Stoney Middleton, Wardlow, Cressbrook, Upperdale, Ashford in the Water, and Bakewell

According to the roadside sign only a few feet away, the place I got off the bus this morning is in Stoney Middleton, Google Streetview disagrees though and says it's in Calver. Well, I walked down the road back towards Calver and then up Coombs Dale, not a particularly pretty or interesting dale, but it's the nearest Peak District limestone dale to Sheffield and so is relatively easy to reach on public transport. 

At the entrance to Coombs Dale there are three separate signs indicating that it's a public footpath, a concessionary bridleway, and a private road. At the top of the dale, two miles further on, is the beginning of the old quarry workings, which are securely fenced off.

On a rather murky day it was a pleasure to see some garden primroses growing on an embankment next to the slurry lagoon...as well as some daffodils. I took a more interesting photograph of some daffodils later though.

I continued heading to the west using the quarry road; I overshot the footpath going across the fields to Wardlow because I was jogging down the gentle incline, and so I had to enter the village using the road...en route I didn't get the opportunity to meet the kind, gentle, sociable people who lived here with their noisy aggressive dog.

The daffodils in Wardlow were growing upright, in the right direction...and there were a lot more than forty of them.

The path leading down to Cressbrook Dale was easy to find and then I passed through the lower part of Cressbrook.

I crossed over the river at Upperdale before briefly using the Monsal Trail. Just before crossing the Headstone Viaduct I dropped down to the riverside path, which I stayed with until I reached the car park at Lees Bottom. 

It was a couple of miles through the woods and then I arrived at Ashford in the Water.

I noticed that dogs and muddy boots were on the menu at the tearooms; I prefer a pot of tea and a scone, but I didn't treat myself today.

I hadn't checked the new summer timetables and so didn't know what time the buses from Bakewell were going back to Sheffield, and so the last couple of miles along the riverside pastures weren't against the clock today - I didn't see the point.