Friday May 16th
Grindleford to Higger Tor After a delayed start, courtesy of Royal Mail, we arrived at Grindleford Station cafe about 1pm. It seemed to be doing a roaring trade in large bacon butties. The first notable feature of the walk was Padley Chapel, the scene of Protestant skulduggery in the Reformation. The walk beyond the chapel goes into Bolehill Wood, at times a somewhat confusing place, but still dramatic in its own right. Evidence of quarrying in the past was much in evidence, largely to provide the stone for the construction of the dams in the Upper Derwent valley. We had lunch at the beautiful but imposing quarry of Lawrencefield, where Ben and David climbed many moons ago. Hard Rock at Lawrencefield All around are abandoned millstones- always a poignant sight. Industrial waste- abandoned millstones On to the Surprise View vantage point and the open moorland, which was welcome after the woods, passing the Mother Cap formation on Owler Tor. Mother Cap on Owler Tor We went up Higger...