Decided to do a walk Sunday 1st Nov. Forecast wasn’t great but I had my new North Face Resolve Parka to try out so that gave me some incentive. I chose to do a walk through a part of the Manifold Valley I’d not done before.
I started from Wetton Mill and during my drive there I should have spotted the warning signs as a lot of the roads and lanes were flooded! Anyway, the river near the car park was almost overflowing. The walk itself took me from Wetton Mill along Hoo Brook and to Butterton. The path, well if you could call it that, was atrocious, mud, mud and more mud. Finally reached Butterton and found that the road was flooded. Luckily though there’s a footbridge so I was able to avoid it. The day was dark and dismal and nobody was around. I passed the Black Horse pub at the top of the hill and even that looked empty. Then at the top by the church I took a wrong footpath and ended up having to double-back on myself and when I did find the track the second stile the book told me about suddenly became invisible and I ended up having to find my own way through the fields. The weather just got worse and walking conditions were muddy, boggy and marshy everywhere. Darkness fell quite quickly and when I entered the woods to make my way down to the Manifold Way it was almost dark and I’d forgotten my torch. Then I tried to get something out of one of the pockets of my new rucksack and the zip broke! When I entered the tunnel leading back to Wetton it was really dark and all I could see was the full moon and all I could hear was the raging river on my left. It was quite spooky and to say I was relieved when I got back to the car would be an understatement, but at least the new Jacket proved its mettle! It kept me warm and dry and I was very impressed.
Anyway, here are a few pics
The river by the car park and café. A raging torrent!
Hoo Brook. More like Hoo River!
The flooded road at Butterton
The church at Butterton
A creepy looking tree!
