10 mile walk from Tideswell to Monsal Head (and back!) - 22nd May ‘22

Slept in! 9.30 when I finally rolled out of bed. The dogs didn’t seem too bothered about the lie in though! Pot of tea and bacon bagels for me, Pedigree Chum for them - although I suspect they would have traded places at a stroke?!

On the road by 10.30, heading for Tideswell. I popped into the village to buy a sandwich for lunch and also get some change for the car park. It was very busy with lots of MAMILs having coffee. I’ve never seen so much lycra, helmets and flat whites all in one place!

I parked up at 11.15 at Tideswell Dale car park. That’s significant because I didn’t get back until nearly 4! My long walk necessitated a full day parking ticket which I gave to a lady driving a Volvo on my way out. It must have looked odd as I ignored the 2 non Volvo drivers in front and made a b-line for her. I shouted out that we Volvo drivers should stick together but the perplexed look on her face suggested she might have heard something else!?

What a walk. Totally different to Castleton. About 80% of the 4.5 hours was dogs off the lead and a large potion of the 20% was on roads. My faith in humanity was restored and, more importantly, I (and the dogs) could just concentrate on enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon without threats of death, fines and guilt. Tideswell 1, Castleton 0!! And many thanks to Pete for suggesting this particular walk to me - great call!

The first half of the walk was relatively busy but nothing like yesterday. The path headed down Tideswell Dale to the River Wye and then hugged the banks of the Wye through to Cressbrook. 

Then a big climb up through the woods onto the Monsal Trail and then over the viaduct and up the steep Dale side to Monsal Head. The Monsal Trail was incredibly busy here with lots of families, cyclists, dogs and walkers.

There was a Morris Dancer troop entertaining in Monsal Head car park. The dogs were somewhat bemused by this and Tilly give me a quick incredulous look as if she was saying .. “and you think we’re unstable?!” A quick pint at the very busy pub. I shared an egg and bacon sandwich and 2 bags of hula hoops with the dogs. All was going well until one of the many dogs sitting around the pub garden benches started barking! That set Tilly off on one and was a signal for me to get back on the trail.

From this stage onwards, the walk was much quieter. In fact I hardly met anyone for the return trip and the few folks I did meet I had some nice long(ish) chats with.  One young couple were very taken with Tilly and couldn’t believe she was 10 years old!  So back down the hill / woods into Monsal Dale. Then quite a long walk along the road back to Cressbrook. At this stage my left foot/ankle was really starting to hurt. I considered keeping on the road and doing a short cut back to the car. Then, for the first of two times today, I thought back to my chat with Mandy on Friday. I remembered her story about the virtual crocodile hanging onto her leg and realised my slight discomfort was nothing to stop me.

At Cressbrook we headed up the beautiful Cressbrook Dale. The stream had all but dried up but this part of the walk was very atmospheric with the almost overwhelming smell of wild garlic. At this stage we must have gone at least 45 minutes without seeing another sole - and this on a sunny May Sunday afternoon?!

Then there was another steep climb up to Litten. Here we had another bullock incident but not quite as alarming as Thursday. This picture really confirms the challenges of walking in the Dales - a scary looking style (especially for dogs) and an even scarier herd of excitable bullocks waiting to welcome us to their field!

I considered the pub for another drink but thought that might be pushing it for the drive home so I got a cup of tea from the Post Office to give me some energy for the final push homeward. This part of the walk was a bit boring as there was along trek on the road before I could get back on the footpath down to the car park.

Just after these pictures were taken and about 500 yards from home I fell over! I was busy looking up at the rocks when I tripped on a rock - ironic eh? 10 years ago I might have been able to steady myself and stay on my feet but, that was 10 years ago. I just resigned myself for the fall and looked for a soft landing. I achieved quite a graceful fall with only my pride dented. I looked round quickly to make sure no one had witnessed it before picking myself up and dusting myself down. And then I heard it … Kim laughing at me. Just as if she was there. She would have made sure I wasn’t hurt and then would have cracked up. I smiled and really felt I walked the last 500 metres with her by my side.

The biggest problem about doing stuff on your own is you have no one to share your thoughts and experiences with. I think that’s why I get a lot of satisfaction from writing the blog. This is my way of sharing my experiences and I find myself writing the blog as I’m going along during the day.

It was a nice feeling to climb back into the car and leave the car park. Back to Brunnehilda by 4.15. I collapsed on the bed and spent a very entertaining couple of hours watching the football - Man City v Villa. It was all very exciting. I then took the opportunity to do an hours work before getting ready to go out for dinner. At this stage I realised the dogs hadn’t moved for 3 hours and, in the case of Tilly, she didn’t look like she ever wanted to move again! 

Then for the second time today, my time with Mandy earlier in the week motivated me to do something I didn’t want to do. I headed into Buxton to have a sit down dinner on my own. Ironically I nearly didn’t as the first 3 places I went to all stopped serving food at 8. I finally found a nice little Mexican restaurant called Lonestar and had a very pleasant beer and burrito. I watched the golf on my iPhone!

I can’t say I enjoyed the experience but at least I did it and i guess that’ll make it easier doing it again! 

The gas has run out this afternoon so I bought another canister on the way home. Once back to Brunnehilda it was the usual Ken Burns and Cadburys chocolate. Good timing as I’ve now finished the Civil War box set and all 3 bars of chocolate and it’s the last night!

I’m hopefully off home tomorrow at 9am so no more from me for a bit. I won’t bother scoring the site as things really haven’t changed since I stayed and scored it in March. Although I now know why there is a gate - it keeps the guests away from the stock!