So it was off to Hartington for John's walk to avoid the ash tree felling in the lower Dove Valley (and likely flooding in the Ilam area as well). We went downriver through Beresford Dale before climbing up to Alstonefield and then descending to Milldale for lunch with the ducks. Afterwards the route took us up the Dove to Wolfscote Dale before climbing up to Reynard's Lane and back to Hartington. Nine miles at exactly two miles per hour, as always; who needs a GPS?
And if you want to see a 3-d fly-through of the route, go to John's own blog here.
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| The start near the duck pond in Hartington |
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| Old farmhouse in Hartington |
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| Crossing the Dove from Derbyshire to Staffordshire in Beresford Dale. River Dove in full flood |
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| Climbing up towards Alstonefield and looking back towards Hartington |
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| Alstonefield Green Well and pump, the main source of domestic water until the mid 19th century |
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| St Peter's Church, Alstonefield |
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| The well-known! Belted Galloway cattle in Alstonefield |
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| Upstream from Milldale |
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| The momentum of the water in the cast iron drive pipe shuts the valve very rapidly once a second and the resulting water hammer pulse drives water up the vertical pipe. The returning rarefaction wave in the drive pipe opens the valve and the sequence starts again |
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| Biggin Dale in flood |
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| Scree in Wolfscote Dale |
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| Caves above Wolfscote Dale ... |
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| ... and here is what you would have seen had you bothered to climb up and have a look inside |
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| View of the Dove and Manifold valleys from Reynard's Lane |
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| St Giles Church, Hartington |
