Hartington to Dovedale ,via Thorpe Cloud

With Maureen, Barry and Gordon. Eddie, in spite of his back, climbed Thorpe Cloud, but not via the path. Glorious weather.  8.5 miles for the whole thing.

The start of the walk is in Hartington,  at the side of the public toilets, on the Hulme End side of, and across the road from, the Charles Cotton Hotel. 

The walk is clearly marked at the start, and once you arrive in Beresford Dale it is simply a matter of walking the well-worn path beside the river.
You go through a section of youngish woodland, Morson Wood, which was planted by Les Morson and family in 1994. The plaque with this information was presented by the 1998 Hartington Sports Committee in memory of Les.   My photo was out of focus, hence this paragraph.

As we walked along there were several footbridges over the Dove, some leading to footpaths, some to private land. Wonderful names like " Frank-i-th-rocks bridge" and "Gipsy Bank bridge". Scenery delightful - mainly wooded slopes and grassland.

Just before the villlage of Milldale we came to a bridge over the river - the road to Alstonfield goes uphill to the right and the Milldale road carries straight on.

We took the Milldale road, which has a footpath alongside, and goes closer to the river for a short time.  We decided to take a break at Milldale and support the local shop - always a welcome oasis for hungry and thirsty walkers.  Even after last night's meal, a couple of cheese and onion sandwiches went down rather well. Okay, we had had breakfast as well, but we had walked almost five miles and there were more ahead.

After Milldale, Dovedale begins to show its "little Switzerland" side, with the limestone rocks and more dramatic scenery.  The Dove Holes caves, Ilam Rock, Tissington Spires, Lion's Head Rock, Reynard's Cave, up a bit to Lovers Leap and down and onward to the Stepping Stones. 

A heron perched very high above the river

Decision time - who's up for Thorpe Cloud?  A trickier ascent than I remember, and worse going down.  A dreadful path but worth it for the sense of achievement and the views.

We conquer the Cloud

All that remained was an essential dipping of my bare feet into the river, a welcome cereal bar provided by Maureen,  and the half mile or so saunter to the car park.  One last ice-cream and we headed for home.

This poster is in fact of Millers Dale (not Dovedale or Milldale).

Map and details - the elevation profile of this walk is interesting. Compare to yesterday's walk as well. Even Thorpe Cloud summit is lower than the walk we did along the Tissington and High Peak Trails!

Dry stone Walls in Derbyshire - a brief history of the walls and enclosures in the county.