No-one in or out of our Derbyshire cottages today. Its been a number of years since we have done a walk in the Goyt Valley just beyond Buxton, but with another fine day forecast we decided to go there as we were hoping the rhododendrons would be out. It was the first place we had ever taking the dogs to for a walk too. Drove there via Buxton picking up a newspaper on the way. We had planned a walk from the Errwood car park but when we got to the Errwood reservoir we found the road was closed so had to add a short walk to pick up the start of the planned walk. We discovered that they did in fact close this road on a Sunday to prevent congestion in the valley. A six mile walk with a steady ascent and gradual descent and only one stile! From the Errwood car park we first walked up to the ruins of Errwood House. We could see the rhodi’s were in full bloom. From here we started the long ascent to Pym Chair from where you had wonderful views across the Cheshire plain. We could make out Manchester Airport and Jodrell Bank but unfortunately it was to hazy to see the Welsh Hills which you can do on a clear day apparently. A walk along to Cats Tor where we stopped for lunch with views back to Buxton and the white peaks in front of us and the Cheshire Plain and the Cheshire Matterhorn (Shuttlingsloe) behind us. Then onto Shining Tor, the highest point on the walk. From here we were close to the road from Buxton to Macclesfield and could see the Cat & Fiddle pub and the tea room we sometimes use. There were a number of hangliders here too. From here we started our slow descent back to the car park via Shooter’s Clough where we were able to admire the rhodi’s. It would be interesting to do this walk again when the heather is out. A lazy evening back at home making sure emails and phone calls were dealt with before sitting down.