Six of us met outside church on the 6th November on a cloudy afternoon for our walk. We set off in two cars, parking on the edge of the recreation ground in Youlgreave to eat our packed lunch. Whilst eating our sandwiches it started to rain, but not much at first. Not deterred by the rain, we put our wet weather gear on and started the walk.
We walked along the main street of the village, noticing the quaint names of the cottages – The Old Dairy, The old Grocer’s Shop, The Milking Parlour and The Pretty Pint Cottage. The pub was named The Farmyard Inn. The water supply for the village was once taken straight from the river but in the early 1800’s a new supply from a local spring was stored in the round stone tank in Fountain Square. The community owned Youlgreave Waterworks Ltd is one of the few private water companies left in the country.
Continuing along the main street we stopped to admire the scalloped roof tiles of a cottage, then pictures were taken of a witch sat on a roadside bench, a leftover of Halloween!
Further on, just past the village car park we went through a gate and started our descent through dense woodland into the dale. At the bottom we walked upstream along the north bank of the River Bradford, passing a lone swan.
Soon we crossed an old stone bridge and walked downstream on the south bank of the river passing numerous weirs. The River Bradford is only 4 miles long, rising on Gratton Moor before joining the River Lathkill at Alport. As we continued our walk the rain got steadily heavier, we passed other walkers, all of us wondering about our sanity as we got steadily wetter. Up on our left, through the mist, the houses of Youlgreave could be seen overlooking the dale. After passing through a gate we crossed the river on a clapper bridge before resuming our walk along the river, now back on the north bank. We passed a swimming area, where the river has been dammed to create a deep pool before crossing a road.
We were now on a wide track following the river. On our left in a field, a herd of dark brown sheep stood forlornly as the rain steadily fell. After passing low cliffs we reached the main road at Alport.
As we walked up the main road the rain finally stopped, and we glimpsed a glimmer of brightness as the cloud cover parted slightly. We went through a gate and now walked high above the dale on the north side of the river, crossing fields until we emerged on a road in Youlgreave. Here we had another pause for pictures as we stopped by a tractor with a plastic pheasant as its bonnet ornament.
We walked up the road, then through the churchyard of the late 12th Century All Saints’ Church, before retracing our way back to our cars.
If anyone wishes to join us then meet us outside church at 12pm with a packed lunch on Sunday 4th December. You will be made very welcome.
Steve Franks