A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 12th November 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.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...
 

 A Farm Journal continues :~

 

1 - 1st Fine

 

2 - 2 Windy & showery but no frost

 

4 - 4 Ditto Self & Wm & Eliz[abe]th to Matlock M[onthly] M[eetin]g & home again pleasant visit dined [word could not be deciphered] Worralls [or is it Morralls ?]

 

5 - 5 Very thundery day hail storms frequently ground white over

 

6 - 6 Very sharp frost & snow fine bright day put tups to ewes & thieves 201 & 15 lambs to tup foddered heifers in intake etc barren cows from Cales & incalves to Cales began to give cake etc & sent 3 doz[en ?] of milk to Manchester with Eben's lot

 

7 - 7 More snow very frosty bright day cake from P[arsley] Hay

 

1 - 8 Ditto

 

2 - 9 Milder B[akewe]ll market things low - took 20 sturks & 11 bullocks to Wm's at Middleton [6 of Wms sturks also] to Mansfield

 

3 - 10 Fine day milder & snow gone beasts started at midnight - self off by 9 o'clock train to Ambergate & then on to Alfreton - found beasts had gone on so took a gig & caught them a little on this side Sutton all right - got a glass of beer & then walked on with them - parted in Sutton - one lot for Millns of Lindhurst & 20 sturks to Warsop Sam[ue]l Davy's - all right - stayed all night & on to Lindhurst in morn[in]g to look beasts & then home

 

5 - 12 Fine & mild - spread[in]g lime - plough[in]g etc began to cut weeds - I have 1st prize for Swedes  

 

 

Did the beasts walk all the way to Sutton [in Ashfield ?]. It rather sounds that way. Imagine a herd of cows being driven through the night. How many beasts were there ? Presumably 37 in view of the 9th November entry. How many men looked after them on the way ? 

 

The next entry covers the 13th to the 20th November 1868. 

A walk from Cunnery Wood ...

Between Tansley and Dethick a small wood lies along the southern side of Cunnery Lane. It doesn't seem to be named on the OS Map though it is referred to as Cunnery Corner Wood on the Ordnance Survey website.

I've always known it as Cunnery Wood.

From the wood there's a view across the fields towards Riber Castle ...

 

A bridleway [Wood Lane] runs from the western tip of the wood towards Mill Lane ...

 

It had been resurfaced when we were there ...



 The overhanging branches had been cut back ...



 

 We followed the lane [and others] into Lea and then took the footpath down into Swinepark Wood ...



 This brought us to the little church at Dethick ...



 The Church of St. John the Baptist dates back to the 13th century ...



 Walk up Dethick Lane until you reach Shaw Lane coming in from Lea to the left and in the grass you'll find a gibbet stone ...



  This was originally a crossroads and presumably the post that the gibbet hung from was placed in the stone and the remains of the poor unfortunate was left to rot in the gibbet itself ... to be pecked at by birds and eaten by insects ...

The gibbet stone is amongst the daffodils in the photo below ...

 

From the gibbet stone we took the old track known as Green Lane towards Cunnery Wood ...



 We walked through Cunnery Wood back to the car ...



This walk was followed on the 17th April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 3.13 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 113.31 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 17th April 2011 ~ 641.36 miles

  26 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just under 4.36 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

A Farm Journal ~ from the 17th to the 31st October 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.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...
 

There were no entries for the 14th, 15th and 16th October 1868.

 A Farm Journal continues :~

 

17th sold Jas Critchlow 4 Norfolk sows £4 15/- each

1 - 18 Very hard white frost

2 - 19 Ditto snow[e]d a little - sold Mountney L - 7 fat sheep 35/6 3/- again finish[in]g pudding pie in Mossfield plough[in]g fallows etc make 1 cheese a day at each place

3 - 20 Showery weather plough[in]g fill[e]d Kiln in Mossfield cut thistles in N[ethe]r Intake etc

5th - 22 Fine self to Wingfield to look hogs all well & on to Wessington Hay to look at an estate there 50 ac[res] on to Nott[ingha]m even[in]g to Lindhurst in morn[in]g to see about leying cattle & to Nott[ingha]m home on 

7th - 24 Very wet & desperate windy

2 - 26 Fine B[akewe]ll market very full of all sorts beef best sells well to 8/6 or 9/- Mutt[on] d6 - stone stirk only saleable at very low figures

3 - 27 blustery hail & rain at times

4 - 28  5 -29  6 - 30 Showery day Old Haven Fair cattle & sheep very low - ewes £1 each lambs sold pretty well 18/- to 22/-

6 - 30 Self took 4 tup lambs sold 23/- each 

7 - 31 Showery got Moss field Kiln out in Pewet Knobs  

Following the Cromford Canal ~ 8 ... Erewash Meadows and Stoneyford ... or the Remains of the Day.

My eighth walk using the Cromford Canal was perhaps slightly unusual as I didn't see any sign of the canal. Perhaps I need to be more observant ... it was still an interesting walk though.

Parking near to the then deserted Stoneyford Lodge [which according to its sign offered Fine Ales and Good Food] I walked along Boat Lane [a clue perhaps that there had been a canal hereabouts ... once upon a time]. It was the middle of April and the blackthorn was in flower ...

At the T-junction with Castle Lane I turned right and Castle Lane did indeed lead me to a castle, albeit the remains of one ... Codnor Castle to be precise ...



It was built in the 13th century by Henry de Grey ...



... and is rather dilapidated ...



Fortunately the Codnor Castle Heritage Trust is doing its best to try and preserve the site and find out more about it. There's a website here which is worth looking at and includes some photographs of the dovecote that the Heritage Trust reports "was demolished in 1968 by Mr Bernard Swain" as well as the Time Team dig which found a Henry V Gold Noble. This coin was found by a metal detectorist rather than the diggers ! Worth a look.

 My walk continued northward ...



 ... before swinging eastward to follow a path alongside Foxhole Plantation, south of Ironville ...







 I reached Erewash Meadows where I'd left the canal on my seventh walk along it ...



 It was now, as I headed south, that the canal [or signs of the canal] should have been visible. Perhaps I should have been satisfied with the straight path which had presumably originally been the towpath ...



 On it went, through the pleasant grassy fields ...



 ... until I was walking alongside Aldercar Flash Nature Reserve ...



 As I drew nearer civilisation ... things became more uncivilised as is often the case ...



 Poor tree.

I believe that the sort of person who creates this much damage [a person without respect] should be very severely dealt with. If they will do this to a tree what else will they do ?

I reached the River Erewash where once again there were signs of disrespect ...



Before long I was walking below the noisy and busy A610 above me to my left. I gave way to an oncoming tractor and got a wave in return ...



There wasn't much leeway.

On reaching the railway line I turned right and followed a fenced path for some distance ...







This brought me to a bird hide overlooking the marshy ground ...

 

I could hear plenty of birds ... but I couldn't see any ...



As I drove along Boat Lane to return home, something caught my eye on a tree ...



 On closer inspection I could see it was a  fire hydrant sign ...




Incidentally it seems the figure at the top of the sign is the size of the water main that feeds the hydrant in millimetres ~ in this case 75mm ~ and the lower figure relates to the distance from the sign to the hydrant. 9 metres in this case.

As far as I'm aware Stoneyford Lodge is still closed. The Remains of the Day ? Why Codnor Castle, of course.

This walk was followed on the 15th April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 4.36 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 110.18 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 15th April 2011 ~ 638.23 miles

  25 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was still averaging just under 4.41 miles a walk. This from the man who had once walked 56 miles in less than 24 hours ...]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 13th October 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 :~

5 - 1d[ay] 10 Mo[nth]  Fine but cold East winds Spread[in]g manure at Cales Self to Nott[ingha]m even[in]g

6 - 2 Very fine day Nott[ingha]m Fair* Very sharp frost here home in even[in]g

7 - 3 Misty morn[in]g wet aft[ernoo]n lead[in]g manure S.H. gave calves turpentine & salt their backs every week - give 36 sheep & 74 lambs on Rape some cake & corn now - sold Jas Critchlow 7 heifers at 7/6 p[e]r stone


1st - 4 Fine


2 - 5 Beautiful day lead[in]g manure S.H.


3 - 6 Very wet day Committee of Quarterly meet[in]g had a meeting at Monyash - viz - Thos Hartras Richd Thompson & wife G.Pickard John Armitage - very nice meeting


4 - 7 Fine day Shower in even[in]g Bakewell Farmers Club Show - very slender show


5 - 8 Fine day lead[in]g manure


6 - 9 Showery day harrow[in]g & spread[in]g manure


7 - 10 Fine & warm finish[e]d spread[in]g manure - calf with worm in throat at Cales - sold Thompson cow bo[ugh]t at Matlock £14 10/- only milked a little while £12 ! bad


1 - 11 Beautiful day - my dear S.A. was delivered of another fine boy all well **


2 - 12 Fine day Bakewell Fair busy but things low bo[ugh]t 6 sandy [sundry ?] pigs of Randall 45/-


3 - 13 Misty morn[in]g getting potatoes fair crop sold some at 12/- p[e]r load finish[e]d



* Rather than write 'Nottingham Goose Fair' John wrote 'Nottingham' and 'Fair' with the drawing of a goose in between [see above].

** The 'fine boy' born on the 11th October 1868 was presumably John Edward Bowman.


 

A Farm Journal ~ from the 16th to the 30th September 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 - 16 Began pie in Mossfield Jesse paring fallows

6 - 18  Dull & cold W.E. shower in even[in]g - we sadly want warm showers - short of water at S.H. have to lead from Cales - sold Hully of Ashford 18 fat wether lambs off rape 24/-each

7 - 19 to 2 - 21 Few Showers very agreeable

3 - 22 Showery

4 - 23 Fine W.N. dipped ewe lambs & thraves

5 - 24 Fine morn[in]g shower aft[ernoo]n Willies's Birthday lead[in]g Lime onto Ridge Piece on Pared & harrow[e]d ground

6 Ditto

2 - 28 Showery spread Lime in Ridge Piece

3 - 29 Fine lead[in]g manure at Cales

4 - 30 Ditto 


The reference to 'Willie's Birthday' was to his son William's 1st Birthday. I wonder if they did anything special for him ... or with him.
 

The Cundy Graves ...

Park at Calver in front of Curbar Primary School and there are a number of walks available to you. This one leads you to the Cundy Graves.

Cross the River Derwent with Calver Mill on your right before taking the riverside path to pass under the main road, the A623. A short distance later and you're heading out into the countryside ...

 

The path stays beside the river for two hundred yards or so ...

 




The path leaves the river on the edge of St. Mary's Wood ...



 The path becomes a quiet lane and leads towards Bubnell where the aubrieta hangs from a garden wall ...



On the other side of the River Derwent from Bubnell is Baslow with St. Anne's Church standing beside the river ...



Parts of the church, mainly the tower and spire, are 13th century ...



Follow Bar Road as it climbs steeply in a north-easterly direction out of Baslow ...



By Lady Wall Well take the bridleway northwards but cast your eye half-left towards Bramley Wood on the horizon. On the Chatsworth land there [I assume it's Chatsworth land] is an 'E' and an 'R' [Elizabeth Regina] made out of trees ...



 Type 'Bramley Ln Derbyshire DE45' into Google Maps and zoom in on the pair of oblong plantations that should be visible ... you'll get a better image than the one above !

In the next picture as we walk up the bridleway you can just see the 'R' below the horizon to the left ...



The bridleway rises steadily towards Baslow Edge ...

  
In the bracken below Baslow Edge two paths 'kiss' ... as you can see on the Peak & Northern footpath signpost No. 311 ...






Choose the lower of the two rights of way. Just before the bridleway leaves the moorland you may spot the Cundy Graves ...

 

It was here in the middle of the 17th century that the remains of Thomas Cundy, his wife Ada and their children Olive, Nellie and Thomas were buried. You can see some of the initials on the stones above. The most obvious pair being  'MC' ! Perhaps someone mixed up 'M' and 'N'. They lived at Grislow Field a quarter of a mile away.

Nearby a plaque marks their gravestones ...



Their bodies have laid in this unconsecrated ground for 381 years. 

Fork left off the moor and you'll walk past a late 18th century lock-up in the bottom of someone's garden ...







Continue on the path before turning sharp right to reach a small wood which at this time of the year is full of celandines ...



 In the centre of Curbar village there's an unusual covered well or trough ...



  The last feature of note on this four and a half mile walk is Calver Mill. Now private apartments, the building [according to Wikipedia] was "an historic cotton mill opened in 1778 by John Gardom of Bakewell and John Pares of Leicester in place of a corn mill leased from Thomas Eyre of Hassop."

  This walk was followed on the 10th April 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 4.39 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 105.82 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 8th April 2011 ~ 633.87 miles

  24 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just under 4.41 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap