Cunningdale is one of my favourite dales. Rarely grazed and as far as I know free from pesticides and other farming chemicals, it is a beautiful and fascinating place.

It has plenty of scrubby bushy cover for small birds and mammals and a range of trees, bushes and wildflowers. Orchids abound on the south facing limestone valley sides.

A good place for Nature

On a warm summers day, the air buzzes with the hum of insects, and the wildflowers attract plenty of butterflies.

Redstarts nest towards the end of the Dale, and often a buzzard will float over sometimes avoiding the attention of the many corvids sometimes not. A kestrel sits on the telephone wire watching intently to see what stirs in the undergrowth below.

Apart from a few fellow dog walkers and the occasional metal detectorist, the dale is quiet and peaceful.

In the early morning sunshine of autumn, there are few better ways to start the day.