A Walk Along Abney Brook

We had a bit of a lay-in this morning and after a phone call from Eileen Morton, I drove over to the Orpheus CC Cottage to pass a message to Ken. The morning was clear and sunny with no wind but very cold (the car thermometer was showing -7°C) and no more snow had fallen overnight. The track to the Cottage was clear but most cars were parked in the first field near the gate as their owners had believed there was the possibility of further snow overnight.
Afterwards I returned home to pick up Karen and we drove through Grindleford and up a snowy and icy road leading to Sir William Hill to park at a track leading off the road leading from Eyam to Grindleford via Sir William Hill.
We started of f up the unmetalled road passing the large ariel tower and the chimney of Ladywash Mine until we reached a minor road at a bend.
We branched off from here onto another track, and soon we passed through the drive of a private house at Nether Bretton on a Public Footpath which led us along one side of the house, over a stile next to the ruin of a lovely old house with mullioned windows, and then across a field. After another stile we started on a steep path with steps which led down to a valley bottom.
We crossed a stream by using a footbridge and started up the other side of the valley. Part way up the other side we had a sit down to have lunch.
We continued on our route soon reaching the hamlet of Abney. After following the road through Abney for a short distance we turned onto another Public Footpath which led us down the Abney Brook valley.
This led us to Stoke Ford where we crossed another footbridge and then followed a rising zig-zag path giving views both back along the Abney Brook valley with the autumnal colours of beech and larch trees, but also Hathersage in the distance along with the gritstone crags of Stanage Edge and Millstone Edge. We followed along the top of the valley then crossed a stile in a drystone wall onto the moorland which we crossed to soon reach a stile onto the track where we had left the car.
Afterwards, we stopped off at Outside at Calver crossroads for a meal and then home.
I wore my Rab Vapour Rise Stretch with TrekMates Merino Wool shirt underneath, Polar Buff (as a hat), Icepeak X-Treme trousers, Asolo Powermatic 200 GTX boots and Osprey Kestrel 38 rucksack.
I found the Rab Vapour Rise Stretch top excellent. I was always warm and never too hot despite some short steep climbs. There was no wind but despite being sunny, the temperature was never above freezing all day.