Our Derbyshire Weekend ♥ Part 3

Hello lovelies,

for our walking  weekend I had two places I particularly wanted to visit. On Saturday we had visited the first....Chatsworth house. And on Sunday we set out to visit the second. 

We drove along winding lanes, through fog in the valleys and fabulous views on the hills, till we reached the most wonderful view of all.

It's just beyond those benches....

lets peer over the wall.......

This is the famous view from MONSAL HEAD.
Wow...it is a real WOW view, looking down on the dales and the viaduct below......

Like yesterday hubby and I were here to do a circular walk. They both came from an older version of THIS book. which I picked up in a charity shop.

This walk was a seven mile route which first headed steeply down into Monsal Dale. Gosh it was chilly under these trees........

I was so glad to emerge into the sunshine. And enchanted by the beautiful sight of Monsal weir.....

The hazy light was really special.......

and the river below the weir, so pretty too............

Here out attention was grabbed by a small brown bird....can you see him, close to the far bank......

Let me zoom in a bit.......

It was the aptly named Dipper....such a lovely sight, bobbing his head or his whole body under the water looking for food........

After crossing the bridge here we gazed back at the weir for a while.......

It did look special in the low morning sunlight......

The mist was still hanging in the air and the views were hazy.............

and the sun was only just a bit higher that the towering hill to our left......

Here we left the riverside and squeezed through the gap in the stone wall..........

My navigation skills are not the best, so it's always reassuring to see a footpath sign with the name of the village you are heading for...........

and I loved the seats with sweet verses..........

Here the path climbed steeply through limestone outcrops.......

and  stopping to catch our breath, I noticed the start of Autumn colours, illuminated beautifully on this most perfect of mornings.........

Climbing up through woodland I was very happy to be wearing sturdy walking boots as we tackled the rock strewn path.......

and glad to reach the level ground, where there was an idyllic CL site , which one lucky caravanner had got totally to themselves........

The quiet lanes had beautiful views and even a few wild flowers....not bad for late September.......

Here our walk entered the quaint village of Taddington............

Hubby and I wandered along happily, stopping to visit the church yard, with it's remains of a 7th century Celtic cross..........

and envying hanging out the washing in a garden with such a spectacular view.........

The countryside around here is beautiful..........

and the distinctive shape of Fin Cop iron age hill fort was visible in the distance.........

Hubby said it looked like a whale....I could see what he meant :0)

Around here we realised we had actually drifted off course a little #got lost..........

Reading the route again I realised we should not of even walked through the village and now we were way off course. I was very pleased we had the O.S. map to guide us as not all the paths were clearly marked like this.........

Here I  noticed the contour lines were so close together there was practically no gap between them. I warned Mr BM "I think it might be a bit steep soon" ......

And golly it was. I don't think the photo gives you an impression of the gradient really.....

Like skiers on a black run we zig zaged down the steep bank.......

then huffed and puffed up the mercifully slightly less severe incline out of the valley.

We were feeling a bit tired, but relived to be back on course by this stage. As soon as we got to a spot with  a view we flopped down on the grass to eat mini muffins....rescued from the breakfast buffet :0)

The last part of the walk was mostly a level riverside wander....we were glad :0)........

It's a shame the weather had got cloudy, but the river still looked beautiful........

Here climbers were using the overhanging cliffs for practice..........

Looking up at them was enough to make me feel dizzy..........

where the river widened into a pretty mill pond  we stopped to smile at the bird life..........

And admire the views.........

The we climbed up out of the valley bottom and gazed down on the mill. My old guide book from the year 2000 has a photo of this place looking ruined, with no windows. Now it's a very desirable address......

See prices HERE 

It's certainly a stunning setting..........

The last mile was along the disused railway line which is now a very popular route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders............

The MONSAL TRAIL  had gorgeous views from the viaduct here.........

And information on the history on the railway line which ran along it till 1968......

Our route didn't actually go through any of the tunnels it's famous for........

We left the trail to climb steeply upwards again.
 Our walk had turned out to be nine miles long and very hilly. But hubby somehow found the energy for a speedy climb up these punishing steps right at the end...........

The view from the top was certainly worth the jelly legs.........

By now we were both hungry and headed for an outdoor place to sit and eat, as despite the gloom it remained very warn and still............

I loved watching the sparrows hopping about in the Honeysuckle here..........

and lots of different birds feasting at the feeders...........

And I can thoroughly recommend the toasties at  Hobb's cafe 

Soon it was time to start the drive home and rerun to being a family of five, rather than just a couple. I love my family so much, but this time for just the two of us was a delight. I'm very blessed.
Derbyshire, we love you too.

Jacquie x