Nine Mile Bakewell Via Chatsworth House Estate

 If you told me a year ago that I'd be catching 2 buses for the best part of 3 hours each way to go walking on the edge of the peak district on a cold, damp December morning I would have thought you were insane.

These were no ordinary times living one government decision away from complete lockdown. So I was taking every opportunity to get away from home that I could. Only about a dozen turned up but it was always good to meet and talk to new people as per usual.

It's never a good sign when the usually excellent walk organizer doesn't turn up and we are making the route up as we go along going in the opposite direction to what was planned.

The first hour went well heading north up an old railway line from from Bakewell, then we turned onto a busy main road heading in the general direction of Chatsworth. After the village of Pilsley and a few fields we discovered that the main road to Chatsworth was unwalkable and had to turn back. By this point 4 of the group dropped out without even telling the rest of us which is never a good sign.

I picked the route back which turned out to be the best part of the walk over a hill before back to Bakewell. Overall it was a bit of a disappointment especially when I take the traveling time into account.