Wetton
Wednesday 26 March 2025
7.8 miles Leader Frankie L.
Weather 14°C. Good
No. on walk 12
12 of us met at the car park in Wetton. The weather had been misty en route but we had good views at Wetton. As it was less muddy underfoot than anticipated, we set off on a modified walk to Larkstone Lane and the Manifold Valley. When we looked down on the river from our high vantage point we could see that it was completely dry. Morning break was taken looking at Throwley Hall from the other side of the valley. From here we walked over fields to Stanshope. Too late for the snowdrops but there were plenty of daffodils. We spent some time watching 2 very young calves and their mums in a field with a couple of sheep and their lambs frolicking about. We then began a long descent down Hall Dale to the river Dove. The sun was still trying to come out and at one point it looked like the moon in the clouds. Wild flowers were beginning to grow and we even saw the leaves of an early orchid. Once we were in Dovedale the flowers were more abundant including wood anemones, violets, opposite-leaved golden saxifrage and even a blue bell. We had lunch at Milldale, serenaded by a barking dog, before a long uphill section to Alstonefield. By this time the sun was shining and it was a lovely afternoon. We visited the churchyard to look at the gravestone of Anne Green who died in the early 1500s. This is supposedly the oldest, legible gravestone in England. From Alstonefield we walked gently downhill over fields and pastures, listening to curlews, before a short ascent back into Wetton. It has been a lovely day. Frankie.
