Our August walk was a 6.2 miler in the Peak District. Starting from the mediaeval village of Over Haddon (famous for fasting damsels and home to the inspiration for James Bonds’ M), we descended to the hamlet of Alport, where the rivers Lathkill and Bradford meet.
Once the hub of lead mining, Alport was an ancient trading route and, according to a wall plaque, has a particular dislike for vagabonds, so we moved onto Youlgreave, where, the Main Street has a 19th century water cistern; Thimble Hall (the smallest detached house in the World, where a family of 8 lived) and a converted Co-op building that houses the Youth Hostel, where one of our male walkers once slept in Ladies Underwear (the name of the gents dormitory, not what you were thinking!)
Fortunately, the weather was overcast, a welcome change from the recent heatwave and having descended once more to the River Bradford, we took a coffee break before embarking on the ascent back to Over Haddon. With lunch at the highest part of the walk and then losing altitude again, we had an exhilarating final 20 minutes uphill to the car park. It’s called the Peak District for a reason!
