John O'Groats to Land's End - Day 040 - Bakewell to Ashbourne

Day: 040

Date: Sunday, 10 July 2022

Start:  Bakewell

Finish:  Ashbourne

Daily Kilometres:  38

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  1160

Weather:  Mild to very warm and sunny all day.

Accommodation:  Hotel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast sandwiches

  Lunch:  Egg & ham sandwich/Ham, cheese & coleslaw sandwich

  Dinner:  Sweet & sour pork and rice

Aches:  Dave - a few niggles.  Julie - nil.

Highlight:  In mid-afternoon, when it was very warm, we came into the little hamlet of Milldale on the River Dove to find day-trippers sitting around eating ice-creams.  They pointed the way to a tiny shop and we bought an ice cream and ice cold Diet Coke and enjoyed them sitting by the river with our fellow tourists.

Lowlight:  The last hour dragged on at the end of a long warm day as we tried to follow little-used paths across freshly-mown fields wondering when we would ever get there.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We timed our departure from our AirBnB to pass through the centre of Bakewell soon after a small grocery opened (7:00am) and bought the supplies we needed for the day before climbing into the hills to the south of Bakewell on a day that was already warm.  By 8:00am, we were working up a good sweat as we crossed farmland and walked along country lanes.  In places, the paths were overgrown with nettles and brambles but, fortunately, those sections never lasted for too long, and there were also some pleasant wooded stretches, especially the shaded path that followed the crystal clear River Bradford after the village of Youlgreave..

We stopped for breakfast on a bench we found in the sun (mistake) around 10:00am and never really cooled down before setting off again on another gradual climb.  Mostly, it was still field paths and country lanes as we climbed up to the Tissington rail trail where we encountered a lot of competitors participating in a two-day ultra-running event based at Bakewell.

Our navigation app suggested that following the rail trail to Ashbourne, where we had a hotel room booked for tonight, would be the quickest and easiest route, but our guidebook said this would be a scenic mistake, so we followed the guidebook route.  It was a very wise choice as the trail followed a succession of long winding narrow limestone valleys, or dales, that were spectacular, if a little hard on the feet.  On either side were steep grassy slopes or limestone cliffs.  It was obviously a popular route and the further we went the busier the trail became.

After a while, the trail met the gently-flowing River Dove and followed it downstream through a lovely wooded dale.  We stopped for an unexpected, but very welcome, icecream and cold drink at Milldale (see above) then continued downstream on the scenic path.  The trail became even busier and, as we neared the Dovedale carpark, it became positively crowded, with many groups, of many different ethnicities, picnicking and having fun on the grassy banks of the river on a beautiful day.  In places, music was being played loudly and groups were dancing.

Our route turned away from the River Dove at the busiest point, the Stepping Stones, and suddenly we had the trail to ourselves again as we crossed fields to the hamlet of Thorpe.  From there, time seemed to drag as we followed endless hard-to-follow field paths towards Ashbourne, finishing up with a long climb, and finally reached our hotel at 6:00pm, very happy to finish.