Where the Trail Ends - Mountain Bike Full Trailer

I just love these mountain bike trailers ...

Chatsworth ~ Beyond Limits ~ 2012/5

We're a third of the way through with this next exhibit which is untitled.

It's another hare ...

 

 ... and it's positioned on a mound between the Rockery and the Ring Pond. 

It's another running hare too.

Once again I will let my photos do the talking ... 

 

Probably, like me, you're thinking it would be nice to see something different. Something more colourful. Something more thought provoking ...

Ticking away ... Day 690 ~ Charlie ! Where's your troosers ?

One unforeseen development in my journey through life is the fact that, at the present time, I have no trousers that fit me.

I tend to wear shorts as much as I can especially when walking and when it's hot ... and of course I still have four or five hot flushes everyday. So, I've not had any trousers on for a few months ... 

Yesterday I was getting ready to go and have a coffee with Ruth, Hayley and Amber but all the Chinos I put on were too tight on my right thigh. I could get them on but they were so tight it was uncomfortable.

I don't suppose the lymphoedema is going to improve all that much [it's largely a holding operation] so I reckon I'm going to have to go and buy some larger trousers ... or start wearing a kilt when I want to go out somewhere a bit special.

Unless you can suggest anything else ...

Chatsworth ~ Beyond Limits ~ 2012/4

I will let my photographs do the talking with Exhibit No. 4 ~ Large Troubador by Barry Flanagan. This is in the Sensory Garden at Chatsworth ...

Ok, I can't keep quiet any longer.

I like this. The idea of a pensive hare who plays the cello is amusing. It rings my bell ... my harebell perhaps.

It's funny. I almost felt as though I was intruding. It was as though I mustn't disturb the thinker.

To the oldest surviving railway workshops in the world !

After bringing in the New Year ... 2011 started with an easy walk along the Cromford Canal from Cromford Wharf to High Peak Junction and back.

It was still damp underfoot   

It was also fairly quiet ...

 

Perhaps everybody was keeping their heads down ...



The buildings shown below are at High Peak Junction where Cromford Canal meets [or should I say met] the Cromford & High Peak Railway.

An interesting fact is that these outbuildings are "the oldest surviving railway workshops in the world" ~ that's what it says on the County Council information panel nearby.

 

Walking back the way we had come it was so dull I had to use flash to get a reasonable image.



The short walk featured above was followed on the 1st January 2011

Length of walk ~ 2.2 miles *

Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 2.2 miles

Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 1st January 2011 ~ 531.25 miles

1 of 2011

* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

Chatsworth ~ Beyond Limits ~ 2012/3

'Leaping Hare on Curly Bell' is exhibit number 3 of the 'Beyond Limits' exhibition ... and again presented a photographic challenge that I probably failed.

Initially I tried to shoot the leaping hare against a dark background and this meant the hare didn't stand out [and, of course, I didn't have the 'curly bell' in the photograph].

 

I tried it from the other side and although it was better ... there was too much shadow because of the bright sunshine.



Tried another from roughly the same spot ... and it was overexposed.

 

Tried a third from the same spot and this was the best from here ...



I have to say though that I prefer movement from left to right rather than right to left. Is that just me ?

My final attempt saw me come at the hare from yet another angle. With Chatsworth House in the background this is the shot I most like [though, so far, I wasn't very happy about any of the three exhibits].



The sun was out ... but it wasn't really what I wanted. 

What would the fourth exhibit be like ?

Great British Walk - Ilam Park

One of my favourite places [we were there over the weekend] is Ilam Hall in the Peak District.

It's a National Trust property in marvellous countryside.

 

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 31st March 1867

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

In this photo John is fourth from the left. My great great grandparents, Ebenezer and Hannah Bowman, are the third and fourth adults from the right. John and Ebenezer were brothers and their parents are the elderly couple in the middle, Henry and Mary Bowman.

"A Farm Journal" continues :~

2nd Mo[nth] * 6 day 1st Cold. E. Wind

[No entries for the 2nd and 3rd March 1867]

2nd day 4th cold raw day B[akewe]ll market - Sold Hulley of Ashford fat barren heifer £17/10

3 - 5 Very cold took Mother A[rmitage] to Mid[dleto]n

4 - 6 Ditto & snow - M[onthly] M[eeting] at B[akewell]

 5 - 7 to 3 - 12 snow[e]d & drove most of time

5th day W[illia]m & I drove to Uttox[ete]r [see Note 1 below] - bo[ugh]t 27 Shrop[shire ?] ewes £3 10/- each - dried oats at Cales etc

4 - 13 Cold E Wind frosty Kill[e]d 3 pigs S.H. one for selves & 2 for T Bambridge @ 6/3 stone 15 st[one] each - Thrash[e]d etc Cales

5 - 14 Ditto weather pigs to Monyash to weigh bo[ugh]t cow calf off Jas [it could be 'Jos'] Critchlow 22/6 grind[in]g at Cales - We have very severe weather very deep drifts of snow - not much open ground hard frost & piercing East winds everything on full fodder & that's fast diminishing only 2 corn stacks left at Cales - Ditto weather to 5 day 21 self to Uttox[ete]r for Bull calf from Thos Carrington's of Eton

6 - 22 3 in[ches] of snow at Uttox[ete]r - started home - thro' it - there was a deal of snow all the way - thaw[e]d - evening

7 - 23 thaw[in]g all day tremendous wet aft[ernoo]n - wind S.E. nearly all snow gone by night

1 - 24 most beautiful spring like day W.S.W. warm

2 - 25 showery day Hogs home 76 all alive  - thrash[e]d at Cales part of last stack - broke cake 3 ton & gr[oun]d mung

3 - 26 Ditto weather fetch[e]d rem[ainde]r of bones

4 - 27 Fine day plough[in]g ley - lead manure at Cales

5 - 28 Ditto - Finish[e]d ley plough[in]g etc at Cales

6 - 29 Fine day W.N. to B[akewe]ll Sessions with Constable list [it looks like 'list' but what does it mean ?] plough[in]g fallow

7 - 30 Very rough snow storms Ewes to S.H.

1 - 31 Squally  



* This should, of course, have read "3rd Mo[nth]"

Note 1 ~ Uttoxeter is some 27 miles south of Monyash  

Sorry about the lines ~ I usually leave a gap between each day but Blogger wouldn't co-operate today. 

 

 

Chatsworth ~ Beyond Limits ~ 2012/2

With Exhibit No. 2 we leave the hare behind and concentrate on an elephant. Indeed this exhibit is called 'Elephant' !

 

In fact I saw Exhibit 2 on my way to look at Exhibit 1 ~ both of them being in or near to the rose garden.



'Elephant' was a little easier to photograph than 'Large Mirror Nijinski' and there weren't quite so many people around ...



... well some of the time there were perhaps a few too many legs in view ...



... then they were gone.



I thought this was quite a nice piece in a better position ...



 

Obviously much more lifelike than Exhibit No. 1 !

Chatsworth ~ Beyond Limits ~ 2012/1

Sotheby's Beyond Limits exhibition at Chatsworth this year is different from previous years in that it features the work of one man ... the late Barry Flanagan.

There are 15 exhibits on show and I was unsure whether I would be as enthralled as I usually am. I felt sure I would prefer more variety.

The first exhibit was Large Mirror Nijinski ...



... and I realised as soon as I saw the two sculptures that photographing them in the rose garden was not going to be easy ...

... there was always somebody coming into the photograph or other things intruding ...



So I tried photographing them individually ...



... but I had to get the angle just right ...



... which I often didn't.

Eventually I went away and came back later taking photographs from a different angle ...



... or two ...



I decided that it didn't matter if I didn't get the perfect photograph. Half the fun was in just looking at them from different angles ...

Can it really be a year ?

I retired a year ago today. 

This was because my PSA reading had gone up to 26 and Dr. K wanted to put me on chemotherapy. I certainly wasn't going to have chemotherapy and work ! So although I didn't know it, on the 13th September 2011 I walked out of the office at 5pm not realising that I would never go in there again as a working man ...

... and it's been the happiest year of my life. 

I know ... it sounds weird. It's hard to believe. Bear in mind though that I don't have to listen to anybody unburdening their woes on me. There's no need to have to listen to people whinging and moaning ... ok, my family and friends do that but I don't mind listening to them [most of the time].

I don't have to worry about 'targets'.

I now have the [relative] freedom to do what I want. OK, visits to the doctor get in the way now and again. The ten sessions of chemotherapy didn't help either as they left me feeling a bit rough some of the time but mainly I've not felt too bad ... and heck, I still go walking.

The story goes that some men suffer loss of self esteem when they retire. They need to be needed. Some men [and probably women too] don't think they'd be able to cope with sitting at home ... but who said anything about sitting at home. There are so many things to do and be done.

I've become one of those people who says "I've not got enough time to do everything I want to do ...".

OK my future isn't assured but whose is ?

So one year after leaving work I raise my glass to you * and [note I don't make any mention of next week, next month, next year] wish you well.

  Of course I still have to put up with problems like no landline or broadband for most of the day ... hence me posting this now at 5.40pm rather than 10.00am this morning. Some things never change.

* photo taken on the 15th September 2011 in the Old Poets Corner in Ashover, Derbyshire.

Chatsworth 'Beyond Limits' ...

I got back an hour or so ago from spending five hours wandering around the gardens at Chatsworth ... and looking at the Beyond Limits exhibition. 

I'm tired now and I haven't got enough time to upload more than one photograph. This isn't one of the Beyond Limits exhibits ... it's just a garden seat that caught my eye.

I'm sure I will upload some more photos from an interesting visit in the next few days ...

The Search For King Richard III - The Archaeological Dig

This has only been uploaded to YouTube today and it tells you more than the BBC news items do. It is absolutely fascinating ...

 

The English countryside ...

I make no excuses for embedding this short, three minute film from the National Trust ...

Mick Aston ...

 There's an interesting interview with Mick Aston [late of Time Team] in Current Archaeology ...

 

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/features/exclusive-interview-mick-aston-an-archaeological-journey.htm

Beyond Limits Highlights ...

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 28th February 1867

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

In this photo John is fourth from the left. My great great grandparents, Ebenezer and Hannah Bowman, are the third and fourth adults from the right. John and Ebenezer were brothers and their parents are the elderly couple in the middle, Henry and Mary Bowman.

"A Farm Journal" continues :~

6 day 1st Fine day Thrash[e]d Cales - & grinding

7 - 2 Fine - grinding at Cales fetch[e]d bl[ac]k tartar seed oats fr[om] Bakewell 27/6

1 - 3 Fine 

2 - 4 Wet day morn[in]g fine aft[ernoo]n B[akewe]ll market & on to Ashford [in the Water] to d[ine] & t[ea]

3 - 5 Showery

4 - 6 M[onthly] M[eeting] B[akewe]ll - very wet morning - on to Middleton aft[ernoo]n Snow & blow - home at night

5 - 7 Stormy

6 - 8 Very wet morn[in]g fine aft[ernoo]n Thrash[e]d at Cales

7 - 9 Fine & spring like

1 - 10 Showery Bowman & Fanny Blore to dine Bowman & I to Chelmorton to visit W.Dawson by appointment

2 - 11 Fine at Cales cleaned boiler etc

3 - 12 Ditto finish[e]d plough[in]g fallow in Pewet Knobs & began ley in Kiln Close S.H.

4 - 13 Fine & spring like Bentley here mending carts

5 - 14 Raw S.E. misty rep[airin]g carts etc stack in S.H.

6 - 15 Ditto - wet evening S.E. - stacks in at Cales could not thrash boiler not in order - to Sheldon in evening to see R. Brocklehurst * - ewe dead at Cales - M.A.Bagshaw died yesterday

7 - 16 Fine did the engine at Cales to 5th day 28 most fine last two days frosty - finish[e]d plough[in]g ley Kiln Close S.H. began Far Piece - Irish Bullock choked with a turnip at Cales - we tried to force it down & so injured the throat - it died  - in future put a stick in the mouth & turn out - dried & ground oats at Cales


 * 'R.Brocklehurst' could well be Richard Brocklehurst who would have been aged 37 or 38 in 1867. According to the 1861 Census Return he was an "Engine Driver also Lead Miner".

  

Beyond hills and by the Blue Waters ...

Back in December 2010 they hadn't tried to stop people feeding the wildfowl in Bakewell so there were plenty about ...

... including some real wild gooses ...



There's a footpath that runs beside the Wye, then across the park and eventually along the back of some houses ...



... between hedges and fences ...



... to bring you to the A6 on the southern side of Bakewell.

If you take Intake Lane on the opposite side of the main road you can soon leave the hustle and bustle of Bakewell behind you ...



Looking back we could see the mist lying in the valley.



We continued to quietly squelch our way along along the old track ...



At the end of the lane we walked south and then across the fields to the small pull-in above Conksbury Bridge. In the trees I found another one of these ... no, it's not a bird box ...




There's more about it here ~ http://www.alecfinlay.com/letterbox.html ~ and this was the circle poem on the rubber stamp inside the box ...




I wonder whether this project has fallen by the waywide [no pun intended] as the website seems incomplete. I would be happy to be told otherwise.

The options then were to either head up the dale or down the dale ... or you can go up the country lane ... 

We chose the north-western path into Lathkill Dale.



You can't blame us ...



Not quite sure what this couple were doing ...



It could have been a couple of Derby County footballers I used to watch. We reckoned that one or two of them could walk on water.

Now the incredible thing about Lathkill Dale, apart from the fact that my family originates from Over Haddon, the village above the dale, is the colour of the water ...


  
Well when I say the colour of the water I probably mean the clarity of the water. In the photo above and in the short video below I reckon it's probably five or six feet deep ...



Isn't it weird ?



I have learnt today that this section of the Lathkill is known as the Blue Waters and you can see why. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the UK.

Near Lathkill Lodge [the house in the bottom of the dale below Over Haddon] it looked as though the ground had been laid waste ...



This would have been where the river had been flowing until it went underground ~ it tends to come and go ...

We passed the Lodge ...



... noting the warning on the back gate ...



We climbed up the zigzag lane out of the dale into Over Haddon. To the north of the village we could see Bakewell church spire and the mist beyond ...



We even found some snow !



We reached Bakewell and wound our way towards the cemetery and started to lose height ...



Part way down this lane [Butts Road ?] a path cuts to the left and you're into a quiet little area in the middle of the town ...



... and a hundred yards later walking directly towards the church.



This walk had one more point of interest ~ an 18th century rainwater hopper complete with a date of 1743 and with a swift to boot. Delightful ...



The walk featured above was followed on the 31st December 2010

Length of walk ~ 5.7 miles *

Total mileage walked so far in 2010 ~ 395.3 miles

Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 30th December 2010 ~ 529.05 miles

83 of 2010

* distance calculated by OS Getamap.


So 2010 ended [before dark] with me having walked just under 400 miles at an average of just over 4.75 miles a walk. Hardly what I used to do ...

What will 2011 bring ?