A Farm Journal ~ from the 16 to the 31st May 1868

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.]

 

A Farm Journal continues :~

 

7 - 16 Ditto sow[e]d some corn turnips S.H. Beautiful fine warm weather but want a little rain now

 

1 - 17 Fine

 

2 - 18 Fine & hot Seed[in]g Intake end

 

3 - 19 Ditto

 

4 - 20 Ditto sow[e]d Guano at Cales little rain in night

 

5 - 21 Ditto

 

6 - 22 showery even[in]g Bell[e]d [or Belt[e]d ?] ewes etc plenty of grass Very forward spring

 

7 - 23 Very wet morn[in]g showery aft[ernoo]n Thunder - sow[e]d Guano on Seed Piece S.H.

 

1 - 24 Very fine

 

2 - 25 Ditto bell[e]d sheep etc fallow[in]g

 

3 - 26 Ditto Ditto

 

4 - 27 fallow[in]g - fine & hot south wind

 

5 - 28 Very hot wind S.W. sow[e]d 2 ac[res] corn turnips Watricle Butells Manure Uncle & Aunt Wilson came Most beautiful hot weather a few showers would do good tho' the forward corn & grass having a good cover are doing well late & bare ground does not thrive much - cows milk well - 25 at Cales 2 good cheeses 23 at SH 2 cheeses swedes & corn turnips all nicely up in [word indecipherable] sow[e]d some more corn turnips in Watricle - 

 

to end fine & hot things doing well

 

5 mo[nth] 30 wash[e]d all the sheep at 3 lots 

 

 

John Bayliff Bowman's brother Ebenezer [my great grandfather] actually imported guano ~ I've seen his business card. How many other people can say their ancestor imported bat muck ... 

 

 

Looking for Whitesprings ...

To the north-east of the Darley Dale are a number of Forestry Commission woods that are open to the public. I parked on Flash Lane and walked into one of them, Seventy Acre Wood ... 

 

... and followed a track ...

 

... until I reached Back Lane ...

 

Back Lane is an unclassified road linking Flash Lane and Sydnope Hill. As it gets nearer Sydnope Hill it gets much rougher than it is shown above and local motor cyclists [who like a bit of rough] like it.

I entered Whitesprings Plantation on the other side of Back Lane ...



I followed a track into the woodland ...





Tracks and paths wander here and there in the plantation. One bought me to this line of beech trees which made me wonder if this is an old nursery ...





I followed another path in a vaguely westerly direction which led to a gateway suggesting that there may once have been fields here ...



The path led to the 'upper reaches' of Halldale Brook where it is crossed by a fairly substantial bridge ...





I realised at this stage that I had probably strayed outside the 'open access' land but when I found a squeezer stile I did wonder who it was for ...



Finally I found what I had been looking for, the remains of Whitesprings ...



This old farm was covered in so much ivy I could have walked past it ...





I looked around the ruins trying to work out what was what ... or what had been what ...



I came away thinking about the lives that had been lived there.

Some years ago I met a man called Hopkinson who had lived here as a boy. He died 15 or 20 years ago in his 70s so I suppose he was talking about the early part of the 20th century when the Hopkinsons were here.

  A pretty good path leads away from the old farm ...





I wandered through the plantation and found a pond ...



  ... full of frogspawn ...



 Eventually though all roads head home and I came back to Back Lane ...



 The afternoon walk ended with me photographing this warning notice ...



Some visitors to this area are not so keen on the beauty of the landscape as much as misbehaving with each other ...

This walk was followed on the 19th March 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 3.09 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 69.66 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 19th March 2011 ~ 597.71 miles
 
17 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

Bradford Dale and Lathkill Dale ...

I walked along beside the river from Alport passing Rheinstor Rock ...

The sun shone on a cool spring day ...



I reached the delightful packhorse bridge as I drew near to Youlgreave ...

Someone who had passed this way before had lost or mislaid a camera ...



After crossing the road in Bradford [part of Youlgreave] I continue upstream with the river now beside me on the left ...




  ... and crossed the old clapper bridge ...



The cottages and gardens of Bankside rise in an unplanned fashion above the river ...



I turned around further along the dale to take in the path behind me, there was no one around ...



The river can be very still ...



As I walked up the dale I wondered how many other dales have a manhole cover in the path ?



  Looking at these photographs I can almost feel the chill in the air ...

I swung right over the bridge towards the top of the dale ...

 

The path on the western side of the dale rises up to the car park in Yougreave ...



Once I had got to the top of the main road running down through Youlgreave I followed it to reach the old Co-operative store ... now a Youth Hostel ...

 

The Church of All Saints stands at a staggered crossroads in the village, rising high above the road ...



  Depending on where you look parts of this church date back to the 12th century ... or is it the 13th or 14th ?

Walking down Coalpit Lane towards the River Lathkill, a couple of nosey so and sos interrupted my reverie ...



Coalpit Bridge takes a bridleway across the river before climbing steeply up the side of the dale into the fields above ...



 A heavily used footpath took me back to Alport. There was a time, not so long ago, when this path was unfenced ...




This walk was followed on the 18th March 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 3.85 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 66.57 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 18th March 2011 ~ 594.62 miles
 
16 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 15th May 1868

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.]

 

A Farm Journal continues :~

 

6 1st 5 Mo[nth] Ditto work

 

7 - 2 Beautiful fine mild hot day W. South finish[e]d set[tin]g potatoes doing swede gr[oun]d & fallow[in]g N[ethe]r Intake took sturks out into Intake - bullocks & calving beasts on seeds in Waterhole & ewes & couples lost 2 ewes makes 4 since we began lambing - grass grows nicely & corn looks well 5 beasts at Cales & 6 here go out onto seeds in day turned the young Calves out at Cales

 

1 - 3 Fine

 

3 - 4 Fine but cold E.W. fallow[in]g - to Fritchley even[in]g - stayed all night - sow[e]d swedes in Watricle

 

4 - 5 Fine morn[in]g W.E cold at Fritchley started 8 oclock for Ripley - to S.Bramleys - found Peter there too also Eliz[abe]th Hopkins after get[tin]g cup tea & religious opport[unit]y all set off to Heanor M[onthly] M[eeting] several fr[iend]s of Q[uarterly] M[eeting] Committee there very nice satisfactory M[onthly] M[eeting] self on to the Hague even[in]g

 

5 - 7 Fine ditto look[e]d round with Cha[rle]s crops look well then to Eckington bo[ugh]t 2 cows of Barber £33 home aft[ernoo]n 

 

6 - 8 Fine day W. South - very warm thunder in even[in]g & little rain follow[e]d

 

7 - 9 Ditto most beautiful grow[in]g day Matlock Fair EB & self there bo[ugh]t 4 cows each & home sow[e]d swedes S.H.

 

1 - 10 Very fine

 

2 - 11 Ditto

 

3 - 12 Fine day sowing bones on Intake end W[illia]m Hadfield been at Littlewoods on East Moor a whole day waiting for some beasts that should have come from Barbers of Eckington but did not

 

4 - 13 Ditto weather

 

5 - 14 Ditto Rent at Haven

 

6 - 15 Self to Tideswell fair bo[ugh]t 4 cows  

Temperature inversion ...

Temperature inversion ..., a photo by Charles Wildgoose on Flickr.

The Derwent valley on Sunday, 17th February 2013 ... it was cold but the view from Baslow Edge down into the valley was quite something ...

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 30th April 1868

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.]

A Farm Journal continues :~

4 - 1st 4 Mo[nth] harrow[in]g - fine day

5 - 2 Ditto Drill[e]d Kiln close S.H. & Ridge Piece bl[ac]k tartars 

6 - 3 Drill[e]d Winkerley & part Pewet Knobs

7 - 4 Ditto weather har[rowe]d & drill[e]d 3 ac[res] in Watricle

4 - 5 Fine

2 - 6 Ditto little rain in night harrow[in]g took Kitty in basket gig to B[akewe]] & back hogs home from B[akewe]ll

3 - 7 Fine weather W.E.frosty nights & sunny days to 

2 - 13 Fine ditto lambing gone on well many couples

3 - 14 Showery at times W. North

4 - 15 Ditto

5 - 16 Fine Thrash[e]d at Cales & lost 2 sheep with inflam[matio]n 35 E & L in Cales dales 26 D[itt]o Intake

7 - 18 Mare from Nott[ingha]m

2 - 20 Showery W.West to Nott[ingha]m Fine growing weather Q[uarterly] M[eeting] Nott[ingha]m very harmonious

4 - 22 Showery day self home plough[in]g Stone pit close S.H. for corn & seed down Roll[e]d Long close & Barn close etc 35 sheep in Croft to lamb yet

5 - 23 Showery winnow[e]d oats parted ewes 22 ewes to lamb yet left off sitting up

6 - 24 fine day fetch[e]d bones etc from P[arsley] Hay

7 - 25 Showery early then fine tho[ugh] thundery looking - Thrash[e]d last stack at Cales - took 5 q[uarte][s] w[eigh]t Poland oats to Longnor C.Cundy

1 - 26 Fine

2 - 27 Very stormy thunder rain sow[e]d 6 cwt p[e]r ac[re] Stone pit close for corn & seeds

3 - 28 Fine but showery at  times winnow[e]d oats at Cales & took to B[akewell] 339 st[ones] @ 1/1

4 - 29 Fine windy day West drill[e]d Stone pit close twice over 4 [word indecipherable] to ac[re] Poland - Rice meal from P[arsley] Hay 16/- p[e]r sack cotton cake 5£ & 6.5/- in L[iver]pool Dobell & Co

5 - 30 Fine weather but windy very N.W. & cold lead[in]g manure to Watricle for potatoes 

I'm not sure what "35 E & L in Cales dales 26 D[itt]o Intake" on the 16th April means. 'E & L' may well have been my great great grandfather Ebenezer ... and someone ... shooting in Cales Dale but what is the relevance of the '35' and the '26'. We may never know.
  

'C.Cundy' [referred to on the 25th April] could well be Charles Cundy who was a Butcher and farmer of 20 acres according to the 1871 Census Return. 

Sorry about the spacing ~ Blogger is playing up. 

3 'rashes' eh ?

3 'dashes' eh ?, a photo by Charles Wildgoose on Flickr.

It sounds almost like a curse issued by a witch ... "... and three rashes of bacon ..."

Ticking away ... Day 836 ~ plugging that damn wall ...

Earlier today I had my first check-up after being put on Abiraterone. Everything seems to be going well except my blood pressure is up and my potassium level is down. This means I'm being given 10mg of Amlodipine as from tomorrow rather than 5mg ... together with all the other tablets of course.

There's not a lot to add really except the doctor and the pharmacist wanted to know how the Abiraterone was affecting me. I said the worse side effect is having to take them at 6.30 whilst half asleep. If I don't drop the top of the Buxton Water bottle because I'm fumbling about I have been known to drop one of the tablets [which I pick up hastily and swallow without thinking too much]. I don't have to take the tablets at 6.30am but I'm supposed to take them an hour before food and I don't fancy sitting around for an hour doing nothing before I have my breakfast. 

After talking to the pharmacist about my medication we had to go to the pharmacy to get the extra Amlodipine and then as part of my self-medication involves a hot bacon cob we adjourned to the Cafe @ the Royal ...

It had started to snow as we sat drinking our coffees and eating our cobs but there was still time for the usual photograph to show you how this 62 year old is looking nowadays ... 

 

Thanks to Jamie, of course, for taking me there and having to put up with his old Dad ... it is much appreciated Jamie.

Finally, I'd like to say 'hello' to Hayley's Grandma ... I sometimes wonder whether I'm going on a bit too much about the state of my health but when I learn that Hayley reads these blogs to her Grandma because she likes to know what someone else is going through too ... well, it makes it all worthwhile. 

Give your Grandma a hug and a kiss from me Hayley.

The Cuckoo Way ~ the eighth day [part 2] ... Is it Les ?

... continuing the walk started here

As the shopping public busied themselves in Worksop I was walking under the road at Worksop Town Lock ... 

 

... and continuing along the towpath ...



... until I reached a locked gate where I had to make a detour ...



The scenery wasn't quite so scenic as it had been but there were some great reflections ...



 

Milepost 21 was reached ...

 

... and Bracebridge Lock ...

 



Just round the bend from here there's one of the most impressive pumping stations I've ever seen, Bracebridge ...

 

It was built in 1881 to deal with the sewage problem and was fueled by coal brought by barge using the canal. I've seen it written that the coal came from Shireoaks Colliery so it would have made the same journey I had just taken ...

 

The Victorians knew how to build didn't they ...

I was heading out of Worksop now but looking back the pumping station was still quite a landmark ...




I walked between some businesses on the right and rather non-descript fields to my left. The towpath was rather underwhelming ...



... though it did get a bit greener ...



Milepost 22 turned up ...



It looks like an older one than the others.

Manton Viaduct carries the railway across the canal ...





 This is where I turned round to head back to Shireoaks. I didn't backtrack along the canal straight away but picked my way alongside roads until I reached Manton Inn ... and wondered if this is all that remains of Manton Colliery which closed in 1994 ...

 

I pitched up at Worksop Priory gatehouse. According to the Worksop Heritage Trail the Gatehouse "to Worksop Priory was built about 1330 as guest accommodation for visitors to the Priory, where shelter and food was given free to any visitor for up to three days." 



My next photograph does not do justice to the priory itself but as it was closed when I passed by perhaps I was disgruntled. Anyway, here's the priory's rather ornate door and doorway ...



I rejoined the canal. 

When I'd walked the canal earlier someone had caught my eye ... and he was still there when I passed the same spot some hours later ... so I went up to him and said, slightly hesitantly, "Is it Les ... ?" Fortunately it was ... 

Les was a friend on Multiply and is now on Blogger as well as Facebook. We had a chat and I took his photo ...



It was good to meet someone so coincidentally though I did know where he lived, namely Worksop.

Finally, on the way back I spotted this gravestone in memory of Joseph Garside Pearson who died aged 31 in 1892. Judging by the carving at the top of the stone I thought he must be a cricketer so I googled his name earlier this evening. According to Wikipedia "Joseph Garside Pearson (26 March 1860 – 18 January 1892) was an English cricketer. Pearson's batting and bowling styles are unknown. He was born at Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Pearson made a single first-class appearance for Nottinghamshire against Surrey at The Oval in 1883. Surrey won the toss and elected to bat, making 236 all out in their first-innings. Pearson bowled 3.1 overs toward the end of the innings, taking the wickets of William Roller, Frederick Johnson and Ted Barratt, conceding just one run off his bowling. Nottinghamshire responded to Surrey's total by posting 405 all out in their first-innings, with Pearson being dismissed for a single run by Barratt. Surrey reached 112/3 in their second-innings, at which point the match was declared a draw. This was his only major appearance for Nottinghamshire.
He died at Boughton, Nottinghamshire, on 18 January 1892."

I have the feeling that there may be a story behind Joseph Pearson ~ he took 3 for 1 and only made one appearance.

 
  
This walk was followed on the 14th March 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 8.47 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 62.72 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 14th March 2011 ~ 590.77 miles
 
15 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap