Dovestones Skyline..

Bank holiday weekend here in UK; with a terrible forecast for the Monday....par for the course.

Claire and I debated heading off in Suilvan to Wales; however the fact that everyone and his wife would probably be there as well put us off slightly!! So, today it was a lovely walk at Dovestones.

Looking up the Chew Valley across Dovestones

The car-park was already busy at 10.45 when we arrived. The aim of the day was a walk that we had attempted in the first couple of weeks of arriving; with Mum and Peter. At that time (mid Feb) the icy path was basically impassable as we tried to scramble up the stream - so we escaped by a very steep pull up the slopes to underneath Ravenstones.

First order of business was to walk along the 3 lakes that part of the Dovestones 'complex'; the main lake (Dovestones reservoir); Yeoman Hey and then Greenfield reservoirs. The day was half-way warm for the time of year - a pleasant change from the previous 10 days or so - as well as being nice and sunny. In fact, I actually had to apply sun-cream for the first time since Scotland.

After clearing Greenfield reservoir, the path follows the stream under Ravenstones until the stream divides. A much smaller path is then followed onto the plateau - it was this path which we had failed to ascend last time. A group of rotunder walkers were making a bit of an effort in crossing the stream to get onto the path - a feat which took both of us all of 10 seconds. Luckily they allowed us passed and we made good time up the path. In a couple of spots the path is quite badly eroded - not a problem if you can see it as we could; however it would be less fun in winter. There was also a 10' scramble that was a delight on warm grit - less so when damp/icy I would suspect.

The plaque near the summit

Once on the plateau we revelled in the views and solitude before wandering on. This walk is easily accessible from Chew Valley - however most people don't tend to venture beyond the Ashway Gap - so we were largely alone for this bit of the walk. We headed up to the plaque commemorating the killing of an MP (something you would arguably get a medal for now let alone a plaque). Once beyond the gap the number of people did pick up - and by the time we hit the main path around the lake we were feeling claustrophobic - and the car-park was basically full. There was still time for an egg/bacon sarnie and hot-dog before heading home....

Ravenstones