While Keith pored over his minute book of the Wirksworth Classis, I pored over maps. So little time, so many walks. I chose a walk in the Dovedale valley which included a steep climb, magnificent views and included the names of interesting landmarks.

After a dirty weather day, we were hoping for something that included more sunshine than rain. At 6am it did not look promising, but by 8, there were patches of sunshine. “Quick” I urged Keith, we have to make the most of this patch. Somehow, we gathered our stuff, piled into the car and off we drove down those narrow capillaries towards Ilam and Dovedale.

It included walking through meadows with sheep and cows, over styles, and up and up and up. The instructions suggested we zig zag, and for a moment Keith and I were back in Kyrgyzstan – another walk, again up, up and up with a Russian guide who had very little English. He pointed up and said “zig zag panorama”.

Again, the climb was steep and long, but it was worth it – we could see for miles. The walk down took us into a heavily forested environment which was sheltered and quiet.

At the bottom we found the babbling Dove River. It was an easy walk back along the river with spectacular peaks on each side. After having not sighted a soul we now met numerous families out to enjoy this patch of sunshine which grew and grew and grew.

We finally reached some giant stepping stones across the river with a spectacular peak before our eyes. I was waiting for it: Keith says “I’d love to climb that”. By this time, I was a little weary and I just gave him that look which he knows only too well. So it was left unclimbed until another day.