Tideswell, Miller's Dale, Taddington, Monsal Head, and Ashford-in-the-Water

Today's walk was the route I'd planned to do on Sunday which I had to change because of the two hours delay on the train. Apart from the bus from Ashford-in-the-Water to Bakewell that was ten minutes there were no other problems on public transport.

I used the toilets at Tideswell and then took the most direct route out the village, up onto the fields and then along various lanes to reach Miller's Dale. 

After passing under the twin viaducts at Miller's Dale and walking along the road for a few minutes I found my next bridleway, which went uphill towards Taddington. I briefly chatted with a small group of cavers along this section who were checking and preparing their equipment; I looked and there is a cavern shown at this location on the map. I walked through Taddington and then took the footpath going down to the car park at Lees Bottom on the A6 trunk road.

I crossed over the road; there's a bus stop here and so I just checked what time the bus arrives at Ashford, before continuing along the footpath at the side of the river until I reached Monsal Head. I managed to get my best photograph of the weir in Monsal Dale so far.

I climbed up to Monsal Head without stopping; I was a bit out of breath when I reached the top...but that's not too bad - I quickly recovered and continued on to Ashford-in-the-Water. By the time I got there the weather had turned quite nasty; a heavy hail shower and a cold, piercing wind; it had been mostly sunny with an occasional short, light shower of sleet or snow up until this point. The weather got even worse though as the Sheffield bus reached the highest point on its route at Owler Bar, we were caught up in a heavy snow shower...and the snow was starting to settle on the ground.

A mother and son couple [I think] who had got on at Baslow travelled all the way to Totley before realising that the bus wasn't going to Bakewell. and they obviously got off as soon as they were aware of their mistake. The son, who appeared to be charge, didn't seem to understand that they needed to cross the road in order to catch a bus back to Bakewell going in the other direction...he seemed rather distressed, and his mother confused. Yet another example of how having to scan free travel passes rather than state your destination is causing problems for some vulnerable elderly and disabled people.