In the valley of Chess (and cress)

Date: Sunday 29th June 2014
Route: Chess Valley Circular from Latimer
Distance: 9.5 miles

After a few walk-free weekends, today felt like a good opportunity to get out of London and get a few miles under our belt. This walk, which starts outside the picture postcard village of Latimer, is surprisingly close to the M25, but feels like a proper trip to the countryside (albeit a countryside full of high-end property and lots of Labradors).

The walk comes from the Pathfinder Thames Valley & Chilterns walk book and includes beautiful woodland, valley views, village greens surrounded by country cottages that deserve to be on jigsaws, Tudor manor houses, a riverside section, multiple pubs with decent beer gardens and (slightly incongruously) watercress beds (the fast-flowing water of the river Chess provides the perfect growing conditions, apparently).

Whilst we didn't spot the water voles that are reputed to live in the Chess, we did see a couple of foxes, a toad (in the middle of a woodland path), red kites, herons and multiple bees and butterflies. The path back to the car park was a great source of wild raspberries (and will no doubt be bursting with blackberries later in the year).

The woodland paths at the start of the walk deflected some of the heat of the sun, making this as good a walk in summer as it was when we last walked it in the spring.

None of the paths are particularly steep or difficult to follow, the Cricketers at Sarratt has an extensive menu (and a tractor in the beer garden!) and the impressive Chenies Manor, with its twisted chimneys, will welcome the Antiques Roadshow next week. If it's good enough for Fiona Bruce, it's good enough for us!

Peak District: The Tissington Trail

Date: Bank Holiday Monday, 5th May 2014
Route: Tissington Circular
Distance: 4.5 miles

If I'm honest, this 4.5 mile walk from Tissington from the AA's 1001 Walks isn't one of the most spectacular walks in the Peak District, but it did meet all of our criteria for today - short, achievable, nice scenery, at the southern end of the Peak District (so easy to get home afterwards).

There are two stretches of the walk on the Tissington Trail - a disused railway track now colonised by walkers and cyclists - plus some open countryside up and down the hillsides to and from the village of Parwich, then a final wander through Tissington, home to a pretty Hall, multiple wells and the types of shop that play well to coach trips.

Lots of pretty scenery, some surprisingly taxing climbs and quite a lot of sheep to avoid - not highly recommended but a good way to spend a couple of hours in a beautiful part of the countryside.
  

Peak District - Edale Circular

Date: Sunday 4th May 2014
Route: Edale Circular via Ringing Rover, Crowden Brook and the Pennine Way
Distance: 7 miles

OK, so 7 miles might not sound like a lot, but coming hot on the heels of a strenuous 8.5 mile walk around Dove Dale, we chose to go with the Edale walk from the AA's 1001 Walks guide, rather than the 9.7 mile option from the Day Walks in the Peak District book. Frankly, another 3 miles might just have tipped us over the edge.

This is a great walk in the High Peak - and as such, is very popular, so don't do this if you are looking for solitude. The walk begins and ends in the village of Edale. After a short walk through the village and across fields, the climb up the hillside begins - whilst this takes a bit of effort, it doesn't take an excessive amount of time to reach the skyline and the crinkly rocks of Ringing Roger (yep!).

Once you have reached this level there isn't a huge amount of extra climbing, as the walk continues along a very easy-to-follow path along the hilltops, with ever-changing views back over heather-strewn hillsides and rocky outcrops. After joining up with the old Pennine Way, the path drops slightly below the imposing rocks of Crowden Tower, then turns into a steep downhill clamber, crossing and re-crossing Crowden Brook before eventually getting somewhere close to level in the woodland of Upper Booth.

The final section of walking follows the Pennine Way back to Edale, large servings of tea and cake and a welcome sit down. Anyone who completes this walk will go away with a sense of achievement and some memories of fantastic views (although you might also have huge admiration for the various people pushing dogs and small children up the hillsides before them).

Peak District - Dove Dale & Bunster Hill

Date: 3rd May 2014
Route: Dove Dale Circular via Milldale, Hall Dale and Bunster Hill
Distance: 8.5 miles

A beautiful Bank Holiday weekend seems like the perfect opportunity to head off to the Peak District and try out some more classic walks.

Our first choice is a circular walk starting in Dove Dale - so iconic that its photo graces the cover of the Day Walks in the Peak District guidebook (and so popular that an early start is advised, if you want to get a space in the car park).

The easy riverside stroll down to the stepping stones at the start of the walk proper, the well-maintained path to the pretty village of Milldale and the irresistible combination of fast-flowing river, steep, green valley sides and erratically placed huge rocks by the wayside lull you into a false sense of security, that this is going to be a very flat, very easy wander. It isn't!.

Once out of Milldale, the crowds and the flatness both disappear rapidly, with a steady climb along a country lane to the village of Alstonefield, accompanied by dry stone walls and fields filled with  cows, sheep and dandelions. From Alstonefield the path continues to Stanshope (lots of teenagers on outward bound weekends with over-sized rucksacks) then down back to the river Dove through Hall Dale (yet more teenagers with rucksacks and some pained-looking and very patient teachers).

After a short stretch along the river, the route heads steeply and exhaustingly back up the hillside, through bluebell-heavy woodlands, the neighbouring hilltops visible on the opposite bank of the river. The final sections of the walk are across open countryside - rolling hillsides with views over the green surrounding countryside in every direction, a climb up Bunster Hill to join the para-gliders at the summit then a steep descent around the hillside and back to Dove Dale.

This is not an easy walk but even though there are less taxing ways to see Dove Dale, I would still recommend it, as a fantastic introduction to the Peak District. Immeasurably improved by not being on a school trip, though!

Lake District: Place Fell & Ullswater

Date: Friday 18^th April 2014

Route: Place Fell and Ullswater Circular from Patterdale

Distance: 8.5 miles

For our last full day walk in the Lakes, we chose to move away from Derwent Water, which had dominated the week’s walking and tried a more challenging walk we hadn’t done before, overlooking the equally lovely Ullswater for most of the route.

Like the majority of our walks this week, this route is detailed in the Pathfinder Lake District Walks Guide, which quotes the final section, above the lake shore, as having been described as “the loveliest walk in the Lake District.” Wisely, the authors don’t comment on whether they agree with this or not, as there must be lots of suitable candidates for this description!

Once you have left the car park at Patterdale (get there early!) and Side Farm behind, the climb begins. Luckily the vast majority of sustained uphill walking on this walk comes right at the beginning and is never too dauntingly steep. It doesn’t take long until the snowy, sharp ridges of Helvellyn and the blue waters of Brothers Water come into view in different directions, then there is a bit more of a climb and scramble to Round How and onward and upward to the summit of Place Fell, with great views over the hillsides in multiple directions and down across Ullswater.

The path – and essentially there is only really one path, so it’s very difficult to go astray – continues down from the summit of Place Fell across a few grassy hilltops before descending steeply towards the hamlet of Sandwick (whose few inhabitants seem to be missing out on an ice-cream selling opportunity!).

From Sandwick the route takes the popular “one of the most beautiful paths in the Lake District” path back to Patterdale, above and alongside Ullswater, with lots of outstanding views and a couple of pretty bays. This path definitely deserves the praise – but it does still have a few ups and downs, so it’s best not to expect an easy, flat section (thankfully that comes when the path emerges at Side Farm again).

An absolutely beautiful walk that merits its challenging tag, but is absolutely worth the effort.

Lake District: Keswick Circular via Friar's Crag & Castlerigg Stone Circle

Date: Thursday 17^th April 2014

Route: Keswick Circular via Friar’s Crag and Castlerigg Stone Circle

Distance: 7 miles

Whilst you do see a few solitary ramblers, walking in the Lake District often doesn’t really fit the “I wandered lonely as a cloud” stereotype – there are lots of (usually smiling) people walking the well-trodden and well-maintained popular paths within easy reach of the main towns and sometimes it’s definitely more fun to combine a day’s walk with good company (and end it in the pub).

Today’s walk was a relatively easy route from the Pathfinder Lake District Walks Guide, starting by Derwent Water in Keswick before heading up into woodlands and over fields to reach Castelrigg Stone Circle. As we were accompanied by the lovely Jo and Sam, we needed a walk that was interesting, gave us the opportunity to chat and was not too strenuous (more for our benefit than theirs!).

The walk starts by the water’s edge, with a great view from Friar’s Crag across Derwent Water, taking in many of the areas where we had walked in the preceding days. From the lakeshore the route crosses the Borrowdale road, turning into a steady but not too taxing climb on an easy-to-follow path through the conifers of the Great Wood and Walla Crag, before crossing the Keswick-Windermere road and a few fields to arrive at Castlerigg Stone Circle.

While the stone circle isn’t on the scale of Avebury, it wins a prize for outstanding hilltop location, with views over imposing peaks in every direction, including Skiddaw, Blencathra, Helvellyn and High Dodd. Little is known about the 3,500 year old monument, but it is a fantastic spot to spend a bit of time and you can even buy an ice-cream, if you feel so inclined!

The path continues back to the main road down a quiet lane, on down a quieter lane, alongside a campsite and back into woodland before emerging on the outskirts of Keswick and returning to the lake. A lovely walk to do with great company and a good excuse for a few celebratory beers at the end of it!

Lake District: Ashness Bridge, Watendlath & Bowder Stone

Date: Wednesday 16^th April

Route: Ashness Bridge, Watendlath and Bowder Stone

Distance: 8.5 miles

A great companion piece to yesterday’s Borrowdale walk, this “more challenging” route from the Pathfinder Guide to Lake District Walks proved to be very straightforward to follow, full of fantastic views and actually not all that challenging at all, relative to our mountain-walking earlier in the week.

The route begins and ends at the south-eastern end of Derwent Water, with views over the lake, the river Derwent and many of the hills and mountains visited on the Borrowdale, Skiddaw and Cat Bells walks. The first stretch (and the biggest climb) includes a great view back over the lake, with Skiddaw in the background, from Ashness Bridge, a single-track packhorse bridge. Next up is Surprise View (hint: less of a surprise when described as such in advance!); luckily this panoramic viewpoint survives its own hyperbole by offering great views in multiple directions from a precarious ledge at the top of the hill. The trails through moss-strewn woodland also provide a break from some of the more exposed paths encountered elsewhere in the Lakes.

The next section of the route follows the stony (but never too steep) path alongside Watendlath Beck to the hamlet of Watendlath, a few remote houses around a tarn, with yet more beautiful views and the backdrop of imposing hillsides. From Watendlath comes a climb up the hillside which is rewarded with great views across the valley and down into Borrowdale, a steep downhill descent which requires concentration, a detour to see (and climb up) the 2,000 ton Bowder Stone, a gigantic piece of Ice Age era geology sitting incongruously in the middle of a wood, more walking alongside the River Derwent (on the opposite bank to the Borrowdale walk) and yet more tea and cake in the village of Grange.

Once fortified, you are ready for the final stretch – a great path along duckboards amongst the reeds and marshes of the southern end of Derwent Water, emerging to reveal the whole lake before you. A couple of lake-side stretches, a little more woodland walking and you are back to your starting point. A highly recommended walk, with lots of interesting views and plenty to keep you engaged, without necessarily wearing you out.