Thursday was another fine dry day at our Bolehill Cottages near Bakewell ( see link). My favourite hills around here are Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill near Longnor. They are reminders that parts of this area was once a coral reef.  It was only recently that a concessionary path on Chrome Hill (also called the Dragons Back) was allowed.  Initially I had been looking at a walk at the Roaches to catch the last of the heather but when I was looking at walks we haven’t done Chrome Hill came up. We know you need to do it on a still day as at some points you are on a ridge so you don’t want to get blown off!  We set off from here reasonably early and parked in the village of Hollinsclough.  As we set off we got a good view from the side of our challenge. Having said that the first couple of miles were challenging in their own way as the footpath was a bit indistinct and we missed the turning we needed requiring us to do a little down hill shuffling, Chris on foot and me on my bottom! We walked beside the upper River Dove for a while and at the packhorse bridge picked up a path then a track past a number of outlying farms. We found the concessionary path with no problem.  All the walk guides prepare you for a climb, scrambling over rocks at times, and at times a very narrow path. This was all true but it was not as hard as we thought but you are rewarded with some lovely views over the Staffordshire Moorlands on the west side and rolling Derbyshire on the east side. Luckily despite the breeze we found a sheltered spot on the top to have lunch. The walk guides also describe the descent on the steep grassy path but again it was not as bad as we expected, no worse than Kirkdale and we were soon back down and on the lane that went back to Hollinsclough. Luckily there was an adjacent footpath through the fields which had sheep in.  The dogs were walking ahead of us and some inquisitive lambs decided to follow them.   When Smudge realised he looked at them and they turned and started walking towards Blue but when Blue saw them he turned round and ran back passed us.  The lambs scattered but Blue would not come back to us so Chris had to put him on his lead until we cleared the field.  Just as we were getting back to the car there was a light shower but nothing to wet the ground. From here we drove over to the Roaches as they were not far away to see the condition of the heather which was passed its best. As we were there we stopped off at the Roaches Tea Room for tea and cake before heading home. So ready for the next challenge!  Here are the photos.