White Peak Way Day 1

Karen and I got up at about 8.30 which was a bit later than we'd planned but we both felt really tired. We'd got up and had breakfast by about 10am and set off for our first whole long distance walk commenced together. The weather was grey and it had been raining during the night, but it looked like it would clear and this proved to be correct as we got nearer to Bakewell. We arrived at about 11.30am and parked in a car park by the river and the road bridge. After a quick scoot across the bridge into town to get a bottle of pop and a peppered steak slice for me to eat, we set off along the road the car park was on and then turned right into the Bakewell Show Ground. This is the site of the annual Bakewell Show, one of the largest agricultural shows in the country.

The lovely road bridge at Bakewell.

We walked along the road through this ,which was really busy with people and car boot traffic. It wasn't really a very pleasant section, but we soon left this road and cut across the fields flanking the left side of the river. As soon as we lost the people we both relaxed into the walk and started to enjoy the day. The only thing to mar this section of the walk was the constant noise of traffic on the A6 the other side of the river. After walking quite close to the river for a few hundred yards we gradually began to climb up the valley side as we approached the grounds of Haddon Hall.

Lovely Haddon parkland trees as we climb the valleyside away from the river above Haddon Hall.

The impressive stone steps up to the garden
of Bowling Green Farm at the head of
the avenue of trees down to Haddon Hall.

This was the family seat of the Vernons' from the 12th to the 16th centuries, when it passed to the Manners family through the marriage of Dorothy Vernon to John Manners, the second son of the Earl of Rutland. In the 17th Century the earl moved to the other Manners' family seat at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire where they have lived ever since. Unfortunately by the time we drew level with this grand house it was out of site behind the shoulder of the hillside and the trees.

We came to Bowling Green Farm, which was obviously once, and may still be the Estate Farm. It sits rather boxlike but grandly on the hillside at the far end of an avenue of trees running down to the hall with a lovely set of stone steps up to its flat garden area in front. Here we joined a track and followed this for some time through woods until we came out at the head of a small blind valley with a lovely view looking back towards Bakewell. We followed the track further, all the way to Rowsley through more patches of woodland. The weather was beautiful.. warm in the sun and autumnally cool in the shadows of the trees. We passed quite a few fellow walkers on this section of the path.

Looking back at Bakewell from near to the stately Bowling Green Farm.

The lovely blind valley looking back towards
Bakewell as we emerge from the trees onto its upper rim.

Looking down the Valley ahead towards Rowsley
just off to the left of this picture.

Rowsley was a pleasant enough village apart from the main road going through the centre of it. We had hoped to stop for lunch at The Peacock Hotel here, but upon arrival it all seemed a bit posh and a tad expensive to us. It is a lovley Elizabethan style manor house built in 1652, but was converted toa pub in 1828. The Hotel was named after the stone peacock above the entrance , which is part of The Manners' coat of arms. Besides its poshness and expense, we also didn't really have the time to be faffing around waiting for more than one course. After wandering a little way along the road to see if we could see another pub we went back to The Peacock and found the bar for a rather expensive pint each at least. I wasn't really that hungry anyway with my snack before starting in Bakewell and Karen, of course, had bought along one of her now famous emergency pork pies in case of..... well… emergencies quite frankly!:) After our drink we set off and looking left down the A6 saw another pub.. whoops… having decided not to bother eating we carried on anyway.

Looking back at The Peacock Hotel in Rowsley.

Looking back towards Rowsley across the River Wye.

We followed a lane out of the village and then took a footpath which cut across the valley side overlooking the River Wye and the opposite valley side that we had walked across earlier in the day. After walking through Dove House Farm we joined another lane that descended the valley side we had managed to climb and then cut left and back on ourselves, on a footpath that re ascended the valley side proper up to the village of Stanton-in-Peak at the top. We arrived here just in time to get a pint at the lovely quaint and old fashioned pub - The Flying Childers. Karen got out her rather humongous pork pie for us both to munch on. We could have quite stayed for another pint but despite a whole crowd of walkers arriving just after us, the barman refused to serve more than a few minutes beyond last orders. Grrrr!

Looking back, Bakewell is still to be seen nestling as we enter the village of Stanton in Peak!

The Flying Childers, Stanton-in-Peak.

Looking back down the steep main street of
Stanton-in-Peak not far from Stanton Moor.

We set off walking up the lane through the village - quite a climb up through the very pretty, but functional rather than 'chocolate box' village. Many of the houses were seen to have the initials WT carved above their doors. These were built by William Thornhill, who lived nearby at Stanton Hall. At the top, at Stanton Moor, we took a path off to the right, through a field of bulls and cattle to The Nine Ladies Stone Circle. This is a Bronze Age circle and is 33ft in diameter with a King's Stone nearby. Single stones are often found by such circles and are thought to represent the male symbol in Bronze Age fertility rites. The story goes,locally, that the Nine Ladies were the village maidens who were turned to stone for dancing on the sabbath. The King's Stone was the fiddler, who suffered the same fate. Having taken photos we set off on the well trodden path through the heather and silver birch trees. The contrast between the heather on this moor and the dairy farm landscape on the far side of Darley Dale was quite lovely. The heather would have been a picture a month before. We got lost up here and must have taken a wrong turning. We emerged on a different road to the one we should have done and consequently walked along it the wrong way for quarter of a mile or more before realising and turning back. Whoops! We rejoined the official path quite quickly and descended through woodland to the village of Birchover. The pub (The Druid Inn) was shut, but we didn't have LOTS of time to spare anyway with starting a little bit later than we'd planned and the nights now drawing in apace.

Karen sitting on a petrified village maiden!!!! Oo er missus!

EEk! And me!

Looking out over Darley Dale from the lovely heather top of Stanton Moor.

We carried on along a track past the church and a little old school house etc, which was a pleasant part of the village that no one would know existed if merely driving through. After going around the bottom of a hill on our left along this track we entered a small valley with lovely rocky outcrops on its far side. We descended to the main road in the bottom of this valley and then cut back up the opposite valley side to the rocky outcroppings. One is named Robin Hood's Stride, as in legend the famous outlaw jumped from one of its tall rock pinnacles to the other, a distance of 22 yards!!! A likely story! Maybe this is why locals prefer to call it Mockbeggar's Hall?? We were going to have a look at Robin Hood's Stride as we passed it on the path, but it was walled and fenced in so we didn't bother. The quality of light by now was lovely though, the sun sinking slowly and casting a lovely golden yellow light on the landscape all around us. At the top of the climb we crossed fields of cattle, catching a glimpse of yet another stone circle off to our right in one of the fields.

Karen on the path up towards Robin Hood's Stride,
looking back the way we have walked.

Cratcliffe Tor, one of the other rocky outcroppings on this valley's rim.

Robin Hood's stride.

Lovely golden light near Robin Hood's Stride.

We joined a small lane opposite Hartshill Moor Farm and descended on this lane for about 100 yards or so before cutting left on a path through woodland, with the lovely low light slanting through the trees, creating golden glints in the gloom. At the other side of the wood we rejoined Limestone Way which we had briefly been on by Robin Hood's Stride and descended the valley side on the approach to Youlgreave. From a distance the village seemed less than inspiring, but when we arrived at the outskirts and crossed the lovely little Limestone valley near the edge of the houses we revised our opinion.

Evening sunlight beyond the day's goal of Youlgreave nestling in shadow.

Karen on the old stone bridge over the
River Bradford by Youlgreave.

Lovely evening sunlight as we climb the valley side
to the main street of Youlgreave.

We climbed a path diagonally up the side of this valley to the main road at the top. The first pub we came to was The Bull's Head and it was shut still so we wandered along further towards the rather splendid church glowing in the evening light. Here we found The George Hotel which from the outside looked rather inviting with flower boxes galore, but inside was very basic with a pervading smell of old cooking fat and a very odd and scary crowd lurking in the cigarette smoke atmosphere. Glad to be back though, we bought a pint and then tried to book a Taxi, initially by ringing one from a card left by the bar. He turned out not to be working that night, but after trying several of the new directory enquiries numbers and several calls later we managed to get one who turned out to be a really nice bloke who lived in Youlgreave and did tours as well as taxi driving.

The shut Bull's Head Inn as we trudge along Youlgreave's main street to the church and the dubious George Hotel.

He dropped us off in Bakewell after showing us a nice Indian Restaurant and we took his advice and went to that for a well earned meal. It was lovely, though the man serving was a bit mumbly and odd and the music was repetitive tear your hair out lift music. A fabulous first section of this long distance walk. Hopefully we'll be doing much more this autumn and over the winter?