I love it when a plan comes together. The morning of Saturday 6th November was a fine but chilly one, the following reprobates assembled at the Royal Oak, Hurdlow (near Buxton):
Joester and Abs
Sgt.Pepper and Emma
Superduper
Pottermuss
Rockysgirl
Radder
Olly (Joester's brother) and Hayley
We all squeezed into a couple of cars and drove the short distance to Middleton-by-Youlgreave, the start of the walk.
First there was the matter of lining 10 stomachs in readiness for the day's activities. This was accomplished with a job-lot of bacon and sausage that was keeping warm in an earthenware pot in my boot. Some of the group had been 'warming up' for the challenge the night before, so the breakfast was greatfully received as the prospect of the first pub was only just over half and hour away...
We set off down Bradford Dale where I collared a passerby to take a photo of the group whilst we were all still
compus mentus. Seemingly he had never used a camera before (or at least not one that dirty), but he eventually mustered this shot:
L to R: Sgt.Pepper, Emma, Abs, Joester, Olly, Hayley, Pottermuss, Rockysgirl, Radder.
Superduper is in this photo too, but is somewhat camera-shy, you can see her feet though!
Youlgreave municipal pool didn't look too inviting:
A short pull up the hill into the village found the first of our refreshment stops, The George at Youlgreave.
I had a Caledonian 'Autumn Red' and a Theakston's Black Bull - both were excellent.
It seemed wrong (and also, somehow, right) to be necking a couple of pints just before midday having walking about 3/4 of a mile, but I guess we'd just have to get used to it!
We left Youlgreave with a spring in our step to find the south eastern tip of Lathkill Dale.
This was the finest part of the day was we enjoyed the riverside walk in the autumn sunshine:
We steamed up another short, steep hill into Over Haddon and the Lathkill Hotel:
The views from this pub are lovely, especially on such a bright and clear day as this. We enjoyed our drinks sitting on the slabs at the front of the pub, basking in the sun. Actor Johnny Depp was there having half a mild. As some of you might know, Sgt.Pepper is a big fan of Mr Depp, so there was a photo opportunity outside the pub. Hopefully someone can post a photo of this, because I don't have one.
We dropped back down into the dale again and regained the riverside. The ruins of Bateman's House are worth stopping off at. There is a shaft that accesses a small underground chamber, a hand-cranked generator provides temporary illumination of the underground river below:
We began to get thirsty again, so we hurried on up the dale towards our next stop at Monyash. This was the longest stretch of the walk between pubs, at a cruel 4 miles.
I wasn't sure if I could make it, I began seeing things:
Fortunately, everyone else could see it too. It was a chap taking photos (of his girlfriend) for his Derbyshire folklore website. Some of the group hypothesised that she was naked under the cloak, I guess we'll never know.
The river was in spate after all last week's rain, and much of the path was underwater. We picked our way over thin alternative paths on the slightly higher ground.
Radder had disappeared, I assumed the wraith had got him (so we carried on), but it turned out he had gone ahead, we found him in the mouth of the cave where the river emerges from the hillside. Sgt.pepper joined him on the slippy rocks to take a look:
We arrived in Monyash in the failing light, pub No. 3 - The Bull's Head, was a welcoming sight, although they'd gone a bit over-the-top with the christmas lights:
Now 6 pints in, we left The Bull's Head with high spirits, but it was also quite dark at this point, so we broke the torches out to walk the mile and half to the last pub, The Bull I' Th' Thorn.
We made ourselves at home, distributing muddy boots, rucksacks and coats all over the bar area, and then had a nice pint (Robinson's Unicorn) by the open fire (before the landlord shunted us into a back room, I didn't mind, I'd have done the same):
The Bull I' Th' Thorn is a quirky establishment, with quite a few odd items decorating the bar, corridors and WCs. Abs started chatting up a local (she thought):
Johnny Depp swung by again, this time joined by his showbiz chum TOMMY LEE JONES. They sat with us for a while, but again, I don't seem to have any photos, maybe someone else does?!
It was torches on again, for now the motley crew had a half mile across the fields back to the Royal Oak:
It's probably a good job it wasn't very far...
We booked in, and those of us who had the forethought to bring a change of clothes quickly smartened up (a bit) before settling into the bar...
....for about 30 seconds before we were uprooted by a polite but firm member of staff, who cast us down into the cellar (I didn't mind, I'd have done the same...). At least there was pool, a knackered old CD player and an old synthesizer to play around with. We knocked a few more back (and Abs knocked plenty of other things, furniture, people's dinners, her ankle...) and were eventually summoned for dinner.
A lot of those present don't remember the dinner, but if proof be required, here we all are sat around waiting for it:
Starter was 'mixed appetisers' - olives, mushrooms roasted with chorizzo, glazed chicken wings, and garlic bread - all were bloomin' delicious.
For main I had Beef and Stilton pasty. Others had homemade burger with bacon and blue cheese, or good old fish and chips.
There must have been a lot of people in the group who had become too accustomed to imbibing only liquids, as there was a serious amount of food left - particularly fish and chips.
I tried to finish as many people's as I could, but when mushy peas started coming out of my ears I knew I had to stop.
Some of the group now retreated to bed (and some that
should have gone to bed got another pint in). We returned to our underfloor lair for more giddy pool and various other shenanigans. Eventually the landlord kicked us out (he was firm, but nice about it, I didn't mind, I'd have done the same...), and we all rolled across the yard to the bunk barn.
An absolute Top Day with laughs galore, and as you can probably imagine this little report doesn't tell you half of it! I'm hoping that the others will post a few more photos to help illustrate...