A Walk in Lathkill Dale

I needed to replace the broken “Pelican Case” holding the Log Book recording visits to Lathkill Cave Top Entrance. Since the box was dangling from the shaft lid at the surface and as the weather was sunny, Karen and I decided to combine this with a short walk in the area of Lathkill Dale as the job could be done without caving gear.
So first we drove to Buxton to get a Daren Drum to replace the broken box at Caving Cupplies. The sign on the door said “Closed” and there was an asterisk next to the Saturday opening times with a note saying they don't always open on Saturdays so it is best to phone first. Rats.
Plan “B” was to drive to Hitch'n'Hike in Bamford to get the Daren Drum.
Returning to Lathkill Dale near Monyash, we parked where the Dale starts by the road from Bakewell and set off on our way.
We arrived at the shaft entrance and I got the adjustable spanner out of my rucksack and loosened the nut holding down the lid and opened the lid. There was no sign of a box. Rats, again.
I climbed down to the bottom of the shaft (only about 3 and a half meters) to see if the box had been left in the small alcove above the hold leading into the cave where the log book used to be kept, but there was no sign of a box. Karen dropped down her Petzl headtorch to me. I shone the light through the hole and soon spotted the box on the other side of the small chamber.
Since I had no caving gear and didn't want to get dirty clambering into the chamber, plus I always find it very awkward getting out again – I decide to leave the box where it was as others would be able to see it and it was protected from the rain, which is why I was replacing the cracked box in the first place.
So, we continued on our walk following the nearby public footpath leading to One Ash Grange Farm and then down into Cales Dale.
As we passed Lower Cales Dale Cave, we saw there was no water flowing out of the entrance, as we expected as we haven't had any real rain for quite a while.
After reaching Lathkill Dale, we crossed the footbridge and then followed the path rising up the other side to reach the top of the Dale.
We then made our way along the top of the Dale which is always better than following the path in the bottom as firstly it is very quiet with hardly anyone else and also the views across and down into the Dale are much better.

Soon we were back at our starting point and from there we drove up the road to have a snack at the Old Smithy Cafe in Monyash.