Longford to Hartington
After a lovely stay with Frances. We spent the time sharing walking stories and catching up. She saw me off in Longford and I set off towards Ashbourne. The weather was cloudy but dry, which made for nice walking weather.
I took footpaths to join the Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk towards Ashbourne. The Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk is a 17 mile route from Derby to Ashbourne, which followed the general route taken by Bonnie Prince Charlie from Ashbourne to Derby on his march in 1745.
In Shirley, I had a quick stop on the bench.
Before continuing along the Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk to Ashbourne.
The Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk took me along some woodland and through Osmaston Park. Along the way I met some locals, it was lovely to chat to them.
It was nice getting to Ashbourne. I went to sixth form in Ashbourne, so it’s a place that I know well. It really started to hit home that I was getting close to Buxton!
From Ashbourne, I decided to take the Tissington Trail. I had originally planned a route along the dales, however, with rain forecast in the afternoon I didn’t want to be walking on wet limestone. Limestone is porous and water can soak through it, but when it initially settles on top the tick becomes very slippery and it’s like walking in black ice. I’m forever falling over on it, so the trail seemed like a sensible option.
The 11.5 miles of trail towards Hartington took me along the old railway line. It was lovely to have views across the dales. It was so lovely to see the miles of dry stone walls. I knew I was almost home. I got a real sense that these were my hills and it felt great. There’s apparently 26,000 miles of dry stone wall in the Peak District. They are a real feature of the National Park. It also felt really fitting to be entering the park on its 75th Birthday.
My mummy and Riley the dog had parked up at Hartington and walked out to meet me. It was lovely to walk with them. The Peak District definitely welcomed me back home, as we had proper sideways rain as we walked along! This meant that we finished rather wet, but it was really lovely to have the company. After 7 weeks of walking at my own pace, I had to slow down a little for the dog, which took some getting used to. I hopefully didn’t put on too much of a route march!
I then went home for a night in my own bed and a rest day tomorrow.
After I completed my mountain leader award, Dan, my assessor, put me in contact with the Mountain Training Association. They publish profiles of different people who have been through Mountain Training qualifications. I wrote out an interview for them, which got published today. It was really exciting to see it shared with the world.
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