W/C 9 June 2013 - Monsal Dale

A beautiful day saw me out with the Ashfield Ramblers on a walk from Bakewell to Monsal Head, Deep Dale and back to Bakewell via Ashford-in-the-Water.

We started at Bakewell, heading for the old railway line at Bakewell station. The whole line through to Monsal Dale and beyond is a public bridleway.Bakewell station ( long closed) does not look a very promising start to a walk, but things quickly improved as we walked along the old railway north-westwards towards Hassop Station. This has been converted into a cafe and bookshop. Some of the walk was in cuttings, but we did get excellent views over the countryside in places.

 We left the railway line to make ourr way over fields to Great Longstone and then Little Longstone. The village pub offers local wild boar on the menu - frightening!

 One of the highlights was the view just west of Little Longstone, when we arrived at Monsal Head. This gives a great view of Monsal Dale and the famous railway viaduct below us.

 This was the view looking west. The bridleway we left earlier uses the viaduct. It goes through several tunnels further west.

 We walked steeply down from Monsal Head to the River Wye in the valley.

 We then turned more or less due west to walk under the viaduct and along Monsal Dale.

 The Dale turns more or less due south before turning east towards Bakewell. We continued south by crossing the main road and walking up Deep Dale. This was the only long climb of the walk. It was incredibly quiet up here, seemingly far from the real world!

 Just before the end of Deep Dale, we turned abruptly east up a steep hill towards Sheldon. On top, everything seemed very flat, giving long views across the countryside. This view includes the remains of the Magpie Lead Mine in the distance.

 We reached Sheldon Village and turned north, back towards the Wye valley. This is a view over the valley to the hills beyond.

 We than had a very steep, hazardous descent into the valley through Great Shacklow Wood. We survived!

 Continuing through the woods towards Ashford-in-the Water, we passed a carpet of wild flowers.....

The River Wye was full of salmon, many of which could be observed from the bridge at Ashford-in-the-Water. Slightly earlier I had seen some leaping out of the water - presumably to catch insects.

 Here, you can just about make out some of the fish in the water.

Finally, we returned to Bakewell. Another great day out - and sincere thanks again to Sutton-in-Ashfield Ramblers.