To Ilam Park for a bit of a Wander

Hi there everyone 😀

Back at the beginning of June we had a day out in the very lovely Peak District. We started out at the Tissington Well Dressing Festival and then decided to have a drive over to Ilam Park.

It was a short, but lovely, drive from Tissington. I just love the hills and dales of the South Peak. We headed through the tiny village of Thorpe, passing Thorpe Cloud and The Rest, the holiday cottage we stayed in back in 2015, and down the hill, which we walked up a fair few years ago ...

... passing the road to Dovedale and the Isaac Walton Hotel ...

We made way for the locals ...

... before parking up in the National Trust car park at Ilam Hall. The last time we visited here it was wet and grey ... not so today. It looked lovely in the afternoon sunshine ...

First stop ... you've guessed it ...
... for tea and cake with a view to die for ...
Refreshed, we decided to have a bit of a gentle wander ... along the terrace past the front of the Hall, which is now used as a Youth Hostel ...
... down the steps and into the parkland ...
... and past the Church ... there is a fairly easy walk from here to Dovedale if you feel so inclined, but that was not on the cards for us today ...
We headed towards the river and St Bertram's Bridge ...
... for fabulous views looking across the river and back to the hall ...
We wandered along the river, heading for the Boil Holes, where water rises from underground to join the River Manifold ...
It was all so lush and green. We didn't quite know what to expect at the Boil Holes, but this is what we found ...
We carried on along the side of the river until bearing off at Paradise Walk ...

... where we wandered in the shade of the lime tree avenue until we reached the Battle Stone ...

At this point we decided to head back up the path through the woods ...

... which brought us back to where we'd started from, in the garden of the tea room ...


There was just time for one last look at the view before it was time to head for home ...

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