Hartington Village

R0UTE:  OUTSIDE THE  CHARLES COTTON HARTINGTON VILLAGE, BIGGIN DALE,PEASELAND ROCKS, WOLFSCOTE DALE, MILLDALE, ALSSTONFIELD, GYPSY BANK,GORSEY BANK BRIDGE, WOLFSCOTE DALE, BERESFORD DALE, INSIDE THE PUBLIC LAVATORY HARTINGTON.

DISTANCE: CIRCA 10 MILES.

DIFFICULTY: MAINLY EASY APART FROM SOME SLIPPERY DESCENTS IN BIGGIN DALE

AND THE VERTIG...? PRECIPY...? DEAD STEEP GYPSY BANK.

WEATHER: MAINLY LIGHT RAIN, SOME HEAVY ON THE DESCENT OF GYPSY BANK,

GUSTY WINDS ON THE TOPS.

LEADER: ROONEY. DIARIST: ROONEY.

STARTING POINT: HARTINGTON.

START TIME: 09:55  FINISHING TIME: 14:10.

WALKERS: TOM CUNLIFF & JOCK ROONEY.

BUMPED INTO (@ 2M ) EN ROUTE : CHRIS OWEN, DAVE WILLETS & DEAN TAYLOR.

Tom and I set off from the Village on the minor road leading up to the

Youth Hostel then turned right onto the farm track which led up over the

tops before petering out just before the now muddy and slippery descent

into Biggin Dale. Continuing down the dale was treacherous underfoot

initially due to the combination of mud and slippery limestone rocks

under foot. Before long a significant body of water was emerging from

underground fissures eventually forming an upper and lower stream

pouring down the dale cleaning the rocks an making the descent somewhat

easier if wetter. At 11:00ish we emerged into Wolfscote Dale  opposite

the impressive limestone spires of Peasland Rocks. Turning left

downstream for a short distance we stopped at Gorsey Bank for lunch

where we encountered another familiar group f walkers namely Owen,

Willets and Taylor. Not wishing to be cross contaminated by us this trio

immediately shot off into the great ( but definitely not blue ) yonder.

Tom and I then proceeded downstream on a mainly good path eventually

reaching the bridge at Milldale at the height of a not blazing noon.

From here we elected to walk up the minor road to the outskirts of

Alstonfield where once again we encountered the O.D.D. trio who once

again departed at great speed. Turning off onto a farm track we crossed

the  treacherously muddy fields to the stepped descent of Gypsy Bank

which I negotiated with extreme caution to cross the river again over

Gorsey Bank bridge at13:10 followed by my kneecaps a short while later!

Once again we bumped into the familiar trio  who once again departed at

great speed never to be seen again. This was the pinch point of our

figure of eight walk and we now proceeded upstream along Wolfscote Dale

on a mainly good path underfoot but with a decidedly damp and an "I've

had enough!" Daisy. At the decidedly impressive end of Wolfscote we

emerged into Beresford Dale we ignored the signposted footpath to

Hartington leading off to the right and waded across the dale to cross

the Dove again over a footbridge by a ford. Turning right we walked

along the little high sided cut to Pike Pool and the house of Isaac

Walton author of"The complete angler" a man who loved fish and hated

otters with passion. Strange really because otters love fish too. After

Pike Pool we crossed the river again and headed up a small plantation to

emerge onto the rolling ( or in this case "sliding" ) pastures

eventually emerging at the public lavatory in Hartington at 14:10ish to

de_boot. I'm pleased to report that Tom and Daisy appeared to be on

speaking terms again before departing.

Next week's walk starts at 0930 from Sutton Hall car park, Sutton, Macclesfield, and ends with a lunch at 1330 which has to be booked via Chris Owen by lunchtime today.

Map by Tom