LEJOG day 26: Abbots Bromley to Ellastone

Well, today's walk was a special kind of snail-paced torture, but despite that I'm in a significantly better mood than yesterday.

I did a lot of walking along the edges of alarmingly large B-roads, did a lot of walking in my waterproofs, did a lot of hunting for the right path, got properly rained upon twice - including one panicked waterproof-dance - and paid a lot of money for not enough lunch. But for no very clear reason at all I'm not unhappy about any of it. I am quite hungry though.

Today I followed the Staffordshire Way into (and back out of) Derbyshire, via Uttoxeter, and then found myself (eventually) on the criminally un-signposted Limestone Way, via a short dalliance with the Churnet Way, the source of a reasonable proportion of the B-road-verge-hopping and a useful tutorial in how not to design a walking route, as half the footpaths were non-existent. Mind you, today was a bad day for that in general, with electrified fences across the Staffs Way and missing stiles on the Limestone Way.

I also got a tour of "pretty bridges across the river Dove in places you can't photograph them" and include examples below.

Distance walked: 16.87 miles (it was meant to be 15!)
Time taken: 6h05
Percentage completed: 36.8%
Miles per £1 of boot: 3.74
Lunch: was meant to be ham sandwiches from the B&B; was actually a bowl of soup, ham and cheese toastie and pot of tea for which I was charged over £12 
Last night's B&B: Marsh Farm, Abbots Bromley: further from the town than I had realised but lovely and comfortable

 Windows and a slogan- the house had a date which I can't read or remember
 Ah, my favourite: a path through rape, taller than I am, to really see if that's what causes my hayfever
 Calves- in the next field over, which is where I like them
 I had such a bad feeling about this I had to share it
 A bridge you can't photograph

 Oooh, house! This didn't make up for the B-road-verge-hopping though
 Another bridge you can't photograph!
Ominous

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