Sunday 5 December 2004 - A Christmas Walk to Monsal Head

A scan of these postings reveals records of quite a few of our pre Christmas walks. I've tried to identify them here. However, these walks started in the early 1970s (the earliest 'programme currently on my file is from early 1976, but we started before then), and at that time comprised meetings at which a walks programme for the following year was planned. More recently they have just been a get together, with numbers inflated beyond imagination. These few pictures from 2004, and a diary entry by Sue, are from the era before pub lunch bookings were necessary, and even a bit of 'planning' may have been achieved on this walk.

Here's Sue's entry for the day, together with some low quality pictures taken with our original digital Olympus camera:

Jenny, Richard, Martin and I arrived at the tea shop in Tideswell just before 10:00 am to find Andrew sipping coffee and eating a tasty cheese toasted sandwich. We happily joined him for some nice coffee, then I investigated the shop's hand made cards,  having just made my own.

The car park further down the road already had Graham and Tove, Don and Liz, and Sue and Phil getting boots on, and after handing out caramel shortbread, we set off at 10:40. For early December it was a lovely day - blue sky, no wind and quite warm.

There was mud underfoot along the dale. Litton Mill was no longer the building site it was previously -  now converted into apartments it was quite smart.

Litton Mill

Miller's Dale

Cressbrook

A view from Monsal Head to Upperdale Farm

At 11:50 we crowded around the usual tables in the Stables pub at Monsal Head Hotel, sweating with the heat of the log fire. Graham and Mike turned up too, having set off five minutes later than us from Tideswell.

At 12:00 there was a rush to order beer and food, and everyone enjoyed a nice lunch whilst discussing various plans for 2005.

At 1:30 it was a rosy-cheeked bunch (was it the Theakston's Old Peculier?) that set off along Monsal Dale, stopping again to admire the weir. 

A team photo by the weir

Once in the woods, the trees provided the desired cover to get rid of excess liquid, and we lingered at the top of the hill (Bull Tor area) to enjoy the sun and wait for Graham. Just before the sun set, a tea stop meant more caramel shortbread, and a chance to try Martin's frisbee. It was so light that the light breeze moved it easily.

The light was fading as the cars came into view at 4 pm, and after removing muddy boots, everybody headed home.

Note the details of this year's 2023 Xmas Walk are:

A Christmas Walk on Sunday 17 December 2023 - starting at 10:00 am from The Leather's Smithy, Langley. (SJ 952 716) Lunch after the walk at 1:30pm. We will follow the route described here.