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Late September and 16 Andover Ramblers gathered
to enjoy a long weekend walking in the picturesque White Peak
area of the Peak District,
based around Ashbourne.
We met up in Clifton, south of Ashbourne, on Friday evening prior
to our first walk on Saturday. This started from Monyash, where
we seemed to fill the village car park. From there we walked over
to Youlgreave and onto Alport. During the break for lunch, Roger
made an important call and managed to book a venue for the evening
meal, which had previously proved impossible. The rest of the
walk via Over Haddon and Lathgill Dale had the cloud watchers
working overtime with their dire predictions. Indeed, we all watched
the horizon drawing closer, as the heavy mist turned to rain and
the glorious landscape slowly disappeared. We made our way back
to Monyash just in time to avoid a heavy downpour. We dispersed
to our various B&Bs and campsites with time to dry off, before
spending a convivial evening at The
Bluebell Inn, Tissington. Great food (and plenty of it) and
good company - what more could we want.
On Sunday we started our walk at Ilam. The day's
biggest challenge was finding the right path out of the car park.
That done, we walked north along the banks of the River Manifold,
and then onto Wetton and Grindon, returning via the Manifold Way
to Lee House and back to Ilam. As with the previous day's walk,
every steep climb up was rewarded with magnificent views across
the valley. On both days we climbed over or through innumerable
stiles. They were very varied in their design, almost exclusively
in stone, and were very high, low, minimalist, some included doors,
and some seemed impossibly narrow. We are indebted to Clive who
ran a masterclass (not) in stile climbing in the afternoon to
help anyone having difficulty.
We were lucky to reach Ilam before the rain set
in. That evening we once again met up in the Cock Inn at Clifton,
and relaxed over dinner. The highlight of the evening was finding
the answer to that oft asked question 'How many men does it take
to change a lightbulb?' The answer is four. Although the distribution
of labour was not disclosed, the headlight on Jean's car was restored
to full working order.
Our final walk on Monday started at Dove Dale
car park, from where we climbed up the western side of Dove Dale
to Air Cottage. This provided splendid views across the valley
to the area we had explored the previous day. We then dropped
down to Dove Dale at Ilam Rock. We continued along the east bank
of Dove Dale, with the weather deteriorating, and on reaching
Milldale took advantage of a shelter, surrounded by mod cons,
to take a lunch break. In the afternoon we returned along Dove
Dale which was as pretty as ever, despite the indifferent weather.
It drew to a close a most enjoyable weekend. Phil, Maureen, Rhoda,
Mike, Brenda, Zilliah, Jan, Keith, Teresa, Jean, Clive, Caroline,
Sue and I would like to thank Roger for organising the weekend
and for leading the first two walks, and John for leading abbreviated
walks on the first two days and for leading the last walk.
Marilyn
September 2007
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