Great English Walk Day 16 - 1 April 2018

Youlgreave to Hathersage
Walking 8.15am to 5.15pm
Distance walked today 18 miles
Distance walked so far 253 miles 
Distance left 323 miles*

First of all, I've adjusted the remaining mileage. The official length of the Great English Walk is 583 miles but I haven't stuck religiously to the route, sometimes taking to a road where I wanted to avoid likely really wet or muddy paths and maybe cutting the odd corner. The important point though is that I'm walking every inch of the way.

River Lathkill

Mike and I left Youlgreave on an overcast morning. The road route to Bakewell would have been shorter but we took the "scenic" route across towards Haddon Hall on the A6 south of Bakewell. We then took a footpath alongside the River Wye which proved to be extremely muddy but we persevered and reached the end relatively unscathed. We then joined the Monday Trail cycle way which took us east of Bakewell so we didn't go into the town itself. From there we went east to the village of Edensor, the Chatsworth estate village and were drawn to the excellent tea rooms, after which we walked through the grounds of Chatsworth. The house and park were extremely busy.

At Baslow, we had a long ascent to Baslow Edge near Wellington's monument. This Edge and then Froggatt Edge took us some 2.5 miles north. After that, the plan had been to follow the Derwent Valley Heritage Way into Hathersage but the first couple of hundred yards were incredibly wet and muddy so we retraced our steps and took the narrow lane above Grindleford although there was a very long climb to get to it. The B6521 looked too busy and there was no pavement.

The approach to Hathersage

It was a good day with a good distance covered. This takes me to the end of Part 1 of the Walk although not quite half way. I am now taking a couple of days off for rest and recuperation. Amanda has met me here with Part 2 of the Walk guide and maps for the rest of the route and various supplies. She has also brought my tent which I will swap for the tarp. The tarp is my shelter of choice for the summer months. However, in windy conditions I sometimes have to peg it right to the ground on three sides for stability. This results in a very low shelter which I have to crawl in and out of and it then doesn't have nearly enough height inside. The tent will be better in this respect despite being heavier and not so roomy.

Mike leaves for Germany tomorrow. He's been good company and I hope he can be persuaded to make a posting to this blog when he gets home.

So, no postings by me until probably Wednesday evening.