answer for.

Look for the left hand path that will take us uphill, and we clambler over the stile and onto the track. It starts off steadily, but after a patch of gloopy mud we are climbing. It's a rather lovely, if steep, lane but one thing it does do is encourage us to pause to admire the views (and catch our breath).

Despite having no leaves the trees look superb, their structure seen with greater clarity.

The views more or less in the direction of Lost Lad look as though it might be a bit clearer up there.

But there is general murk everywhere.

We reach the top of the lane and go through the gate next to the wonderfully situated farmhouse. Then another short stretch of uphill (with a fortifying nip from the secret flask to give us encouragement) and we come to some lovely views, and a stone wall to sit against to have lunch. 

Today is my 'birthday' walk, so as well as coffee and sandwiches, it is treat time! A small bottle of fizz, mini chocolate pots, and a gloriously large slab of carrot cake (my absolute favourite) make for a very decadent and much appreciated picnic.

As usual after such a lovely feast the temptation is to linger (is a post-lunch snooze in order?) but it is rather chilly so we pack up and set off again across the top of the moor.

There are wonderful views all around, including a good one of the Lad in the distance.

We pass a group of walkers up here, coming from the oppposite direction. It's quite unusual to see many folk up here, and even rarer to see a group.

The incline here is pretty negligible, and as soon as we reach the top we start the slow decent, with Derwent reservoir gleaming greyly in the distance.

We keep the steady descent until we come to the point where the path becomes steep - and the rain arrives in earnest. Deep ruts and runnels, along with loose stones and slick ground mean we have to be cautious, but we soom manage to arrive at the bottom wall and the gate through to the reservoir track.

PC takes a photo just to remind us of the not-so-well signed path that we'll be taking when we next decide to try for Lost Lad.

Naturally, by the time we are on our way back the rain has almost stopped, so we are pretty much dry when we get back to the cars. Hopefully we'll get to walk up to the Lad soon.

EYAM, FOOLOW AND BRETTON

We meet up in Eyam's central car park across from the museum and are surprised to find it empty despite there being plenty of people about. Then we see the sign for the free car park (honesty box for donations) so we swiftly move.

We have both dogs today, Mollie and Scamp, and they both seem eager to be off. It is rather dull, and the forecast isn't brilliant, so we make sure we're prepared although we aren't likely to be doing much offroad walking.


 We drop down to the village and turn right. We've never been to this part of the village before but it is rather pretty. We spy on path on the opposite side of the road, Tideswell Lane, though it is -these days at least- merely a rough track.

We have soon left the few houses behind us and walk along the rough track between the limestone walls. There are fields at either side and some rather good views too. The path undulates and curves around a little, but it is fairly easy walking.

When the lane ends we take a sharp right onto Foolow lane, avoiding the busy A623. Almost immediately, on our right, the grass verge is covered with low growing white flowers. They take a bit of tracking down to identify them, but they turn out to be Creeping Comfrey, or Symphytum grandiflorum.
 

We continue down the lane towards Foolow. We have never actually been here before and find it to be a really pretty village.

There is a rather good looking pub that is just opening up for the lunchtime trade.

And a really quaint old chapel....

...which sits across the road from the green and duck pond.

We take the right hand lane, Bradshaw Lane, immediately after the small chapel, which gives us a long but steady road walk. But we see our first spring lambs in the fields.

It is quite a long road, and the last part of it is pretty steep, but we crest the top and clamber over a stile to sit with our backs to a wall and a view ahead while we eat lunch. It's quite chilly though, so we don't exactly linger.

The road continues along and comes to the familiar Sir William Hill Road.

At the end of this road, or rather, track, we turn right. We still have tarmac underfoot but the road isn't a busy one. This is Edge Road, and we pass Mompesson's Well, pausing briefly to reflect on the events of the plague for which Eyam is famous.

As the road bends we decide to take the path through the woods on our left. And since the sun has decided to come out it turns out to be a good choice. We cross Hollow Brook at the bottom of the woods and climb up again past an inquisitive horse in an adjacent field.

We have some good views over the village as we walk along the rutted tractor track, and soon we are on a tiny side road that drops down to the village centre.

From here it is a short stroll through the village and back to the car park. We have done a fair amount of road walking today but it has actually been quite pleasant and we have enjoyed visiting places we have somehow missed in the past.

ROUND HATHERSAGE WITH THE DYNAMIC DUO!

We've extra company this week. Joining us and our regular doggy pal, Mollie (border collie), is Scamp (not a border collie!!!) Scamp, a rescue dog, belongs to PC's daughter and her partner and today his usual job of joining his master at work has been postponed, so he's coming with us instead.

We park in the car park near the leisure centre and pay the maximum charge. Last time we did this walk we did the same and needed the extra time. We head down the alleyway at the side of the car park and into the village, crossing the road and turning right.

We follow the narrow lane between the houses then turn left, hunting for a path on our right to take us up towards the church.

There are workmen in the church, not that we were going to visit, but we do pause at the parking meter next to Little John's grave. 

We go through the gate at the end and go left until we reach a gate into a muddy field. Nothing for it, we head through the gloopy mess.

The ​path swings right and up to a lane. Perhaps we could have avoided the mud by taking a slightly different route!

We walk up the lane, pausing to admire the snowdrops and the gnarly roots of the trees growing on the bank.

When the path splits, with the right one going towards Toothill Farm, we head in that direction. There are some glorious views towards Mam Tor covered in snow!

We continue uphill, it's a little slippy underfoot but not too grim. Last time we were here we inadvertently followed a right-hand path, but this time we are prepared and keep our eyes open for one on our left. Sure enough, there it is.

We follow it uphill through the next field.

And come to a barb wire fence!

After a quick look around we follow the fence to a wall and a gate into the access land. Again, the views are superb.

We follow the path through the mood and onto a farm lane which leads, in turn, to the road up from Hatersage. We follow this until we reach the road beneath Stanage Edge.

We follow this road down aiming for the picnic site near Stanage Plantation. Here we can sit comfortably with coffee, sandwiches and buns. Or rather, early, cream filled, hot cross buns. Yum. 

We head away from our picnic, retracing our steps to the toilets.

Then leaving the views of the edge behind us we take the downward track toward North Lees Hall.

From here it's steadily downhill, and at the bottom of the sweeping driveway we turn left, clamber over an awkward stile on our right, then negotiate a rather slippery path adjacent to Cowclose with its spectacular metal stag sculpture.

From here it's a pretty direct route across the fields, slippery in places but the sun is out which makes it so much better.

Of course, we aren't long before we are walking back through the churchyard and through the village. And it hasn't taken us anything like as long as we had anticipated.

AN ALTERNATIVE CIRCUIT OF CRESSBROOK AND TANSLEY DALES

It's one of those beautiful spring mornings with sunshine and a clear sky. It's chilly, but great to be out. We are parked at one of our 'good' spots in a small parking bay next to the River Wye down from Monsal Head. Up there it is busy, but down here there's only one other car. There's enough to see already before we even get going. The daffodils are flowering and the views across the river are lovely.

We head, as usual, along the road towards the old mill which is now converted into an apartment complex. Here we veer right and start the steady climb up the road. It certainly starts to make us feel a bit warm, and PC pauses to remove a layer.

At the top of the lane where it hairpins we continue ahead on the rough track. Normally we would continue ahead through the gate, but this time we choose the steeply sloping right hand path up through the woods. It doesn't take us long to wonder if we've done the right thing.

Mollie may be finding the steep steps great fun, but for those of us with less bounce, they're a bit of a trial. PC removes another layer!

However, when we get to the top of the woods we are rewarded for our efforts. The fields are lush and green.

The views across to the cliffs over Ravensdale cottages are superb.

We skirt the wall and find our stile through, then we have a number of fields to cross. From the first we can see to Cressbrook dale, but I'm not in a mood to linger. There had been cows in these fields before and I want to get moving!

Fortunately, it's too early for them to be out yet, so we make it safely across this and the next few fields too before joining the track on the edge of Litton village. We walk along until we find our next path which leads us across more fields to the head of Tansley Dale.

Lunch beckons, but despite the sun it is rather chilly and we could do with some shelter. Ahead of us two ladies vacate what looks to be a perfect spot tucked under an outcrop, so we take their places.

We settle down with our sandwiches, coffee and buns, and a small warmer from the secret flask. That will need topping up soon.

With lunch over we walk down the valley to where it joins Cressbrook Dale, and we see the water. Yes, we've had a fair amount of rain recently but we hadn't quite expected there to be so much water. It's usually bone dry here, and we've only once seen it so inundated, and that was from the far end - and we hadn't been able to get through. We hope it doesn't block our way back.

The spread of water is quite extensive and we keep high up to avoid paddling.

There are ponds that look permanent, even though we know they aren't.

We head through the woods accompanied by the soothing sound of running water. The sunlight on the mossy green stones under the water is particularly stunning.

By the time we reach the narrow wooden footbridge there is quite a torrent, but at least it isn't flooded. But at the other side it is a quagmire. The farmer has clearly kept cattle on here through the bad weather, and they make full use of the footpath to access the water and shelter. Walking is really hard, and a couple of people go past us at a less cautious speed only for the man to slip down a few places in front. He gets up swiftly enough with seemingly little the worse for wear, other than muddy clothes and battered dignity.

We proceed with more caution and reach the safety of a solid track without mishap. From here we only need to walk up to join the lane at the hairpin bends then walk back along the road to the cars. It has been an excellent walk.