Day 27 - Ilam to Priestcliffe
Had a fantastic 'collection' this morning - each of the riders gave me £20 plus the two other couples gave me £20 each and then Muriel (B&B owner) also gave me £5....WOW! Sad postscript - the cow was dead when I ran past her this morning. Today was a fantastic journey through Dovedale and Wolfscote Dale following a babbling brook. It reminded m
e of a walk John and I had made in a canyon called Angels Landing in the US. The path was gently undulating along sandy and sometimes rocky pathways in a valley surrounded by either high sided hills or craggy rocks. At Milldale there were zillions of ducks and magpies (and a very conveniently sited coffee shop!). In Wolfscote Dale I heard some sort of falcon screaming and looking up, saw one (bigger than a kestrel but definitely not something like an eagle / buzzard) carrying what looked like a young rabbit. It landed on a rock and then there was a lot of bird screaming with the female, I'm guessing, looking for the food...eventually he took off and amazingly passed it in mid-air to the female who then shut up and flew back to the nest with it...fab! I then went through a small wood and out into rolling hills - you would never know that such a fantastic and magical place existing just beyond the woods. I then followed the path into Hartington which was a lovely busy village where it seemed everyone knew everybody...they were very friendly and the postlady gave me £5 and
another guy gave me £10...very profitable day! The area is littered with disused lead mines. There was a fab long downhill where I was able to really stride out from Highlow Farm (Low means hill or something like that...rather like the Tre and Pen from Cornwall!). A herd of heifers in a field next to the lane decided to join me on my downhill run and it was 3 fields before they were abruptly stopped from going any further by a stone wall...they made me smile! I had a rum 'n raisin icecream at The Old Smithy in Monyash...yum! It seemed that all cows HAD to be milked around 4pm as they were all either making their own way back to the farm or being rounded up by a landrover! There was then a very long uphil l but what goes up must come down, which it did, into Taddington and onto Priestcliffe. Margaret and John were exceptionally welcoming...nice cup of tea in their lovely garden followed by the well received offering of lamb stew and a glass of wine! Apparantely I was really excited when I arrived...definitely a day where I wanted to bottle all the smells, sights and sounds and keep forever!
Mileage 19.5
Had a fantastic 'collection' this morning - each of the riders gave me £20 plus the two other couples gave me £20 each and then Muriel (B&B owner) also gave me £5....WOW! Sad postscript - the cow was dead when I ran past her this morning. Today was a fantastic journey through Dovedale and Wolfscote Dale following a babbling brook. It reminded m
e of a walk John and I had made in a canyon called Angels Landing in the US. The path was gently undulating along sandy and sometimes rocky pathways in a valley surrounded by either high sided hills or craggy rocks. At Milldale there were zillions of ducks and magpies (and a very conveniently sited coffee shop!). In Wolfscote Dale I heard some sort of falcon screaming and looking up, saw one (bigger than a kestrel but definitely not something like an eagle / buzzard) carrying what looked like a young rabbit. It landed on a rock and then there was a lot of bird screaming with the female, I'm guessing, looking for the food...eventually he took off and amazingly passed it in mid-air to the female who then shut up and flew back to the nest with it...fab! I then went through a small wood and out into rolling hills - you would never know that such a fantastic and magical place existing just beyond the woods. I then followed the path into Hartington which was a lovely busy village where it seemed everyone knew everybody...they were very friendly and the postlady gave me £5 and
another guy gave me £10...very profitable day! The area is littered with disused lead mines. There was a fab long downhill where I was able to really stride out from Highlow Farm (Low means hill or something like that...rather like the Tre and Pen from Cornwall!). A herd of heifers in a field next to the lane decided to join me on my downhill run and it was 3 fields before they were abruptly stopped from going any further by a stone wall...they made me smile! I had a rum 'n raisin icecream at The Old Smithy in Monyash...yum! It seemed that all cows HAD to be milked around 4pm as they were all either making their own way back to the farm or being rounded up by a landrover! There was then a very long uphil l but what goes up must come down, which it did, into Taddington and onto Priestcliffe. Margaret and John were exceptionally welcoming...nice cup of tea in their lovely garden followed by the well received offering of lamb stew and a glass of wine! Apparantely I was really excited when I arrived...definitely a day where I wanted to bottle all the smells, sights and sounds and keep forever!Mileage 19.5
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