Report on Thursday 30th August walk from Millthorpe

Having said goodbye to Dick and his bicycle in the parking area in Millthorpe, 10 of us [plus Poppy] set off uphill towards Cartledge as planned. Over the course of the walk, footpath signs and stiles appeared when they were meant to, and there were even 5 brand new sections of footpaths that I/we hadn’t been on before. But there was a mini diversion and retracing of steps when a deceptively well-worn track led us off-route near Highlightley farm, and later when trying to see more of Barlow Grange, the proposed short section of path would have needed a machete to allow us progress – so again we retreated back to the original route. At the lunch stop, despite Linda’s encouragement and examples of previous ones sent, we failed to come up with any suitable jokes to cheer up the in-patient, but then we heard the good news that his discharge home was imminent anyway. More than half the walk completed and now back on familiar paths, we progressed through Moorhall to Unthank. Here 4 [plus Poppy] took the shorter direct route back to Millthorpe [complaining bodies, things to do ………] while the rest of us continued on the planned walk traversing the hillside below Horsleygate before descending [possible brownie points?] on a good track back to Millthorpe, with a another small diversion for some into the excellent nearby garden centre.
A lovely area to walk in, with a variety of stile styles [!] and lots of horses, thankfully well-behaved, many with strange anti-fly head attire. Approx. 7.5 miles according to Lin’s GPS.
Vanda Boyd