Lathkill Dale from Middleton

Today rather than walk from the house we decided to take the car into the Peak District National Park and do a walk which is a part section of the LDWA 6 Dales challenge. We drove to Middleton where we walked down to the River Bradford, this is the good flat path along the valley & typical of what we will walk on today. This strange feature is a wall on legs over the river The first part appears to just be large ponds, but they are linked by narrow weirs on the far bank An arched bridge

Lambs across the river bank

We are now following the River Lathkill into Lathkill Dale

We stop for a break & the dogs enjoy a splash

A pair of mallards come over hoping we have some bread

And plenty of fish in the beautifully clear water

We think Lathkill Dale is the most beautiful of the six dales we have walked in the LDWA event, it is so tranquil as the river meanders through the dale.

The weirs are across the whole river, just dropping a few feet at each step

We stop for lunch and afterwards the dogs are ready to chase after the stick again

We then retrace our steps, the water was a beautiful turquoise blue in places, the camera hasn't really picked that up

One of the larger weirs

Looking back up stream

We return to the village of Youlgreave & the River Bradford

Its the best sort of walk for Bess as she can be in the water for most of it

Back to the wall & bridge

And the cliffs as we return to Middleton

We have had a great few days & done some lovely walks together, Crag sums up the energy we have used & the tiredness in all of us in his own special way.....