UK 2021 - Day 21 - Saturday 24/07/21

After getting over the shock of seeing people arrive for breakfast in shorts, we have a hearty feast in anticipation of our last day on hols.

Soon we’re heading cross-country towards Hassop, another place of culinary significance, although in this case no longer as the Chapman family have sold their magnificent country house hotel, Hassop Hall, and it is reverted to an extraordinary private residence again. Next is Great Longstone, where we pop into the church, impressed that they trust visitors to let themselves in, and turn the lights on and off as they please. Getting into the grounds was less easy, Hubby struggled to get through the style and I couldn’t get my legs through and had to inelegantly vault over.

Walking on again we walk over the disused railway that forms an eight mile stretch of the Monsal Trail, then pass Thornbridge Hall, which when I was at school was a popular outdoor centre many of my school friends went to, but back then it would have been too rough-boy for me!

Next is Ashford on the Water, another place for good eating, and we note that the menus at Rafters look very appealing, another time perhaps. We stop to watch ducks and ducklings by the bridge over the river Wye, and a wedding car arriving as we leave. We find an impressive weir a little further along.

Moving on again we’re soon in Bakewell, stop to buy lunch from a deli and admire the gardens. We pass the infamous Bakewell Pudding shop, then wander along the River Wye looking for a space amongst the hoards to eat. Ducks are plentiful including a couple of yellow ducklings we thought were only really found in bathrooms.

We notice the padlock bridge is now bulging, it’s a wonder it hasn’t fallen in! Much further along we sit by the river bank and consume lunch. We sit right adjacent to a wasps nest, it’s fascinating to watch them descend like precise helicopters into the hole in the ground right by the bank-side. They don’t bother us, with such good pickings all around.

Crossing the huge cattle market complex we join the Monsal Trail right where the railway part starts, and track it back until we reach what was Bakewell Station until 1968 when the second stage of the Beeching tragedy reached Derbyshire. The buildings are still present although here the gully for the tracks has been levelled to the platform unlike the other photo at Great Longstone station where the platform remains elevated.

Our final route home requires 430ft of ascent, with three possible routes, 1.5km, 0.85km or 0.4 km. We opt for the middle one which is still quite tough going at over 15% incline throughout. Towards the end of our walk we come across a young couple seemingly stranded. They admit they are terrified to walk the short section of A619, complete with thundering lorries and speeding cars, back to Baslow. They are relieved that we escort them back to safety. I bet their blog doesn’t say “an old pair of blokes had to protect a young and fit couple from the nasty fast cars”

Arriving back at Fischers we ceremoniously crush the two water bottles we’ve been using every day for three weeks, we can treat ourselves to new ones tomorrow. A few other endgame stats - 331 miles walked and 641,000 steps.