Bradford Dale.
A Common coot and chick at the nest in Lathkill Dale.
Upper Lathkill Dale.
Jacob's Ladder in flower in Lathkill Dale.
Located on the roadside opposite an aggregates quarry / mine on Long Rake.
Walk stats: Distance: 12.0 miles. Climb: 786'.
Time: 5 hours 22 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.6 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 2.32 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Dave J and Mike D.
This is always a good time of the year to walk in Lathkill Dale, even if we had plenty of the wet stuff. There were plenty of flowers in bloom all along Lathkill Dale and Jacob's Ladder seemed plentiful in its usual spot.
The river was much fuller than I have ever seen it before, in fact in places the real path was flooded to depths well above boot level. Thankfully there was always a way round these flooded areas, taking the ground slightly higher.
Lunch was taken opposite the footbridge leading into Cales Dale, catching just about enough time in the sunshine to finish our food.
We finished the walk by taking paths across the fields to Long Rake, and in so doing avoided the drop into Cales Dale and the steep climb out of it on the way to Calling Low.
Birds seen or heard today included: Barn swallow, House martin, Common swift, House sparrow, Skylark, Carrion crow, Common blackbird, Pied wagtail, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler, Garden warbler, Blackcap, Jackdaw, Redstart, Tufted duck, Mallard, Grey wagtail, Common coot, Blue tit, Mute swan, Common pheasant, Chaffinch, European robin, Greenfinch, Green woodpecker and Eurasian curlew.
We arrived back at the car with tired legs and looking forward to a pint of Hartington Bitter at the Wilkes Head in Leek. We weren't disappointed!
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