Lathkill Dale and
Friday, 7th September 2007
Up for it
were:
Spike, Pedro,
Yup, Tim Mothy, Heavy Steam Machine, Keithee’s up for it, Nige (Noel), Mr DT
(making a rare and welcome appearance as it’s on his doorstep), Stubbee,
Joseppi, Graham, and Dan the man.
Chrissie
sprained his wrist and dropped out; Honest Matt Nice One had to colour some
trees in on a drawing, otherwise he’d have joined us, and Dasher ran out of
lemonade so had to fit a shopping trek in.
As Spike
had previously informed us, the walk featured:
A
13.5 miles / 22km hike
One
of Derbyshire’s finest Dales
A
5 mile section of the “
Wonderful
scenery
A
nature reserve
Picnic
site breakfast stop
Industrial
architectural remains
200
year old carved graffiti
Spectacular
Tor of Gritstone rocks precariously perched
A
30 foot deep wishing well
Many
examples of 17th & 18th century village and country dwellings
Remnants
of a mining and quarrying era (Lead, Calcite & Fluorspar)
Mystery
and secrets of bronze age and iron age living (stone circles, standing stones
& barrow pits)
A
CAMRA award winning Heritage Pub in Elton
Choice
of Michelin winning Gastronomic home cooking in either Birchover or Youlgreave
Carved
seats in a Gritstone cave near a druid temple site
A
potential Craft Centre visit for the early birds returning home
The only
change being that he was up to his usual trick of adding another couple of
miles to the walk when no-one was looking!!
Give credit
where credits due though, Spikelet did manage to get the best deal in the
potteries for a minibus which was on time and came with a happy and smiling driver….named
Paul. He dropped the Castle lads off at
the Lathkill Hotel in Over Haddon at 7.45 where they took five minutes to look
through the windows at the real ale pumps invitingly lined up on the bar
mmmmhhhh ….. later.
As we
grouped in the ‘expensive’ village car park ready to start, Spikelet launched
into a speech requesting that we all took it in turns to hold Pedro’s hand to
avoid a repeat of the recent Liverpool escapade. Eventually we started the walk down into the
valley and across a few stepping stones, before realising we’d set off in the
wrong direction and almost lost Pedro at the first hurdle. The standard walking pace on our walks, as
Spikelet always reminds us, is a well tested 2.5 miles or 4 km per hr. At the rate we started off at we’d have been
travelling in reverse and upsetting our average.
Once we got
going, the stroll along the valley was wonderful (it was flat!) with the sun
glinting through the trees and the sight of a kingfisher effortlessly gliding
down the valley. We stopped off at the
ruins of Bateman’s House and several descended the ladder to take a peek at the
old secret lead mine. Pedro also went
down but managed to return before we set off back along the valley.
There was however
a sting in the tail when we discovered we had got to climb around 5 million
steps to get out of the valley at the other end. We’d only just about got our breaths back
when we arrived at a very conveniently placed picnic site for a well deserved
15 minute break.
Continuing
on for a few hundred yards we passed a fence-line unusually topped with stone copings. A further few hundred yards and Nige realised
he’d left his map and case at the picnic site.
Without more adieu we refused to go back with him. Somebody remarked that the reason he hadn’t
missed it was because it was even lighter than his wallet!
An inscribed
tale of a soggy dog was spotted in the kerbs as we approached Middleton. Horse whisperer Nige stopped to chat to a
gaggle of geese and relate the tale.
A group of more
mature hikers, shall we say, stopped and asked if we were lost. Keithee answered for all of us saying, ‘no
way, we like this part of
At quarter
past eleven we worked out that we were about ¼ hr short of the first pub, the
Duke of York in Elton, which Spike now declared would be closed due to the landlady
Mary being on holiday; but that the second pub, the Red Lion, our lunch stop,
was a mere ¾ hr away. Lo and behold we
made it to the first pub at half eleven where her nephew William was spotted in
the yard. With just a smidgeon of
persuasion from one or two of us, Spike approached him and skilfully convinced
him it would be worth his while to open for us.
To make sure it was, Pedro dug deep into his pockets and bought a hand
crafted birthday card for his better half.
A change from the free after eight mints he normally takes home.
The Duke of
York is way off the beaten track and doesn’t normally open during the day. So it was a real bonus it opening for our
early tipple. Spike described to the
landlord the unusual geological feature which can be plainly seen in the
architecture of the village’s old buildings, with the buildings on the north
side of
Adnams and
Black Sheep were available, along with hand made cards. Oh yes I’ve already mentioned them. The toilets could be found in the back yard
just beyond the pig sty. Pedro went to
have a look and almost went awol again.
So a short
walk further and we arrived at Birchover with its 2 pubs, the Druids Inn, famed
for its gastronomic food and the Red Lion which we were using (less expensive
but equally tasty). The Red Lion has a
30ft well inside its main bar, covered by a thick glass top and out of 900 'Red
Lions' in the
The
waitress was very friendly and wore pink thongs according to beady eyed
Keithee. ‘Nice roasts!’ we all
agreed. The food was excellent too with
the 2 course lunch proving excellent value for money.
Jacko
wondered why he has for so long been termed Mad Jacko, saying he may have
preferred little dribbly wibbly willie Jacko.
It could quite easily be arranged of course, although Mad doesn’t take
as long to type as dribbly wibbly willie.
Graham was
beginning to struggle with his knee but still managed to limp up to the village
shop for an ice cream. Nige (noel) slid
inside the Birchover millennium stone cus he’d had too much to drink, before joining
us to explore the druids caves at the back of the Druid Inn. We then continued in the sunshine past Robin
Hoods stride, a spectacular tor of gritstone rocks, and other stone circley
things.
The group began
to splinter with the rear group ably assisting Graham whose knee was progressively
getting worse. At least he wasn’t having
a heart attack this time. He was okay
going uphill but had major problems going down hill. It’s as well most of our walks are uphill
then.
The
Back along
the Lathkill and onto the final drinking place at the Lathkill Hotel, the Easy
Rider from Kelham Brewery went down very well. Mr Tahoohigh announced that this was by far
the best ale he’d ever had and that it was even better than his previous favourite
Oakhams Bishops Farewell. A truly
outstanding commendation from one so experienced in ale tasting.
The minibus
was put back 15 minutes to 7.15 just so we could try another and join in the
Tahoohigh experience.
Another
fabulous walk in the sunshine. Well done
Spikelet. A well organised and
outstanding day. Here’s to the next. And if anyone wants to borrow any dog oil
just contact Graham. He’ll be sure to
point you in the right direction.
Regards
Yupmeister
(enjoy yer
baltis)
Route:
Start at
Over Haddon.
West along
Lathkill Dale
Head south
east along
East to
West to
rejoin the limestone way again and
North east
towards Lathkill Dale near Alport and return to Over Haddon.