Thursday Walk 18 April

[Frank Mellor]

Morning mist had given way to hazy sunshine as our party of 14 plus 2 dogs set out from Eyam to walk up the field, through the wood behind the YH and across to the Sir William Hill road where we were joined by another walker whose attempt to get to the car park had been thwarted by heavy haulage.
We admired the panoramic view from the Sir William trig point and shortly after took a coffee break in a small quarry which provided shelter from a cool easterly breeze.
Pleasant paths now led down towards Stoke Ford where a sharp left turn had us heading up Bretton Clough. There was a cry for lunch before much longer and it being 1 o’clock the leader conceeded he had no leg to stand on and therefore promptly sat down.
The excellent path we were following before lunch now disappeared into a maze of sheep tracks, broken down stone walls and clumps of spiky marsh grass. It is in these circumstances that the real value of a thorough reccy becomes apparent. Unfortunately there hadn’t been one. However, the tail end of the party were so deep in conversation that they failed to notice the circuitous nature of the route and with one exception, who made a bee line over every tumulus top, they tagged along uncomplainingly.
I promised to research the geological history of the tumuli and in fact they are the result of landslips.
Have a Google at A.D. Boggett (no joke) who wrote a scientific paper about them.
After another brief rest we tackled the short steep ascent out of the clough and arrived at the road on the ridge. Here we were dismayed (really?) to find our continuation footpath was closed, necessitating a short cut back to Eyam.
Thanks to all who came. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Frank

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