Seven of us gathered at Hartington Hall Youth Hostel for our walk on Friday afternoon.

We walked down through the village and out along the path towards Pilsbury.

This walk gave us a good, gentle start to the weekend so we could stretch our legs after some fairly long journeys.

The sun was shining and the gardens and flowers in the hedgerows looked beautiful.

A few spots of rain did not dampen our spirits. The path took us along the side of the river with good views along the valley .

After crossing the river we climbed onto the ridge on the other side of the valley and walked back towards Hartington.

We stopped in the village for tea and scones before heading up to the Hostel to meet the rest of our group.

We had drinks and supper at the Hostel - a bit chaotic as it was a busy evening but it gave us a chance to get to know one another.

After supper some of us walked down to the pub whilst others headed for an early night.

After breakfast on Saturday we gathered for our walk in more sunshine.

Our path took us out of the village across the fields and down to the river at Beresford Dale.

We crossed the bridge by Pike Pool, so called after the spire of rock in the river and then headed uphill towards Alstonefield.

It was a lovely morning and we had plenty of stops to enjoy the views, rest and chat.

On reaching Alstonefield we headed for the pub for cold drinks and coffees.

Feeling refreshed we walked out of the village towards Wolfscote Dale along lovely old tracks enclosed by stone walls.

We stopped for lunch above the Dale before heading down Gipsy Bank back to the river.

Our path then took us back along the river towards Hartington - a beautiful stretch of good walking, lovely wild flowers, trees and limestone rocks.

The resident heron was keeping the ducks company.

We then headed uphill again across the fields back to the Youth Hostel.

Hartington Hall must be one of the most comfortable, elegant and welcoming hostels.

8 of us headed down to the village for tea, cakes and ice cream whilst the others rested and read at the Hostel.

We then met for drinks and dinner following which we were delighted when Joanne agreed to run a jazz dance workshop!

We cleared a space in the, by now empty, restaurant, persuaded the chef to put on a suitable CD and away we went - it was great fun - chaos but fun (as promised no photos!).

Well done everyone for joining the workshop. Some of us then retired to bed whilst others played Scrabble before the evening ended.

After breakfast on Sunday and having said goodbye to Katie and Joanne we headed towards the Tissington Trail across fields and along the lanes.

Another lovely morning with blue sky and a breeze - perfect walking weather.

We stopped at Ruby Wood for break and a rest on the wooden mole before heading on towards Biggin.

We passed through the village and out across the fields to the top of Biggin Dale.

The path leads gently down to a small valley where we stopped for lunch.

Our path then took us out onto our final path along the tracks and across the fields back to the Hostel.

After a quick cup of tea and cold drinks we parted for our journey's home.

A happy weekend with lots of laughter!