I have made many visits to this area to climb but we were suprised when we rode into Ilam to find a fine house and a very fine cafe. None of us had ever been there before.
There is a fine National Trust Cafe
I have introduced a two stop strategy during the summer months, to use formula one parlance, this allows two cafe stops one for cake and coffee the other for something a little more substantial.
We started from Parsley Hey and spent a pleasant half an hour looking for roads that exist on the map but …. Hartington, Hulme End got us to the Manifold valley and we returned by Calton and Throwley Hall.
Tunnel in Manifold Valley
Wood Vetch at Swallows wood
What we did not get a photograph of was the Kingfisher that Lynne spotted in Swallows wood.