We had got up a bit
later than usual for a weekend morning and Karen wanted to spend an
hour listing all the birds she saw in our garden for a RSPB survey,
we would have a late start.
As we were expecting
soggy conditions with the thaw, plus the late start we decided to
keep the walk short and relatively local.
So a decision was made
on a walk from the village of Hartington vis Biggin Dale and
Wolfescote Dale.
We left the car in the
centre of the village and made our way uphill on a minor road passing
the impressive Youth Hostel of Hartington Hall, then after passing
through a field gate and crossing a field to a squeeze style, we
passed a second stile to gain the walled track known as Highfield
Lane.
This was very wet with
deep slush and melt water as well as some snow. It was an easy
decision to make the walk very short as it wasn't very pleasant at
all.
So, after reaching
another minor road leading from Hartington to Biggin, we started down
the nearby Biggin Dale as far as a path which drops in from the right
near an old ruined building of some sort.
Following this path
brought us to another walled lane which was obviously well-used by
tractor and as well as the slush and water, we now had a lot of mud
to tramp through.
After passing an old
stone barn which is gradually falling apart, we reached easier going
on Reynards Lane which soon brought us back to Hartington.
I miss walking in the
snow as even though it may be hard going sometimes, at least you end
up with clean, if maybe damp, boots at the end!
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| A slushy Highfield Lane |
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| The sheep were probably glad to see the end of the snow |
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| A lovely stone barn falling into ruins |
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| You can see a large pool of water from melted snow and rain |
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| These two had more sense than us tramping in the slush, water and mud! |
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