Tideswell Dale, Millers Dale and Cresbrook Dale from Litton

After a period of no snow but a few cold periods, we awoke to find a couple of inches of sleet and snow. The forecast was for an improving day and the snow was already melting.
We left Winster, driving carefully as there was a fair bit of snow still on the roads although I had to stop near Monsal Head to let some pillock pas who insisted on driving right behind me despite the conditions.
We arrived in the village of Litton and parked on the main road near The Red Lion pub and after getting our walking boots on, Karen and I followed the road out of the village heading towards the road into Tideswell.
Here we followed a path separated from the road by a drystone wall along Tideswell Dale until we arrived at Millers Dale after walking past the lovely old mill buildings at Litton Mill, where we walked along the Permissive footpath following the bank of the River Wye.
Soon we were tramping on muddy sections and trying to avoid shallow pools formed by the slightly overflowing river after all the rain and snow.
This led to a widening of the river and the well-known limestone climbing venue of Water-cum-Jolly Dale.
Part of an old building further along the Dale, part of an old building housed a small café called D's Brew Stop where we sat in the shelter and warmth to have a snack and mug of tea. This is an unusual café in that they allow you to eat your own food! It's very small but has a seating area and as well as hot and cold drinks and flapjack, etc, it also sells maps, guidebooks and items of clothing.
After the snack we followed a road uphill until we saw a footpath leading off to the right which was sign-posted to Ravensdale. We followed this to arrive at Cressbrook Dale. We followed the dale with some muddy sections and also parts where tree branches meant having to duck low in order to prevent being caught by the branches getting tangled with our rucksacks.
As we approached the main road (A 623) at Wardlow Mires, we crossed over to the opposite side of the dale and then along a footpath on the upper side which crossed some fields until we arrived at the lane we had driven along earlier on our way to Litton.
All that remained was to walk the last few hundred metres to arrive back where we had started.