Thursday 30th July walk report

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    mike doyle
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    10 of us met in Litton on a simply glorious summer day. Crossing the fields to the woods above Ravensdale we were soon at the village of Cressbrook, where as we walked up the road, a Marian look alike cyclist caught us up ,and,guess what,it was Marian! A little further on we found (shock horror) one Mary Reape and friend lurking in a lay-by.
    Pleasantries exchanged ,we left the cyclists to their road and dived down the track to Litton Mill.
    A tea break was then taken on a grassy bank in the sunshine with great views over Miller’s Dale and beyond. The conversation covered a number of topics with a certain amount of banter, including whether Sean had used his distinctive hat to “pull” when he, myself and my friend David had met 3 Northern Irish girls on our recent trek in the Alps-but loyalty prevents me from disclosing the response.
    Moving quickly on we descended to Litton Mill and then climbed up to the high level path above Miller’s Dale.
    Lunch was taken on another great vantage point after which the traverse above the dale was completed.
    Leaving the mill below Cressbrook we walked up to the Ravensdale Cottages where the optional ascent to Wardlow Hay Cop was unanimously rejected and instead we continued up the Cressbrook nature trail with dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.
    Reaching the junction with Tansley Dale we came across a bearded 70 year old with a white sun hat –yes one Andy Smith out for a walk with an old climbing partner from the 1960s.
    At this point the group split with 4 members continuing up Tansley Dale and back to Litton by the route as originally intended. The other 6 members decided to extend the walk by continuing up Cressbrook Dale and climbing Peter’s Stone-scene of public hangings in the distant past with the unfortunate victim’s body left hanging from a gibbet .
    Fortunately this practice ceased many years ago and no evidence of the Stone’s gruesome past was in evidence. The view from the top was, however,definitely worth the effort of getting up there.
    Descending back to the valley floor we climbed above a slanting limestone shelf and continued above the Dale to join the road by Beaton House and so back to Litton-the extension having added about 1.5 miles or so to the walk.
    A case of a great time was had by all on an absolutely fabulous summer’s day.
    Mike

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