Seven members gathered in Over Haddon, having been helpfully directed away from the expensive village car park by Maurice [£5.50 for all day!] to the only wide bit of road suitable for parking, before then setting off in a south-westerly direction in a rather cold wind towards Alport with good views down into Lathkill Dale lying below us. There was a brief pause to take photos of the notice to vagabonds in Alport, before heading towards Youlgreave on new and unfamiliar paths, but stopping for the obligatory coffee break under a strangely-shaped tree. Lunch was taken in Middleton with its numerous benches, and possible [?] entertainment provided by the new tradition/customary reading of a poem – ‘The Castle Train’ written by Ali Williams from the ‘Presidential Papers’ January 2006. Descending into Bradford Dale, we enjoyed the spectacle of baby coots having swimming lessons, before climbing up again through woodland, passing Lomberdale Hall to then follow easy and obvious paths back to Lathkill Dale. A slight overshoot of the intended path [very overgrown and no signpost!] allowed us to observe numerous trout in the crystal clear water of the river Lathkill. A quite unexpected and welcome ‘The Garden Tea Room’ was discovered on the outskirts of Over Haddon which of course had to be sampled [the cakes were all home-made, delicious and huge] which added another 1/2 hour to our time of 3 and 3/4 hours for the 7.9 miles we eventually completed. Another delightful Thursday walk, full of pleasant surprises. Vanda Boyd