Eight members and two dogs met at the parking near
Fairholmes on a damp, drizzly, windy, miserable day with
low cloud, but the mood was cheerful and we were all keen
to stretch our legs. The bridleway on the way to Alport
Castles which we had planned to use was closed for forestry
operations, so it was decided to do a different walk on the
opposite (east) side of the valley. We crossed under
Derwent Dam which had absolutely no water coming over it,
and followed the track on the east side of Derwent
Reservoir. The water level was quite low (47% of capacity
on 2 Sep according to the Severn Trent website). Before
reaching Abbey Brook we turned off the track on a path
heading up Abbey Bank. At the top of the initial steep
section we paused to take our coffee break in a grassy
hollow. The path now led more gently upwards by a wall
until it levelled off at about 400m. The normally extensive
view was nowhere to be seen. The way led to the east of
Pike Low before descending towards Lanehead Farm. A wall
provided good shelter from the wind for us to have our
lunch. Again nothing to see but mist. It now remained to
descend to the road at Derwent, picking blackberries and
blueberries as we went, and follow the road back to the
cars. We rounded off proceedings by stopping for tea and
cakes at the Rest Café in Bamford on the way home.
Distance 6.0 miles. Ascent 960 ft. Andy & Rosy.