My Walking Journeys

Scenic Lincoln Circular Walk: Cathedral, River Witham, and Common Views

Jun 11th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning myself and Chris met up in Bracebridge Heath, near Lincoln and we enjoyed a 9 mile circular walk that gave fine views of Lincoln followed by a scenic perambulation along the river Witham. Amigo Mick was not on this walk so it was a ‘Two Amigo’ walk today. Chris was keen as mustard for the walk because, for the first time ever, he was first to the meeting point!!

Leaving the car park we walked through a housing estate to reach a field where we started to get fine views.

View over Lincoln

Following our route we found that a landslip had taken away our path so we checked our maps and found a detour. Crossing the A607 we entered a field containing beans and followed that around until we could drop down on to our intended path. My legs got very wet from the long grass on this path.

The path by the bean field

We had arrived on a path above South Common and were rewarded with lovely views of the Common and Lincoln Cathedral sat majestically on the hill. https://lincolncathedral.com/

South Common

Lincoln Cathedral

The cathedral is very impressive and well worth a visit. Lincoln is a historic and beautiful city. We could see the Keep of Lincoln castle situated close to the cathedral.

We passed the International Bomber Command Centre. We didn’t visit today, but I had visited earlier in the month – hence the photos below. https://internationalbcc.co.uk/.

The IBCC – the sculpture represents the food drops that were carried out in post war Germany .

Memorial spire and wall of names

View from the base of the Spire looking upwards.

After passing IBCC we headed downhill towards South Common.

Chris on South Common

Looking back we could see the Spire on top of the escarpment.

Chris informed me that the height of the Spire was the same as the wing span of a Lancaster bomber!

Horses were grazing on the common which is a lovely open space.

Horses grazing on the Common

South Common

We passed across a bridge over the site of an old railway line – I said to Chris that it was the Melton Mowbray line (most old railway lines seem to me to pass through Melton Mowbray) but Chris did some research and found that it was, in fact, the Lincoln to Honington line!

We saw a handy bench and stopped for a cuppa. Refreshed we found our way to a drainage dyke that led us to the river Witham.

Chris viewing the drainage dyke

At the weekend myself and Angela had visited Easton Walled gardens which is about 5 miles from the source of the river Witham. The river runs through the gardens under a lovely ornamental bridge. It was coincidental that I was by the Witham again today.

The river Witham in Easton Walled gardens- 5 miles from its source

Easton Walled Gardens

After a short walk by the dyke we met the river Witham and followed the path for about 2.5 miles.

river Witham

Chris walking on the river bank

We passed a factory and a passer-by informed us that it is a Walkers crisps factory (that makes Quavers apparently).

Walkers Crisps factory

We stopped for another break at this bridge

River Witham in the background

As we were walking along the river we were deep in conversation about the SAS when I suddenly realised that there was no longer a river – we had missed our turning and were following a drain! Oops. We back tracked to pick up the river – I don’t think we would make the navigation grade for the SAS! It was a funny moment.

Crossing another bridge, further on past the sewage works, we walked through an urban area to pick up a path that led back up the escarpment.

Our path back to the escarpment

As we neared the hilly section Chris set off like a rat up a drainpipe and whizzed up the hill.

Reaching the top it was a flat walk along the escarpment back to the cars enjoying the distant views along the way.

It was a good and enjoyable walk today.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Conditioning for 26-mile Sponsored Walk along the Grantham Canal

Jun 7th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

It was sunny but on the chilly side this morning as I set off on an 18 mile walk along The Grantham Canal. I would be doing a ‘there and back’ starting in Woolsthorpe- by- Belvoir and going to Dove Cottage Tea rooms near Harby.

A canal view today

Why did I walk 18 miles? -you might well ask. Well, on the 29th June I am taking part in a 26 mile sponsored walk along the canal, from Gamston to the Grantham Canal Society depot at Woolsthorpe, in order to raise funds for the Society. http://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/granthamcanalsociety

The Grantham Canal runs 33 miles from Grantham to the river Trent in Nottingham. With the coming of the railways, sadly, the canal fell into disuse. The canal is gradually being restored by The Grantham Canal Society but there is still a long way to go.

Today I wanted to do a longer than usual walk to condition myself to the longer distance.

It was a perfect walking day – not too hot and a gentle breeze, as I set off from the depot.

The canal society depot at Woolsthorpe

I walked past a series of locks that have been restored by the Society.

Lock 16

When I reached lock 13 there was a detour off of the towpath because this is the lock that is currently at the early stages of restoration.

Exposed side walls on Lock 13

One thing that I did notice is how much the grass and weeds on the towpath has grown in the last few weeks, not to mention the weed in parts of the canal. The wet and warm weather has certainly allowed nature to flourish.

I passed a couple of swans with their three Cygnets – lovely to see!

As I walked along the canal I realised how much I was enjoying it because navigation was simple and there were no worries from traffic. I had nice chats with a number of people who I met along the towpath who were also enjoying a walk.

The highlight of the walk was hearing cuckoos in the distance, its not often you hear a cuckoo and there were a plenty along my walk today.

I passed another Lancaster bomber crash site memorial – so sad.

Along the way I stopped for a break a couple of times. I definitely needed to take on board fluids. Finishing the walk I was pleased that I was feeling strong so that gives me confidence to tackle the 26 miles on the 29th June. I wonder what the weather will be like on that day?

I had enjoyed the walk and achieved my objective for today 😊.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Charming 11-Mile Circular Walk from Waltham on the Wolds

Jun 5th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning the Three Amigos met up in Waltham on the Wolds and did an 11 mile circular walk taking in Branston, Eaton and Goadby Marwood. It would be an undulating walk and difficult in sections where nature had reclaimed the footpaths. We would have lovely views. I had done the walk last year with Angela but it was a new walk for Mick and Chris.

Our starting point by the church

It was a cool summer morning when we began, but the sun soon made an appearance warming us up.

We headed out of Walton passing a NATS (National Air Traffic Services) radio station and just when we were looking at the station The Red Arrows flew past in formation – fantastic!

NATS radio tower

We followed a grassed trail past the old Croxton Race Course to Bescaby where we passed a fine looking house with a picturesque lake.

The Old Croxton Race Course

Geese on the lake

It was nice to see the crops growing in the adjacent fields. We would cross many fields on this walk.

Following Mary Lane on the way to Croxton Kerrial we turned east and headed past Old Wood and then up Windmill Hill – a steep hill with very nice views.

Nearly at the top of Windmill Hill

Having reached the top we followed a trail downhill towards Branston, stopping for refreshments on the way. The fields were carpeted with yellow buttercups – they were very colourful.

Heading into Branston

In Branston we walked through the pub courtyard to follow the footpath to Eaton.

The pub courtyard

We saw hares, a red kite and a buzzard. Crossing the river Devon we took another break on a handy bench before walking through the village to find our path out towards Goadby Marwood.

Eaton Village

The next section of the walk was the tricky one with overgrown paths but we battled through.

An overgrown path

We came across a memorial to the crew of a Lancaster bomber who had crashed nearby. Chris did some research and came up with a link that tells the story of the search for the crash site http://www.goadby-marwood-history.co.uk/lancaster-r5694-em-f

It was particularly poignant coming across the memorial because its the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings tomorrow. As always, the crew were very young which makes it all the more tragic.

Continuing on we crossed a field containing cows. It was interesting to see the cows run away from us. Usually, being curious animals, they make their way towards you.

The cows ran away from us

crossing another field

We entered Goadby Marwood passing Goadby Hall and walked through the village.

Flowers growing in the wall

Goadby Marwood

We found our path out of Goadby Marwood crossing a number of stiles through fields containing friendly horses.

Stiles continued to be enclosed in nettles and weeds.

Nettles galore!

In places no path was visible and after reaching the sewage works we decided to take to the road for the short section back into Waltham on the Wolds.

Arriving into our destination.

This was a walk of two parts I think, with the latter being a bit troublesome due to the terrain. Still, we had enjoyed some fine views and had a good chat along the way.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
An Edgy Peak District Walk

May 31st, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Todays 9.5 mile walk began in Baslow. As per usual, myself and Angela did an early start to avoid the crowds but we were delayed by being stuck behind a refuse lorry collecting bins on the busy A6🤣 .

Arriving in the car park at Baslow I had lost all signal on my phone and guess what, it was not a cash payment car park but a pay by phone – very handy when its in an area with poor mobile reception. We parked on the road instead!

Our walk today would visit the southern gritstone edges of Baslow, Curbar and Froggatt then climb to the overlying escarpment of White Edge before heading back to Baslow.

Climbing out of Baslow we got some lovely views.

In the distance we could see Chatsworth House which is where myself and Angela went on our first date many years ago 😊. https://www.chatsworth.org/

On another hillside we could see ‘E : R’ clearly marked in the bushes.

It was quite breezy and it was a cool 12 deg C. We would have liked it a little warmer but at least there was no rain!

Heading towards Curbar Edge

The start of Curbar Edge

We kept on meeting small groups of youngsters who were doing Duke of Edinburgh Award walks – I think this is a good thing and its nice to see them out enjoying the outdoors. We followed the stony path across Curbar Edge and then on to Froggatt Edge where we saw that it was a popular rock climbing spot.

Exploring Curbar Edge

View from Curbar Edge

At Frogatt Edge we stopped for a cuppa and a butty enjoying the panorama views.

Angela enjoying the scenery

Some rocks on Frogatt Edge

Leaving Frogatt Edge we headed down to Hay Wood passing many climbers, complete with ropes, walking in the opposite direction to climb from the top. After the woods we crossed fields passing the Grouse Inn and headed up towards White Edge.

Angela heading up to White Edge

The escarpment of White Edge on the left

Reaching the top of White Edge we followed the rocky path enjoying the views and the quiet. A few hardy runners passed us.

On White Edge

It was a long walk along the escarpment and towards the end we saw a Trig Point and decided we must visit it – are we becoming trig Point baggers ? I wonder 😊

Making our way back to Baslow Edge we visited a monument to the Duke of Wellington – its a celebration of his victory at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Built by a local man who felt it necessary to counterbalance the memorial dedicated to Admiral Nelson on nearby Birchen Edge.

Duke of Wellington Monument

It was an easy downhill walk back into Baslow and the car. We had enjoyed our walk – it had splendid views.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Fairholmes to Alport Castles Circular Walk: Scenic Hike in Peak District

May 27th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

It was an early start this morning as myself and Angela headed to The Peak District to enjoy a 9.6 mile circular walk from Fairholmes car park (by the Derwent Dam) to Alport Castles (a remarkable landslip feature).

On the way the rain was tippling down, and driving through Snake Pass, visibility was reduced because the clag was in. We both looked at each other wondering what we had let ourselves in for. Angela put the car fog lamps on!

Having parked, and paid £6 for a parking ticket, we set off walking beside Ladybower Reservoir.

Beside Ladybower reservoir

Ladybower reservoir

Because it was early there were very few people about. Leaving the reservoir we followed an ancient bridleway that led up through forest to high, open pastures on a broad ridge.

We could hear, and then see, a curlew calling with its distinctive song as he flew around us. We could see the distinctive Mam Tor ridge in the distance and later Hope valley with the cement factory chimney billowing steam.

The Great ridge and Mam Tor in the distance – mist rising from the forest.

Hope valley in the distance

The rain had stopped and we were getting glimpses of blue sky. Things were looking up but there was a cool stiff breeze on top so we were not feeling warm – Angela put on her gloves.

After climbing we crossed wet bog-land. Large stone slabs had been laid across the bog and quite a few had sunk – not unexpected!

Walking across the bog

Before long we reached a lovely viewpoint above the quarry-like, craggy landscape of the landslip known as Alport Castles. Some of the topological features within this landslip bear some resemblance to castle ruins.

Alport castles

Alport castles

Great view at Alport castles

It was very blustery at Alport castles as Angela’s hair can testify!

From this airy spot above the deep, narrow valley of Alport we descended steeply passing Duke of Edinburgh student’s doing their gold award.

We passed a lone tree that just begged for a photo to be taken. We were headed to Alport farm.

Alport farm in the distance.

Just before the farm we crossed a solid wooden bridge over a stream.

It was nice in the valley, the sun was generating heat and there was little wind. We walked along the valley bottom on a good path and crossed over the river Ashop at Rowlee Bridge.

Crossing the river Ashop

Our path now took us across the A57 and along a short section of Roman road before re-crossing the river and road ( this was to avoid walking on the very busy A57).

On the Roman road.

The route then led us uphill to Lockerbrook and then downhill through the forest along a muddy path (in places) to Fairholmes car park.

Arriving into the car park it was full with cars circling like vultures above prey, looking for cars that are leaving. Car parking in the Peak District is an issue because once the car parks are full people have a tendency to park anywhere and stupidly.

We had enjoyed the walk. It was new territory. Driving back to Manchester the heavens opened and the roads were awash with water. We both felt very lucky to have had dry few hours for the majority of our walk.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Discovering Dunham Massey: National Trust Gem Near Manchester

May 25th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

After a few days of yet more rain (when will we get a more settled period of weather I ask myself??) today is a rare dry day. Unfortunately, although we would have liked to have had a trip to the Peak District, morning commitments meant we had to stay put and so in the afternoon we decided to visit Dunham Massey – a local National Trust property close to Manchester that we regularly visit-for a 5 mile walk. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/dunham-massey

We were hopeful that the park would be relatively quiet because Manchester United and Manchester City were playing in the FA Cup final at Wembley ( United won 2-1). It turned out that the park was quiet so that was a good call.

A quiet pathway in Dunham Park

Entrance into the stable block

Myself and Angela had a walk around the park footpaths, looked at some deer and enjoyed the sun on our faces. It makes a world of difference having nice weather.

Angela suggested a walk around the gardens so we did that and admired all the wonderful shrubs and plants growing there.

The old Orangery

The house viewed from the garden

‘Do you fancy a coffee?’ asked Angela. Most certainly, so we visited the café and relaxed outside with our coffees watching the world go by.

After coffee, a visit to the second hand books section was productive with myself buying three interesting books. I find that I am always lucky with finding good books here.

I have 2 peak District walks planned and I am hoping that the opportunity to do these will arise this week. The first is Alport Castles and the second Cubar Edge / Froggatt Edge. Fingers crossed for relatively dry days.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Exploring Grimsthorpe Castle Estate: A Picturesque 10-Mile Walk

May 21st, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Following a very wet start to the day the rain eventually stopped and myself and Mick were able to enjoy a lovely 10 mile circular walk.

We drove down the A1 and ended up stuck in a traffic jam for about a mile – the A1 is a notorious accident prone road through Lincolnshire. Parking in the Lincolnshire village of Swinstead our walk would take us to Creeton, Scottlethorpe and Edenham. A good deal of the walk today was across the Grimsthorpe Castle Estate. https://grimsthorpe.co.uk/

What was particularly nice about the walk, for us, was that we weren’t expecting a large estate with castle and so this was a pleasant surprise.

Grimsthorpe Castle

Leaving Swinstead we took paths across fields and reached a valley with a small stream running through it which we crossed via a wooden bridge.

We were pleased that there were no wet crops in the fields – we had got quite wet on our last walk .

We headed up Gorse Hill towards The Drift (a long distance track). The Drift runs parallel to the East Coast Mainline Railway and so, we watched numerous trains passing us -its a busy line!

Along The Drift

A short train passes us

We reached the small hamlet of Creeton where we happened upon a bench and took time to enjoy a cuppa.

Arriving into Creeton

Coffee time

Leaving Creeton Mick spotted a small herd of wild Deer in a field. Finding wild deer is definitely becoming more commonplace in England.

Along the way we would find numerous notices warning that shooting of deer was taking place, although we didn’t hear any munitions today.

A great job of making the footpath clear.

We passed through some nice wooded areas in the Estate and Mick thought he had spotted a wood-pecker.

Grimsthorpe Park

Grimsthorpe Park

One or two drops of rain started to fall but it didn’t amount to anything 😊. Our route took us through the small hamlet of Scottlethorpe and we were soon walking into the village of Edenham where there were roadworks occurring.

St Michael and All Angels Church- Edenham

We walked through the village , past the pub (looked nice) over a bridge across the river , through a field containing well behaved cows and another containing sheep.

The East Glen river in Edenham

Curious sheep

Shortly, we could see the large lake belonging to the Castle and then the castle itself. Our route took us around the outside of the lake.

The castle and lake

walking close to the lake

The castle is the home of Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. Grimsthorpe has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516. The park is 3,000 acres and is 5 miles across at its longest point. Apparently the castle was a filming location for the latest series of Bridgerton.

We were enjoying the views of the castle and lake. At this stage we had walked 9 miles and not met a soul.

It wasn’t long before we were walking back into Swinstead.

Swinstead

Arriving back at the car we both agreed that it had been a cracking walk. It had been quite undulating so we were feeling it in ours legs. I am sure we will be doing this walk again.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Exploring Hough-on-the-Hill and Normanton-on-Cliffe: A 9-Mile Walking Adventure

May 17th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

As the rain poured down from the heavens all day yesterday, myself and Mick both had the same thought – are we going to be able to walk tomorrow morning?

Fortunately, the rain moved away overnight and we had a warm sunny morning for our walk. The walk would take us on a 9-mile circular route from Caythorpe to Hough-on-the-Hill then Normanton-on Cliffe before arriving back into Caythorpe.

Todays route

Parking in Back Lane, Caythorpe we set off on our planned route and were soon crossing a field of wheat where previous walkers had carved a path through.

Unfortunately for us the crop was very wet from the rain and by the time we had crossed the field our feet/trousers were soaking wet! Not a good start.

Wet legs /feet

Undaunted, we carried on and found that some of the paths were overgrown and so, also wet. Our feet /trousers were getting a soaking. Soon we came to an open field containing sheep and were relieved to be out of the long grass.

Crossing a field of sheep on the way to Hough-on-the-Hill

We could see Hough-on-the Hill in the distance as we strolled onwards.

Mick heading for Hough-on-the Hill

Hough-on-the Hill is a small village – it only had a population of 399 in 2011. The word Hough is Old English for enclosure and yes, the village sits on top of a hill. After arriving in the village we decided to walk around it and view the big houses.

The church in the village is called All Saints and dates back to the 11th century. It is built of ironstone and limestone. Mick spotted a bench in the church yard and we headed up to sit and take a break and allow our trousers to dry in the sunshine. As I munched on my scotch egg Mick had a perusal of the gravestones which although old (c1875) were in very good condition.

All Saints Church Hough-on-the-Hill

Leaving the church we got talking to a cyclist who was on a 70 mile day trip – it amazes me the distances cyclists cover in a day. In the village we spotted a few small old metal gates and wondered what their purpose was ?

Hough-on-the-hill

Leaving the village we crossed a field containing an old Foden excavator which was unexpected and interesting to see.

After leaving this field the path took us along the edge of the adjacent field which was overgrown with vegetation. Our trousers which had started to dry out soon became even wetter than previously!

Our path was straight through this overgrown section.

Reaching the end of the overgrown section we could not follow the defined pathway because the landowner had fenced in the route. This was not helpful but we did find a way around. We were feeling at this stage that this was proving a troublesome route.😒

We continued to cross fields and at one point we could see, in the distance, the point of entry into the next field which looked like it contained oil-seed rape. Our hearts sank – we have previous experience of not being able to cross oil seed rape fields because the farmer had not restored the footpath after planting the crop.

However, we were pleasantly surprised to find, when we entered the field, that the oil seed rape we had seen was only remnants from a previous year and the farmer had sprayed a path through the new wheat crop. Maybe our luck was changing.

We followed the yellow stripe path, crossed the route of a former railway line and entered Normanton-on-Cliffe. After a short walk along the main street we turned off and headed along a road that headed uphill giving nice views over the surrounding countryside.

Having reached the top of the incline we crossed a field where the farmer had placed cones at the entry/exit point but we didn’t realise this because they were not on the defined pathway. Oh well.

Having walked up the hill we were soon walking down the hill and looking for the footpath. This was not to be found so we decided to abandon trying to follow the footpaths and follow the lanes instead, back to Caythorpe.

Arriving in Caythorpe we passed a bright yellow flowering tree which I think is Common Laburnum / Golden Rain.

Back at the car we both felt that, for whatever reason, the walk was tougher than the 13-miler we had done last week. Maybe it was the blocked paths, although we had that last week too. Despite this, it had been nice to be out in the sunshine and explore new territory.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
Things didn’t quite go as planned on todays walk!

May 10th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

This morning I met up with Mick and we did a walk that we had been trying to do for a few months now. We parked up in the free car park (👍) in East Bridgeford intending to do a 12.5 mile circular walk. It was a hot day and we were looking forward to a good stretch of the legs.

Our actual route

East Bridgeford is a charming little village which I had not been to previously so I was enjoying walking through it. We set off across fields heading towards the river Trent where we would pick up a path that ran adjacent the river.

Heading out of East Bridgeford with Stokes Windmill ahead.

It wasn’t long before we met the river and a Marina.

Alas, as we turned a corner to follow the path we came up against a path closure.

The path closure sign

Now, we had heard that the path had been closed last October following Storm Babet but naively assumed that 6 months was plenty of time for the council to address the issue. Wrong!

We now had to check the map to look at alternative routes. The problem was that we didn’t know how far the path closure extended and we did want to walk by the river. We headed along the road to get back into East Bridgeford and then picked up the road to Kneeton, looking for a path that would take us back to the river.

We found a path and walked down it to find the other end of the path closure, so that was good – we knew we were now clear of the path closure. Dropping down to the river we passed a fallen tree – one of many that we would see.

One of the fallen trees.

Pleased that we were now back on track we headed along the river bank path taking in views of the river Trent.

The path by the river

The river Trent

Continuing along the path we found our way blocked by a fallen tree so we had to climb over / limbo under it to get passed. Not impressed.

Carrying on we found the path getting narrower and narrower with the sides full of stinging nettles. Guess who was wearing shorts? Mick was lucky that he was not in shorts.

We pressed on thinking that we would pass through this area shortly. However, the path petered out into an impassable morass of nettles. Eventually, we could go no further.

My legs were tingling from the stings and we now had to go back through the nettles and climb over the fallen tree once more 😒. Things were not going as planned!

Consulting the map once more we looked for an alternative route to take us away from the river and on to Kneeton. Heading up the steep embankment we found a good path with nice views.

Rolling countryside

The river down below.

We met a friendly dog walker who asked about our route and warned us about paths that may not be accessible. I thought ‘we have had our fair share of those already!’

We had a steady walk along a grassy path, which was still very muddy in places. We were pleased to roll into Kneeton and find a handy bench by the church. We were most definitely ready for a break.

A welcome break in Kneeton

Kneeton village

Leaving Kneeton we passed across fields and were heading to the busy A46. The route that we were following took us across the road but this was impossible because access was fenced off. We took a quarter mile walk along a road adjacent to the A46 to cross by a pedestrian bridge.

Our path by the A46

The pedestrian bridge across the A46

Crossing the A46 we now had a quarter mile walk in the opposite direction to pick up our planned route!

Crossing fields we passed the architecturally very impressive Flintham Hall. The conservatory at the eastern end of the hall resembles the original Crystal Palace. It is a private house although it does open its doors to the public once a year. http://www.flinthamvillage.org.uk

Flintham Hall

At this stage we agreed to modify our planned route because of the delays we had suffered. We took to the roads and headed for Screveton passing an unexpected sculpture in a field, although it was looking slightly ragged in places.

The unexpected sculpture of a woman tilling the soil.

Close by, there was a nice memorial to the crews of two RAF aircraft who lost their lives in a mid-air collision above Screveton on April 14th 1944. It never ceases to amaze us how many memorials we come across on our wanderings.

We passed through the quiet village of Screveton and headed for Car Colston, passing a tangled root system on a house wall.

The road through Screveton

What a tangle!

Arriving in Car Colston

We passed the church in Car Colston and passing the cricket club we watched lawn mowers cutting the grass ready for a game of cricket . Car Colston boasts the largest village green in Nottinghamshire. Following a road aptly named Butt lane we headed back to East Bridgeford and the car park.

The walk hadn’t gone as expected – sometimes these things happen. We had seen some unexpected things (Flintham Hall and the sculpture at Screveton) and had a good stretch (13 miles) of the legs – what’s there to complain about?

Happy Walking! 😊🚶‍♂️
A visit to the Peak District.

May 5th, 2024

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

The forecast for today was sunny, so myself and Angela thought it would be nice to visit the Peak District. Knowing that it would be busy we made an early start, arriving at the main carpark in Edale at 07:00 – there were already lots of cars parked up! Alas, the toilets were still closed.

Our planned circular walk was from Edale to Barber Booth and head up to Rushup Edge and Lords Seat. Then, after descending, ascend Mam Tor, walk along the ridge to Hollins Cross and drop back down to Edale.

Ready for the walk

The path to Barber Booth was quite boggy but we pressed on taking in the panorama views.

Mam Tor ridge on the right in the distance.

Leaving Barber Booth the path was good as we climbed up to Rushup Edge, shedding layers on the way. The day was hotting up. We had not been to Lords Seat before so were looking forward to the view.

Looking back into Edale valley ascending to Rushup Edge

The climb wasn’t too onerous and as we reached the top we stopped for a cuppa and a sandwich at a spot with a view. Walking along the top we were plagued my midgies – I had heard that they were becoming more prevalent in the Peak District so this was confirmation. There was very little wind so this didn’t help the situation – at least they were not the man-eating variety you get in Scotland!

From Lords Seat we had a wonderful view of Edale valley and the Mam Tor ridge. We were loving our walk.

View of Edale valley from Lords Seat

A panorama view of Edale valley

As we were descending from Lords Seat we could see there were many people ascending the path to Mam Tor.

Descending Lords Seat with Mam Tor behind.

We arrived at the point to walk up the steps to Mam Tor and joined the folk heading up.

I found the walk up Mam Tor quite easy – I must be getting fit!

Angela at the trig point on Mam Tor

There are great views from Mam Tor along the ridge and into Hope Valley.

Taking in more of the glorious views we headed down the ridge to reach Hollins Cross. From here we descended rough paths back to Edale. We found a big difference from when we left – many more people milling around and a couple of full trains had just arrived. I much preferred the quiet time we had earlier.

The walk was 7.4 miles with 1648 ft of ascent.

We headed home to carry on decorating in the kitchen.

Happy Walking 😊🚶‍♂️