So Cheryl and I thought we'd ease ourselves into our "ITV's Britain's Favourite Walks" challenge by repeating one of our local favourites, Dovedale to Milldale. The seven miler is a classic White Peak walk; limestone, gurgling water, and mud all feature heavily.

The official route takes you up the north west bank to cross at the stepping stones, but the river level was higher than we've seen it before, and we weren't convinced that the stones would be above the water, so we walked along the rockier south bank. It was pretty slippy with the water, but it was the right decision; we wouldn't have been able to finish the stepping stones as they finish in a pool of flood water around a foot deep and we weren't wearing wellies...

The rest of the walk was pretty typical. It's an easy walk with only a little ascent. There's a great hole in the wall at Milldale where we often enjoy a cheeky sausage roll or pastie, but this time we were good. We just sat for a bit watching the ducks and exploring the information hut.

So, one down, ninety nine to go. We'll be planning on next local walk soon. Probably Cannock, Bradgate Park, or perhaps another walk in the White Peak. In the mean time, I'll blog about some data munging and visualisation that will help us plan the further away walks which will have to form weekends away and holidays...