Sunday January 17th
It was dry and all the snow had gone so after ages without a walk we had the opportunity to stretch our legs. We drove to Etwall, Derbyshire and parked near the church. We started off by getting lost, we followed a path which led through school grounds. We didn't think it was right but it was leading where we wanted to go and there were other people walking there. We got onto what appeared to be a path but we soon realised it was a path running above the path we wanted, and there was a fence separating us. We followed along the ridge and eventually found a way to get down onto the cycle path. We followed the lane and emerged into a different part of Etwall and then headed along a footpath across a very wet field leading to the busy A516. We took our lives in our hands as we crossed the road and headed into a field full of sheep. We were amused by the sheep as they all lined up to cross over a bridge, stand at the top to admire the view and then walk down again. We found a cache and then left the field and climbed up onto the disused railway. We diverted a little from the track to find some caches – one of which was hidden in the pocket of a scarecrows dungarees! We returned to follow the disused railway for a few miles, finding several caches as we went. There were several stretches of the path which were still very icy and slippery. The railway path eventually finished at Mickleover, where we walked around the roundabout and then followed very muddy fields to Burnaston. We eventually left the fields, with heavy boots clumped with mud, and walked along the lane back to Etwall. We had walked 12.7 km and found 14 caches.