Lathkill Dale

The weather forecast for today was great, and it was even better for a bit further south, so I was up at 05:30am to make a packed lunch and I hit the road at 06:15am.  One hour later the car was parked in Monyash, Derbyshire.  At that time in the morning you can park anywhere ;-)
 
The walk from Monyash, down the Limestone Way to Bradford Dale, then down Bradford Dale to Alport and then back up the whole length of Lathkill Dale, via the wonderfully named Conksbury Bridge, is one of my favourite walks.
 
Lathkill Dale was once full of mines, with a quarry at the top, and lots of weirs to create fish ponds.  A landscape made by man, but one which nature has taken back.  The dale is teeming with birds and there are loads of wild flowers, including wild Jacob’s Ladder, which is now rated as very rare plant in British Isles.  What is really striking about both Bradford Dale and Lathkill Dale is the crystal clear water in the rivers.
 
The main blip is Lathkill Dale just a bit upstream from Conksbury Bridge.  The extra photos are trees on the Limestone Way near Middleton-by-Youlgreave and the top end of Lathkill Dale, where there is water in the river – it is usually dry at this point, except in the winter and after torrential rain.

Here's to many more days of weather like today :-)