A family walk in the fantastic countryside around Sheffield seemed a good idea as we move in to spring.  It would blow away the winter cobwebs and lets face it I need the exercise.  So on the last two weekends we have walked around two reservoirs to the north west of Sheffield, Dale Dike and Dam Flask.  We found the Dale Dike walk on the Yorkshire Water website, which gives some useful information on how difficult each walk is, though I am not too sure how these ratings relate to a 4 year old.

Our first walk was round Dale Dike, apparently this was two and half miles long, though it felt much further as the terrain was a little difficult.  The biggest problem being that large stretches were muddy, very muddy in fact and with big puddles.  Our youngest loved it, jumping in the puddles.  He didn't even mind it once he had fallen over and got covered in mud.  Fortunately we had all put wellies on, which seemed a must given the conditions.   

On the walk round Dale Dike there is one place where there are a number of steps.  These can be tricky for the young, the old or the not so fit, especially as some of the steps are quite large.  You have a choice of going up or down the steps.  At the start of the walk the path splits in to two.  Take the left fork or the low road if you wish to go up the steps and take the right fork or the high road if you would rather go down the steps.  We didn't know this and took the low road and ended up carrying our youngest up the steps.   

You will need to keep young children close to you during the walk, as there are a couple of places where there are sheer drops at the edge of the path down to the water.  There are other places where the reservoir water comes right up to the muddy path and there are branches that overhang the paths.  Whilst I wouldn't want to overdo the need for caution, there are certainly places of risk for young ones during this walk. 

The second walk round Dam Flask was probably longer, but it felt much easier going.  The route has many footpaths and is did not suffer from the mud and puddles problem.  You could quite happily go around in trainers.   There are some fantastic views as you walk round Dam Flask.  By the way does anyone know what those small round buildings on the bridge at the end of Dam Flask are for?    

There is also a choice to make on the walk round Dam Flask.  As you approach the lovely village of Bradfield you can either cross over the wooden bridge to start back round the other side of Dam Flask or you can continue on in to Bradfield in search of refreshment.  On a sunnyish Saturday afternoon we found an ice cream van just next to the cricket pitch and so our boys got a welcome treat.  Alternatively the village shop stocks the posh ice cream!