A Splash of Colour

When we've visited Youlgreave in June/early July in previous years we've followed a route which took us up to Monyash then back through Lathkill Dale, as the grassy top end of the Dale is home to an array of limestone flowers. Further down there are still traces of the lead mining industry in the woods, then the river flows over a series of weirs before widening out with wetland plants along the sides.

It's quite a long walk, so today we concentrated on the lower end, walking up river past the weirs then turning off and climbing up to Over Haddon before heading back on a path we haven't used before. The Blip shows a wide, shallow section of the River Lathkill with masses of yellow monkey flower, water mint and willowherb. I was able to walk down to the edge of the water at that point! I've included a view from the high level path, looking back upstream, to show the weir section. The weirs were constructed in the 19th century to form a series of ponds for trout breeding and fishing and are a popular picnic spot today.