Spring Walks

Last spring I did some walks in the Peak District with someone I used to work with and a couple of weeks after a walk around the Derwent Valley near Matlock we were back to do a walk I have done many times before ever since my first ever walking holiday in 1998 and most recently in 2020, straight after lockdown. I have many fond memories of walking through Lathkill Dale so I was eager to show its delights to my friend with the first treat being on the descent into Cales Dale, a short branch off Lathkill Dale, where early purple orchids decorated the steep path.

Once we were in Lathkill Dale the scenery through a narrow gorge was spectacular, though grey skies marred the scene, but the delights continued past the point where water was seemingly coming out of solid rock. Later, when woodland covered the valley floor, an abundance of wild flowers delighted me, including dog’s mercury, red campion and forget-me-not, but it was the bluebells that were most appealing to me.

I always walk around the Charnwood Forest at the beginning of May to see bluebells and last spring was no exception, but hot weather had forced the bluebells to go to seed by the time I was able to do the walk. The best display I saw was near the exit to the Outwoods, which are famous for their bluebells, but it was wild garlic that covered the woodland floor and was the highlight of the walk.

A week later I was walking on my own again and I decided that I would return to somewhere that I had previously visited in 2019 when exploring a part of Birmingham that had been the childhood home of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of “The Lord of the Rings”. I caught a train to Hall Green station and from there I headed to Sarehole Mill, which I have fond memories of exploring five years previously, so I was disappointed to discover that the museum was closed. Instead I set off along the route of a walk on the O.S. Maps app from Country Walking Magazine that follows the River Cole along a cow parsley lined path that was plagued with litter. At a ford I turned left to pass Tolkien’s childhood home and enter Moseley Bog, which was a fabulous place and I wandered carefree through the nature reserve including Joy’s Wood with no thought of where I was going. Although a small place, because I was completely lost and wandering aimlessly around, it seemed vast and intricate with varying landscapes from the wetland around the bog through the dappled shade of woodland to banks of wild garlic.

It was only when I referred to a map that the nature reserve suddenly felt much smaller and less fantastical. It is no wonder this place inspired Tolkien to create the woodlands found in “The Lord of the Rings”. The rest of the walk couldn’t hope to enthral me as much as Moseley Bog had as I crossed Swanshurst Park, around Moseley New Pool and onto Billesley Common. In Chinn Brook Nature Reserve I veered off the prescribed route to have a wander around and discovered banks of cow parsley and wild garlic, which I loved walking through and breathing in the rich smell.

At the far end of Chinn Brook Meadows I wandered around the Mill Pool of Trittiford Park where I had stunning views across the water in the sunshine before a slow walk through the Dingles beside the River Cole brought me back to Sarehole Mill. This was a great, though short walk, in warm weather through the Shire Country Park which was very relaxing for me, especially while walking past rich growths of wild flowers. I love walking in the spring, but it is always frustrating to find I am either too early or too late to see the displays at their best. Often they are already going to seed but if I am lucky I can find some late bloomers that provide me with a taste of what I could have seen if I had been there just a couple of days earlier.

By June woodlands are too dark for wild flowers to thrive and they have begun to set seed while meadows now take centre stage. Though not as dramatic as their woodland counterparts, there are still examples of meadow flowers that enthral me, most notably spotted-orchids. My friend and I took a walk through Monsal Dale and Chee Dale last June and I found a fabulous display of spotted-orchids beside the Monsal Trail that I loved to see, but with the fading of wild flowers then other scenes can grab your attention and when the sun is shining light up your life.

Lumsdale Waterfall and the Derwent Valley

Saturday 13th April 2024

Last spring I did some walks in the Peak District with someone I used to work with and have done several walks with before, including up Scafell Pike in 2017 and most recently, in 2022, on Kinder Scout, so it was good to get together again and I took it as an opportunity to revisit some of my much loved walks in the Peak District that, although very familiar to me, was not to my friend. Since I have already described these walks before I was not going to do so again, however, some of the pictures of wild flowers are so gorgeous I can’t resist posting them and this one had enough variation to warrant describing in more detail. It was inspired by a round of the Derwent Valley I previously did in 2022 and also by a list of places in the Peak District that my friend had found on social media. Most were on the far side of the National Park, but there was one that intrigued me because I had never heard of it, despite it being near the town of Matlock. So, I combined his little 2.5 mile walk near Matlock with my walk around the Derwent Valley and I drove up the M1 eventually parking on Lumsdale Road at the starting point of a short walk past Lumsdale Waterfall. We set off down the road and soon we left it to descend steeply beside Bentley Brook which was producing a spectacular display of many small waterfalls and cascades as it dropped rapidly down the hillside through rocks and under the cover of bare trees. My friend and I were spellbound by the display, though I was frustrated when I realised that the battery on my camera was flat so I was forced to rely on my mobile phone for pictures on the whole walk.

On returning to the road the prescribed walk would have soon had us return to my car, possibly past other delights that may been worth seeing (we must make a return visit), but instead I now diverted us onto my round of the Derwent Valley reversing the direction I had taken in 2022. We climbed up out of the valley past Riber Castle and along Hearthstone Lane which led us into Coumbs Wood where we found a fabulous display of bluebells that were only just beginning to flower but still looked great and compensated for the muddy path.

Our route through Coumbs Wood was not precisely as I had intended but it seemed as if my missed turning had led us into such an amazing display that it must have been better than the route we should have taken. At the bottom of the valley we crossed the river and railway to reach High Peak Junction where we stopped for lunch before setting off again, this time beside the Cromford Canal, which took us into the village of Cromford where we were soon climbing again through woodland. This was immediately a delight for me as we passed many wildflowers that had me taking loads of pictures and gushing enthusiastically about the displays of wood anemones, celandines and bluebells, though my friend was less impressed.

All too soon, for me, we climbed out of the wood and across grassland that I remembered from previously had been tricky to navigate over as the path was not clear and this time in the other direction it was only slightly better. Our route took us past the tourist attraction of the Heights of Abraham, which is usually reached by cable car, before gradually descending through woodland that I would normally have loved if not for the spectacular displays seen earlier in the walk. Eventually we branched off my route of 2022, which would have taken us into the centre of Matlock, to drop down to the bottom of the valley and follow the River Derwent around Pic Tor. We now had a problem as my car was stuck at the top of a hill and we had to walk all the way back up, which was even more frustrating as it was beside the busy Chesterfield Road, so by the time we reached the top of the hill we were both very tired. A lesson from this is to never park your car for a walk at the top of a hill as you’ll only have to climb back up to it at the end of the walk when you are already worn out. I loved seeing the wild flowers on this walk while it was the waterfall that was the most memorable part for my friend.

I love the spring and the wild flowers at that time of the year that produce a tremendous display, particularly under woodland, and never fail to enliven my spirit even when my body may be feeling weak. I had been lacking energy before this walk and was unsure of whether I would be able to get out, but once I did I found a new lease of life so that by the time I was passing the wondrous displays of wild flowers above Cromford, I was skipping up the hill like a child. After the long, cold, miserable winter when nothing grows I always look forward to spring with eager anticipation and now that we are at the start of spring again I can’t wait to get out and see the fabulous displays of wild flowers. A woodland walk at this time of the year is better medicine than anything you can get from the pharmacy.

Blea Tarn and High Seat

Saturday 4th January 2025

On my last day in the Lake District I set off from the Borrowdale Youth Hostel initially following the route of the Coast to Coast Walk, which crosses the fields in Borrowdale where the ground was frozen solid and the latches on the gates were frozen shut, while snow covered the fells. The roads in Rosthwaite were treacherously covered in black ice, so I reflected that it might be a good idea to avoid the high fells where crampons and ice axes would be needed. Instead, I thought I’d take to the gentler slopes of the Central Fells, north of Ullscarf, and to start I took the gloriously rocky path that climbs out of Borrowdale with lingering views behind me of the surrounding mountains before descending to Watendlath to linger beside the tarn where the surroundings hills were reflected in the still waters. This is supposed to be a tourist-filled place, but it feels like every time I have been there it has been deserted, probably because the weather is always bad when I pass through since when the weather is good I am always at the top of the high fells. The path beyond climbed steeply up the hillside to a junction where I turned right, ignoring the path that keeps ahead to High Tove, which with hindsight I should have taken. Instead, I followed a sketchy path that crosses notoriously boggy slopes that I had assumed would now be frozen, so I was surprised to discover that this was not the case and made this a difficult traverse.

I have not walked along this path much and certainly not in the last ten years and, based on the lack of footprints, it seems no one else had been there recently either. Slowly, I made my way along the path, towards Blea Tarn with a crazy idea of climbing Bell Crags which lies to the north of Ullscarf, but my slow progress eventually convinced me that this was a foolhardy enterprise, so I came off the path and crossed the heather-covered, snowy ground to reach the fence that follows the watershed across the Central Fells and turned north to follow it. I now tried to keep my pace up as I was worried about the bus that I had to catch in Keswick, but my way was slowed by the snow and lack of a path. It had been intention to visit Armboth Fell, which lies to the east of the fells, since I’ve only ever been there once before, but this is a nondescript blip on the side of High Tove and is undeserving of the attention that Wainwright paid to it. The diversion looked too demanding to appeal and soon I realised that I would have to leave it for another day. I continued to battle through the snow and heather passing over several minor tops before finally reaching the cairn on High Tove as the mist started to descend producing almost white-out conditions. However, there is a clear, manufactured path between High Tove and High Seat that provided me with a reliable guide and sure footing through the bogs until I began to climb up to the trig point at the top of High Seat.

The snow that covered the fell was satisfyingly wintry so I stopped for my lunch to take in the view while the low cloud eventually cleared to reveal stunning views north across the fells to the lakes of Bassenthwaite and Derwent Water, and to Skiddaw in the far north whose top shines a brilliant white in my pictures. It was great to be sitting in the snow with these scenes before me, especially since it is a long time since I had last done any walking in this sort of weather, so it was a shame about the grey clouds, which rather spoilt the scene that would have been amazing under clear blue skies. It was still very satisfying to have that familiar, though now rarely heard, sound of snow crunching under my feet as I made my way from High Seat to Bleaberry Fell. I know from past experience that the path is indistinct but in the snow I could just follow everyone else’s footprints, even though this once led my astray and forced a retreat. Eventually the footprints led me up to the mist-covered top of Bleaberry Fell and after passing over the summit I began to descend steeply, which was very difficult in the icy conditions on the stones of the manufactured path, which did not help with my footing, so I veered off into the heather to find surer ground.

Eventually I emerged out of the snow and with a good surface underfoot I continued across the vast fell until I climbed up to the top of Walla Crag where I had tremendous views across Derwent Water and Keswick, despite the overcast conditions. Most times I have been to Walla Crag I have walked along the clifftop path that provides an exciting route through the trees and excellent views, but for a change I decided that on this occasion I would keep to the fellside and follow the wide path down the hill, past Rakefoot, beside Brockle Beck and into Keswick where I waited for my bus. My holiday over the New Year was in two very different halves with wet and windy weather at the end of 2024 that prevented me from going very high, but after the New Year the weather turned cold, which provided me an opportunity to do some very satisfying fell walks that were both exciting and fun. It is always great being in the Lake District, despite how stupendously busy it is, but for that reason I try to ration myself so I don’t add to the crowds too often.

Steel Fell and Sergeant Man

Friday 3rd January 2025

On my walk the previous day to this, in icy cold weather, I had followed the crowds around the Fairfield Horseshoe and made a few mistakes that meant I hadn’t kept warm enough for the conditions, so for this walk I made a point of wearing more layers and eating more and this resulted in my having a much better day, even though it was perhaps even colder with more cloud cover and less sunshine making things feel more arctic. After spending the night in the Youth Hostel in Grasmere I set off for my first target, Steel Fell, which I had first tried to climb seventeen years ago, until I was turned back by strong winds, and subsequently, in 2012, I came down from Steel Fell by this route, but since I had never successfully completed the ascent from Grasmere I decided that this would be my first goal. I enjoyed walking up the ridge that had interesting variety including three bands of rock that were cunningly negotiated with easy walking on grass in between until the gradient finally eased and a simple traverse brought me to the summit of Steel Fell where I had views north down Thirlmere while the lack of crowds at the top was a very pleasant change from the previous day on the Fairfield Horseshoe.

The broad ridge that links Steel Fell with Calf Crag is usually horrendously boggy, but in this weather the bogs were all frozen so I had a fabulous time slowly making my way across while the sun came out to cheer me on and provide me with good views. While the terrain is not the best on this ridge, it is usually boggy, the sunshine and sense of openness with no one else around more than made up for the lack of rock. Eventually the gradient steepened and brought me to the summit of Calf Crag where I took a path to my right that weaved around the undulating ridge to reach the head of Far Easedale where the well-trodden route of the Coast to Coast Walk crosses, while I kept on ahead towards Deep Slack.

I had previously come this way in 2015 and once again I now enjoyed exploring this complex, craggy area on a path that was too vague to be reliably followed and while this provided me a bit of a challenge to find my route, so long as I kept heading uphill I couldn’t go far wrong. The main challenge was the lack of sunlight on this north-facing slope, which made the surroundings less appealing and particularly cold, so when I stopped for lunch I put on a second fleece, but I never felt too hot. When I finally emerged back into the sunshine I had views all around me from an unnamed peak that were sensational and included looking back over Calf Crag and Steel Fell, and down Easedale towards Grasmere.

It is a shame this viewpoint is not named as it was a fabulous place for me, though it might be the small peak mentioned by Wainwright as appearing from Grasmere to be the summit of the fell. The ascent continued to Codale Head, which is insignificant, but Sergeant Man, lying across a depression, was much more prominent and could not be missed. However, the tiny summit was covered in ice which made it extremely treacherous so I didn’t stay long and very carefully made my way back down and headed towards the dull, featureless dome of High Raise. The best feature of this broad fell is the view north towards Borrowdale, but it had now clouded over and a thin sprinkling of snow covered the fell which made walking tricky. I had to be very careful while descending past Low White Stones to Greenup Edge where I joined the route of the Coast to Coast Walk and hoped I would find easier walking but this was not the case as a lot of ice covered the path, which now uses flagstones on Greenup Pass. This does not help in icy conditions, but worse was to come on the steep descent past Lining Crag.

To avoid the black ice on the path I veered right onto the grass which provided me with safer terrain as I slowly made my descent until finally I reached the bottom, but still a long way away from Borrowdale. The skies were now covered with dark clouds, which made this an ominous walk for me along the valley, still being careful with my steps on the icy ground, until I eventually reached the branch that took me into the small village of Stonethwaite and as I made my way along the road into Borrowdale it began to rain. This was an amazing, enjoyable walk where my change of tactics to keep myself warm worked perfectly, but the weather conditions were now very different to what I had enjoyed the day before and proved to be a lot more difficult and treacherous during the descent.