Members: Roger Dyke, Iain McCallum, Phil Ramsbottom, Brian Taylor, Dave Wylie.

Guests: Riz Ali, Safina Ali, Nils Elgar, Chris Marsland.

After the glorious weather of the previous Sunday, it was a disappointing start in cloud and wind, but it wasn’t raining and we made a reasonably sized party, given that there was also a Scottish meet the same weekend.

Our perambulation through the village of Eyam, allowed me to scope the teashop for later, before forking off towards Stoney Middleton and Coombs Dale.  Coombs Dale is a little-frequented valley which had an industrial past, but not too much water running through it on this occasion, although rather too many mountain bikes. Here, we observed the traditional elevenses stop, (so important to re-hydrate the elderly – self included) and Phil found a gorse bush behind which to shelter from the penetrating wind whilst juggling flasks.

The route took us up to Longstone Edge, across Longstone Moor, still battling against the wind, and over the fields into Wardlow.  Iain found a wall behind which to shelter for lunch – it was that sort of day- so different from the sun-drenched Stanage of the previous weekend. Lunch had to be brought forward to 12.30 from the usual regulatory 1.00pm to accommodate conditions on the ground; needless to say comments were made!  

Throughout the walk it was noticeable how dry the terrain had become in the few weeks since trialling the route. This was particularly noticeable in Cressbrook Dale, where previously I had been forced to take a high path to avoid the fast flowing water in the bottom of the valley- now, a deeper shade of green was the only testament to previous flooding. 

As if from nowhere the Chesterfield road appeared, and crossing it, we made our way over fields, commenting on ‘Silly Dale’ (a haunt of McCallum’s apparently!) to enjoy a brief rest and re-group in Foolow.  We covered the last lap to Eyam bang on schedule, where much tea and cake was enjoyed – as was the plan!

Thank you all for coming.  I had thought I might be walking this route alone, so it was really nice to see new/prospective members/guests on the meet as well as the old faithfuls.  I really appreciated the effort people made to turn up, and hope you had an enjoyable day out - I certainly did.

This is a walk of about 12 miles but with quite a few ups and downs.  It begins in Eyam and contours south of the village taking in the settlements of Stoney Middleton, Wardlow and Foolow and provides constant reminders of the Peak District’s past, not least of which in Eyam itself.  It covers a varied landscape with some spectacular views including lesser trodden dales and wild moorland and ends in one of Eyam’s many teashops.  I shall be in the one selling gluten-free cakes!

Car parking in the main car park in Eyam is expensive (£5.50 for all day) so you may want to share transport, or park in the free car park on the field above.  There are toilets in the main car park for those in need; that’ll be me.

To ensure we don’t lose anyone before we start, I suggest we meet close to the entrance to the main car park for a 9.45am start.  I expect to finish about 3.30pm since the teashop closes at 4pm!

Looking forward to seeing you there!