Great Hucklow, Windmill, Old Dam, Hargatewall, Tunstead, Wormhill, and Blackwell

This is the walk I had originally planned to do on Monday, when there would have been a lot more snow.

I travelled to Great Hucklow, walked through the village and then joined the footpath which goes alongside the road to the old mining hamlet of Windmill: there are some lovely views over to the right looking towards the north...which of course would look a lot better if the sun was shining.

After leaving Windmill I needed to walk along the road for a few minutes until I reached the ruins of High Rake Mine.

I continued along the footpath until I crossed a narrow country road and then started the gentle climb up the broken ground of Tideslow Rake.

Another short section of road followed and then I took the footpath across Tideswell Moor, arriving at the outlying farms of Old Dam before crossing the busy Buxton to Ashbourne road to the east of Peak Forest.

There's a dense network of paths here and I had to consult my map a couple of times to find my way to the top of Dam Dale.

I kept walking southwards down Dam Dale and then Hay Dale and then made my way over the fields to Hargatewall. There was nothing interesting for me to see here...neither was there at the next place I visited, Tunstead. Just out of sight though is Tunstead Quarry, the largest active limestone quarry in Europe.

It was a pleasant walk heading eastwards towards Wormhill: I arrived at the southern edge of the village.

It was then a fairly gentle descent into Cheedale, mainly grassy as well...so no slippery limestone underfoot to worry about.

[I didn't go this way in the bottom of Cheedale, but the conditions didn't look too bad.]

I was walking on grass again, a bit muddy in places though, as I climbed up the other side of the dale. It was a good physical workout for me though, my heart was beating noticeably faster and I was relatively short of breath, but I didn't need to stop on the way up, and didn't need a rest at the top.

As I was walking down the lane at Blackwell towards the bus stop I saw the TransPeak bus go by - it was frustrating at the time but there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn't rushing to get to the bus stop - I wasn't expecting a bus to come along...it was running fifteen minutes late: I was expecting to have to wait forty five minutes for the next bus anyhow. I found a fence to sit on which turned out to be rather uncomfortable and used the time to write up my notes for this blog post.

Miller's Dale, Blackwell, Pomeroy, Monyash and Over Haddon...and then Bakewell.

It was sunny when I got off the bus at Miller's Dale but unfortunately for most of the walk the weather was overcast. I took the footpath signposted for Cheedale but left it after about half a mile to climb up to Blackwell. 

I then headed south, gaining a few more hundred feet in altitude as a reached Pillwell Lane, a track that then becomes a road. I continued along another country road until I reached a short section of the Midshires Way just before Pomeroy, located on the busy Buxton to Ashbourne road. There's nothing to see at Pomeroy; all that's there is a pub, a couple of farms, and a few housing association homes which used to be local authority council houses.

The next section across the fields was easy to walk and navigate. This took me almost to Flagg, but not quite; I turned right along the road and then continued straight ahead past Knotlow Farm and the path leading to Monyash. 

I lingered a bit at Monyash taking photographs of the church, the mire, and some of the houses - these are the best, or most interesting ones.

I left the village to the south and found a lovely path with a dry stone wall either side of it before turning left down into Fern Dale...where I saw my first early purple orchids of the season; not the best I've ever seen though - by a long way.

Fern Dale leads down into Lathkill Dale; whilst I was walking here a young couple passed me and we exchanged a few pleasantries. Later on, in Over Haddon, I noticed them changing out of their walking boots and preparing to drive off. The man got out of the car and approached me and asked for directions, the way back to Bolton, where they lived. I suggested they drive to Bakewell and pick up the A6 towards Buxton and Manchester; it seems that was what he was also thinking. Surprisingly he asked me if I wanted a lift to Bakewell; I think his girlfriend, who was doing the driving, wasn't sure of the way. I eagerly accepted his offer; it was getting quite late and I've previously walked all of the various routes back to Bakewell anyhow. As I was climbing in to the car he offered me an apple left over from their lunch; I declined, but as I got out at Bakewell he pressed it into my hand. I immediately bit into the apple - it was delicious.

Both the bus to Sheffield and then the train to Doncaster arrived on time; there was no free fruit given away on either though.