It was a beautiful early autumn morning, and the cows had been moved from the upper parts of Cunningdale so I decided to take Lilly with me for a stroll to see what has been happening since I was there a few weeks ago.

The dale is rarely grazed and I cannot remember when there were sheep on the land. If only more of the white peak was like this. There is a lot of scrub which is so important as a source of food and cover for insects and mammals. The low limestone cliffs add to the variety of habitat. I watched a pair of kestrels hunting in the warm autumn sunshine, there has been a pair in the dale in the thirty years that I have been walking there.