This months walk took place on Wednesday 1 November. The last time we did this walk was in June 2008 when there were seventeen of us who travelled to Ryecroft Gate Car Park.
Nine years later our numbers have dwindled to Nine of which only three of the seventeen took part. One thing that has not changed is the weather, blue sky and sunshine.
We parked on the Hotel Car Park and set off in an anticlockwise direction to follow the narrow gauge railway line, with the lake on our left, towards Ryegate, remnants of the halloween activities were being collected by the railway staff who gave us a cheery wave as they sped past towards the station.
Once at Rycroft we turned left to head across the fields towards Cliffe Park House, some of you will remember this rather mysterious building with its elaborate stonework, well the only changes are the removal of Rhododendrons from the side entrance and the addition of CCTV. Obviously changes are afoot, lets hope they don’t succeed in diverting the footpath, which it is rumoured they have applied for.
Continuing along the track we were soon passing the many expensive lake side dwellings some of which are now available as holiday lets; a far cry from the chalets of years ago.
Soon we had reached our destination, which our more tech savvy, assure me made the walk just under 5 miles.
Rudyard Hotel has also changed hands and is very popular, judging from the queues around the bar, fortunately our table and been pre booked and 10 of us were soon enjoying an excellent Carvery.
The next walk will be announced later, but because of Christmas and new year it is unlikely to be before February.
Historical Note
Rudyard Lake was constructed in 1799 by damming a brook which marked the boundary with Horton. In 1934 Rudyard was amalgamated with Horton to form Horton Civil Parish.
And yes for those who don’t know Rudyard Kipling’s name is derived from Rudyard.
Graham Tunnicliff