Out & About: Longshaw Estate & Padley Gorge.

4 of us today and it was a quick trip up to the ice cream van at Padley Gorge. We've been here several times in the past but just wanted a gentle walk in this heat. We set off across the road and into the Longshaw Estate walked around the lake and up to the visitor centre. This is when we took a different path to previous visits and we soon found a fairy tree and then the Longshaw Ice House. From there we wandered up to the Longshaw Pole then back on track heading downhill through the woods. We found a lovely glade with a fallen tree that was perfect for sitting on having breakfast. From there we progressed down towards the main road, the track dropped quite steeply and we found this spot overlooking Padley Gorge a fabulous view and there was even some old stone steps next to it, probably an old miners track or something. Once we got to the road we crossed over and found a style over the wall. The track went down to the river with some tough rocks to get over, I was a bit worried for Geoff but he managed to surprise us and got over it all. We found a log over the river that we had visited some years ago and our Rob had to go and have a sit on it. We got back up through the jutting rocks up to the main track where we eventually got to one of my favourite spots on the gorge, the millstone and tree. The light was very contrasty all through the woods and doesn't lend well for good photos. From the millstone its only about a 10 minute walk back to the car.