Thursday 17th January - Denby Dale

Jean led a large group of us today, 35, on a lovely walk up and around Denby Dale .  We were blessed with sunshine and good humour.  It was cold (it's January!) so at lunchtime most of us chose to shelter from the wind under the wall, where we were observed by some four-legged friends.

There was much discussion about whether said friends were Alpaca or Llamas - so I did some research and it's my opinion that we saw Alpaca.  I'm no expert but modernfarmer.com explains that Alpaca ears have short spear-shaped ears while Llamas have much longer, banana-shaped ears.  For those of you who want more info, check out my research here modernfarmer.com/2015/09/difference-between-llama-and-alpaca/
(which opens a new window.)  

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​Not satisfied with delivering a great walk and good weather,  at the end of our walk Jean also reserved places for us all at the Denby Dale Hospice Coffee Shop where we managed coffees, teas and cakes, all served with a smile by the volunteers there.  Thank you for coping with the sizeable muddy-boots brigade so cheerfully ladies! 

Late addition!

​Just to prove we do actually do some walking, this came from Chris S.  Thank you! 

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And finally - here's the route.  My gizmo seems to be going a bit bonkers because it reported 3.55 miles on the day.  The walk was flagged as 5 miles and I'm sure it was much closer to 5 than 4.  

(I need the extra mile to justify the cake!)​