North and South Walk 12 February

North & South Walk

Only 6 was on the walk, but I was glad of that as any more would have been hard to control when everyone was on the ice.  Four of us had spikes and two did not.  Credit goes to them on how they got round the walk. In places the paths were solid rutted ice.

Pity it was foggy all day on the walk until the last 5min when it cleared up.  The walk took us up to Darwin sunny Tower. No sun could be been seen even when we climbed the tower stone steps to the top.  It was fun as we went up the dark ice covered steps to the top. The views would have been good. From here we headed to Entwistle Station along the trail.  Some path s were hard to find in the fog but we got there  and had a nice pint at the Strawberry Duck pub.  The men loos were different the normal.

From here it was along a very long stretch of a ice path. Must have been at least a mile, but it must have  felt like 2 miles to Mark and Dave.  Soon we reached the road where we found better tracks where we ploughed on until just near the end where map and gps was not matching up. Again the fog was causing us problems finding paths, but it was sorted out we were back on track to the tower as the fog cleared.  The last ½ miles was back in the dark but everyone went home with a smile. Also feeling fit after a good workout and as I say there is NO Gain With Out Pain if you want to get fit. 12.8 miles with not much climbing.

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Diggle Walk 5th February

Diggle WAlk

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Youlgreave Weekend 27-29 Jan

Youlgreave Weekend 27-29 Jan

What turned out to be  a wonderful weekend away with good company, good weather and good walks started off for most people with a long and difficult journey due to snow and traffic.

Saturday  began dry & clear and after sharing the members' kitchen for breakfast and packed lunch making, 25 people set off walking from the hostel along Bradford Dale to Stanton in the Peak, onto Stanton Moor for coffee with 9 ladies( a stone circle), then following the edge path past the Earl Grey Tower and then the Cork Stone ( conquered by Campbell). We had a picnic lunch / pub stop at the Red Lion in Birchover. The next landmark was Robin Hood's Stride, then  returned to Youlgreave via the Limestone Way. 8 miles approx.

 

As we were booked in at the hostel on a self catering basis most of us dined at the Farmyard Inn and a sociable evening was had by all.

 

Sunday's weather was cold but fine. There  were 2 walks on offer today. A longer one via Bradford Dale, across the fields to One Ash Grange Farm complete with monk! Across more fields and tracks past 'Icky Picky' Lane into Monyash. Other people out for the day were driving the roads on classic motorbikes and cars.

We returned to Youlgreave following the River Lathkill from it's source  which was in full flow (a first time seen for me). We finished our walk in the daylight and just as the rain started to fall.

 

The shorter walk also started from the hostel and followed Bradford Dale towards Middleton in Youlgreave and then walked a circuit back to the hostel by early afternoon.

 

The journey home for us took half the time it took on Friday.  GREAT!

 

Friends were able to join us on walks who lived locally, members from London made the long journey, members new to hostelling stayed with us as well as 2 families. All in all an excellent weekend break in the beautiful Derbyshire  Dales. We can thoroughly recommend Youlgreave Youth Hostel as an excellent place to stay.

 

Pam

 

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Hayfield Walk 22nd January

Hayfield Walk

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