Wednesday, 9th May 2018

Nineteen walkers arrived today and were welcomed by the landlord who suddenly realised that he had to cope with two groups for lunch!!  His team did very well, as we arrived as the regular Pensioner’s group were just finishing off.
We took the footpath practically opposite the pub which is a little bit of a pull up out of Burton, to reach the footpath going left (north) towards Slape Lane.  New growth was evident everywhere with lovely spring flowers and we were surprised to see a scattering of orchids. I think the Common Spotted variety. Last time I did this walk, in July 2003, it was very overgrown.  We skirted Pickles Wood and had a steady climb on a stony path, to a set of gates, where there was evidence of forestry work. We noticed the modern charcoal burning facility which I had never encountered before. The next part of the path towards Dalton was very muddy, but had dried out a bit since the reccy a couple of weeks earlier.  We had a welcome break in the wood above the Hamlet of Dalton before joining the road to Harry’s Wood. We utilised an open gateway to avoid a very problematical stone stile and walked on field paths to reach Dalton Old Hall and Farm. On this stretch and towards Coat Green we were surrounded by fields of sheep with their very young lambs, hundreds of them!  It was a lovely sight.  A few days earlier I had enjoyed watching a farmer rounding them up, using a quad bike, but also a sheep dog following whistle commands. The dry weather over the Bank Holiday had really dried out one particular path that was ankle deep with mud only the Friday before. Some of the grass had been cut for hay or silage too, which made our last few fields a bit easier to negotiate. 
We returned to the pub, tired, me anyway, but all exclaiming that it had been a wonderful varied walk and thoroughly enjoyed. The pub meals were served quickly and all together and mostly enjoyed.  Best chips around!!!