We are now back home after stopping off at Ashbourne, an old Derbyshire market town, for an hour.
This is the view along Saint John’s Street.
and this is the Market Place.
So now you’ve had a quick tour of Ashbourne. The journey back was pretty straight forward and we can’t wait to go back.
There are plenty more photographs waiting in the wings which will appear on the web site in due course.
The day dawned bright and sunny – but not for long. The cloud soon blotted out the sun although it was still bright.
We drove the few miles to Wetton Mill in the Manifold Valley which meant going over the border from Derbyshire and into Staffordshire although there was little difference in the countryside. We were still on limestone but the ‘dales’ are now called ‘valleys’.
Having parked the car we walked on a path along the Manifold Valley which, like the Tissington Trail, was once the track of a light railway. We started from near this bridge.
Within about 500 yards all that water in the river disappears underground through the river bed. There is no discernible hole but disappear it does leaving the river bed virtually dry except for the occasional small pool.
Some way further along the path we caught sight or Thor’s Cave and, before you ask, no we didn’t climb up to it. We were both still recovering from yesterday’s exertions.
After walking a few miles we creaked our way back to the car and drove to Alstonefield an attractive little village, typically built of stone in this area, just a few miles from the Manifold Valley.
After walking round the village we moved on to Youlgreave back in Derbyshire by which time the sun had started to break through again.
Near the church there was a narrow lane which descended the valley side to the bottom of the valley.
At the bottom is the River Bradford.
We walked along by the river which had Brown Trout swimming in the most amazingly clear water.
After climbing back up to Youlgreave and the car we moved on to Arbor Low, an ancient stone circle and our last stop for the day.
I’ll leave you with this picture. Tomorrow we return home.
We had booked 2 nights in the Biggin Hall Hotel but first thing this morning we decided to extend our stay by another night so now we have all today, all tomorrow and part of Wednesday here.
This morning we walked out of the hotel along the road for a short way and took the public footpath through Biggin Dale.
After a couple of miles Biggin Dale joined Wolfscote Dale which, if followed, eventually leads into Dovedale made famous by Isaac Walton. We walked a short distance south and spotted a small cave up the side above us and so scrambled up to have a look. As it turned out it wasn't very interesting but the view from up here was.
You can see, at the bottom of the picture, the path that runs along by the river in Wolfscote Dale and it can be seen again in the distance to the right of centre of the picture. You can also see the start of the path that runs up to the cave.
Just below the cave there was a bridge and some stepping stones across the river leading to a very steep path up the other side which probably gave an even better view than that from the cave so we had to have a look. Amanda decided that bridges were for wimps and that she would have to use the stepping stones.
Having crossed the river we started up the side, which luckily, had some crude steps cut into the earth. We eventually, after some rests, made it to the top.
The dale going off towards the right hand corner of the picture is Biggin Dale, the dale that we had previously walked down. After a good look at the views we started back down.
You can see some other people starting up, the bridge and, near what looks like a dead tree, the stepping stones.
After going back across the river we continued south to the junction with another dale and took our last look at Wolfscote Dale before turning east up the new dale.
Following the footpath we were heading for the Tissington Trail which would take us back to Biggin. After about a mile we could see Biggin in the distance.
We arrived back at our hotel somewhat foot weary but with a sense of satisfaction after a lovely walk.
More tomorrow.
Yesterday morning we decided that we needed a short walking break in some beautiful countryside so I managed to book two nights at Biggin Hall in the Derbyshire Peak District. This morning we were at home but by lunchtime we were in Derbyshire.
This afternoon we walked from the hotel to the village of Hartington.
Walking back a different way we walked through a dale (valley) with Cowslips and Early Purple Orchids sprinkled all over the sides.
More tomorrow.