I decided the good weather deserved a longer walk than the one I had in mind initially. Naturally I was drawn to my favourite part of the Peak District to walk a variation of a walk I've done many times before.
The White Lodge car park was deserted but for me at 9am. It still wasn't that busy when I returned, unlike the Topley Pike layby and car park which had vehicles dumped all over the place. Being so quiet in Deep Dale sometimes gives you unexpected gifts like the hare that slowly lolloped over the path a few metres in front of me and then paused for photos.
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| Hare |
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| Deep Dale |
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| Rosebay Willowherb at the top end of Deep Dale |
There were some frisky cows near Nursey Field Farm but they didn't seem much interested in me, just enjoying being out. The farmer was closing a gate and watching over the field, and perhaps saw that I was unbothered because they soon wandered away. A few twitchy bullocks a couple of fields over were similarly unproblematic.
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| Approaching Monyash |
Inevitably there were more people around in the popular Lathkill Dale. After walking along the bottom for a while I turned up to follow the edge, where it was a lot more quiet.
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| Lathkill Dale |
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| Lathkill Dale |
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| Lathkill Dale |
All day there had been superb displays of wildflowers: scabious, wild marjoram, eyebright, yellow rattle, knapweed, harebells and more.
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| Cranesbill, ragwort and willowherb |
The fields near Magpie Mine were an interesting mix of crop which, I understand, implies that they are being grown for animal fodder. They looked lovely.
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| Oat, barley and vetch |
After a pint at the Cock and Pullet in Sheldon, a place that still feels more like a local than a tourist pub, I walked back through Little and Great Shacklow Woods.
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| Mill by the River Wye |
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| Ragwort galore near White Lodge car park |
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