The Lair of the White Worm.
Thursday 28th September. With Harry. Between five and a half and six miles.
We set off from Wetton free car park at 10.45.
We walked back into the village and up past the church.
When the road turned left we continued straight ahead, following a footpath sign to Back of Ecton. The track took us past a covered reservoir, the we squeezed through a stone stile close to a very small disused quarry. The path heads slightly west of north to a field boundary below Wetton Hill. Over to the west the spire of Butterton church is visible.
We follow the path diagonally across the field, to another stile, then along the wall for a short section before taking the right hand path heading uphill. Another stile, where we turn right and walk along a muddy path until we reach the road. Someone has a jam stall there, but we resist the temptation.
We turn left along the road, walk uphill , follow it as it turns right then bends left. When the track takes another right turn, we turn left along a footpath, which leads downhill through a dry valley. The hill to our right is the Sugar Loaf.
The hawthorn trees are laden with berries.
At the point where the path goes through another tight stile to the right (Dale Farm National Trust land here), we decide to have a short coffee break, watching some unusual clouds.
Underfoot is sometimes grassy, sometimes stony.
We walk through Dale Farm, and on to Wetton Mill, where we justify indulging another cup of coffee and a piece of Bakewell tart. “We have to support places like this!”
time to move again, so we cross the bridge over the Manifold river and follow the Manifold trail south, crossing at the Dafar Bridge and getting our first sight of Thor’s Cave,
continuing until we reach the footbridge which takes us on to the steep route up to the Cave, at first a paved path with a few steps, then lots of steps, up and up…
Worth every step though, for the rock formations inside and the views over the countryside through the arched entrance.
Quite a few people up there.
We walked the path up to the top of the cliff,
then went back and took the recommended route across a field and then a walled lane back into Wetton.
We looked back towards Grindon church spire on the skyline.
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