“Wetton” A Walk in the Peak District

12th May 2018

The walk

It's just over 3 miles and took about 2 hours. 

This walk is from a little book called "Pub Walks - Walks to the best pubs in the Peak District" and this walk is to Ye Olde Royal Oak at Wetton.  This pub is fab and Ian and Lou who run it are so lovely, the food is great, as is the beer.  It is well worth a visit and there is also a campsite at the back that we went on to stay at - we absolutely love it here.  UPDATE: since this blog was written, there are new owners, and there is no longer a campsite.

The walk takes you past Beeston Tor and later climbs through woodland to the very impressive Thor's Cave, before going back across the fields to the village and pub.

Oooh found an ice cream van  with whippy ice cream and we had to have one, of course

Sooooo yummy.

Anyway, back to the walk lol - Tilly and Winston - our gorgeous little Schnoodles were absolutely loving it

The climb up to Thor's Cave began but wasn't too bad really.

Thor's Cave and what a glorious view over the Manifold Valley. Chan and the puppies climbed up into the cave but I'm afraid I wimped out as the rock looked too smooth and slippy for me

Thor's Cave (also known as Thor's House Cavern and Thyrsis's Cave) is a natural cavern. A Victorian schoolmaster who’s tombstone is carved with fossils in the Wetton’s churchyard was an avid collector of fossils, amongst other things, flint arrowheads, bronze jewellery and fragments of Romano-British pottery. The caves are estimated to have contained the burial sites of at least seven people. The finds suggest the cavern was occupied from the end of the Palaeolithic period, with more intensive use during the Iron Age and Roman periods. The bones of wild animals such as woolly rhinoceros, bears and elk which have long since been extinct in Britain have also been found here.

We were then on the home straight and heading back towards Wetton and the pub. We were all feeling ready for a beer and had a lovely lunch. After talking about all camping there together, we ended up going from the pub to buy a new bigger tent that we could all fit in. This walk was fabulous and we loved it.