There is a thinking, based on experience, in our hikers’ group that if Brenda is on a hike, the weather will be good. How this happens is a mystery to us all, we just know that it happens and we are grateful. Brenda wasn’t on this hike but somehow, she managed to deliver good weather for us by remote control. If we are being picky, we could say that it was a bit too hot, but we aren’t really going to be that picky, are we? It was gorgeous. Let’s just leave it at that and be grateful.
The hike was planned by Andy and Yvonne. It started at the Jug and Glass (a pub restaurant – naturally) in Lea, Derbyshire. From there we walked uphill a bit then across the road and onto footpaths where we had a nice view of Crich Stand on our left. On past Upper Holloway Farm (how obvious) and onto Long Lane into Holloway. From there it was a long downhill to Lea Bridge.
On the way, we passed the Florence Nightingale Memorial Hall where some of our, “blue plaque enthusiasts” paused to take in a little of the history of this founder of the nursing profession. Then on down the hill to a drinks and snacks stop at the end of the easy part, in readiness for the hard part perhaps.
Moving on, that’s when the scenery became lovely and the going got tough.
Uphill all the way on footpaths to Riber.
Look, when I say, “uphill”, I don’t mean a gentle slope, I mean uphill. Not Everest territory, I’ll grant you but certainly testing for all our lower limbs.
To begin with we were walking through woodland with occasional glimpses of the countryside beyond. Almost at the top and we stopped for lunch.
An open glade with room to sit and views over the valley towards and beyond Cromford.
Very nice.
Fed and watered we moved onwards and upwards to Riber. Out of woodland and into views over the countryside towards the castle. Some of us recalled our visits many years ago to the zoo, sadly long gone, which used to be there. By this point, we had completed our long uphill climb and the going became easier. Through Riber, sun shining, lovely open countryside and footpaths, with a bit of country lanes, gently downhill to Dethick. Andy recalled once speaking to Simon Groom, of Blue Peter Fame (features on, “my dad’s farm”, every now and then) when, whilst camping at Groom Farm, Simon had said to Andy, “I don’t care if our dog did eat your sausages during the night, you should have kept them in a tin”. Hey ho, it was a long time ago.
There is a nice church at Dethick, small and not ostentatious. Just a nice-looking small country village church.
Sun still shining and nearly there. Across a few more fields then down a little dip and up the other side back into Lea. The Jug and Glass, our starting point, in sight so we were soon there. Four of us had planned to have an end of hike meal there with the intention of arriving by 14:30 because their kitchen closes at 15:00. We didn’t make it as we arrived at about 14:45. We had phoned ahead to let them know and they obligingly said that it would be OK and their kitchen would stay open for us.
Placing our order before even changing out of our boots we made it. When the food arrived, the rest of our group, who came in for drinks, agreed that it looked excellent (it was) and that they would like to eat there in the future.
All in all, the opinion was that it was an excellent hike and that the long uphill to Riber was more than adequately compensated for by the first-rate scenery. When Andy questioned whether or not we might do it again sometimes, the answer was, “yes”. That will do for me. Perhaps we had better make sure that Brenda can join us next time – just to be sure of some good weather.