A reminder of what the weather should be like at this time of year ...

A couple of years ago on the 1st April 2011 my grandson Benjamin and I did a short walk beside the River Derwent ten miles or so north of Darley Dale. The 1st April is just eight days away and two years ago this is what we saw. Note: there was no snow.

When I park near Curbar School and head north the first thing that invariably catches my eye is this 1930s roadsign ... 

  
How do I know it's a 1930s roadsign ? Am I an expert on roadsigns I hear you say ... well, no, the date is on the post ...

 

The River Derwent is always interesting hereabouts ...

 

Benjamin was fascinated ...

 

No, really ... he was.

One of the rewarding aspects of walking in this area is seeing the work that has been done on Calver Mill Weir during the last few years ...




  



The view downstream from New Bridge towards Curbar and Baslow Edges ...

  

After carefully crossing the road at New Bridge we continued up the eastern side of the River Derwent ...



... where the daffodils were in flower ...

 

We reached Froggatt Bridge with its distinctive arch ...

 

 Froggatt Edge rises above the village of Froggatt.



  We stopped for a coffee here ... me and my cool grandson ...



  Duly satisfied we started walking back to New Bridge and Calver ...



  The steps down off the bridge have had a lot of use over the years.



  We were now on the western side of the River Derwent ...



  On this side of the river there are open fields rather than a series of long gardens leading up to the pricey houses of Curbar ...



 Then we encountered a mystery, a small mystery, but a mystery all the same. It looks like some sort of fungus on a tree ...



  Any ideas what it is anyone ?

A Canada Goose swam towards us ...



  The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust had been cutting willow and creating a number of habitat piles ...




  Having done a bit of voluntary work in the countryside over the years it gives me quite a thrill to see a habitat pile.

As we walked alongside the Derwent on our left a sign brought us back to earth ... "Better watch ourselves in this field Benjamin ..."



This walk was followed on the 1st April 2011
 
Length of stroll ~ 2.60 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 93.09 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 21st March 2011 ~ 621.14 miles

  21 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging just 4.43 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

Eyam, the River Derwent and the Calver Marshes Wildlife Project ...

In mid January, there was still some ice and snow about as I parked in Eyam and walked to the churchyard.

I was looking at the Celtic cross in the churchyard and thinking how we probably give these ancient features little more than a glance. When you think of the size of these stones and the work involved in getting the stone, cutting it and then putting it in place ... it must have been a heck of a job.

A simpler and slightly more modern tombstone also caught my eye ...



 I left Eyam by the Lydgate Graves and walked towards Stoney Middleton ...



It was one of those cold, grey days, which I rather like.

I walked past the Boundary Stone ...



 On the way down the hill into Stoney Middleton I passed one of the many old mineshafts that are everywhere in this limestone area and that we tend to ignore ...



  The main thing to remember is never to get too close to the edge of these shafts.

St. Martin's Church in Stoney Middleton, according to the Parish Council, is one of only two octagonal churches in the country.

I sat by the front door and had my coffee ...



On the way eastward from Stoney Middleton I noticed the first of a number of panels erected by the Stoke and Calver Marshes Project ...



... and a closer view ...



[The large image on Flickr is worth looking at, too.]

Further along came a panel about the dragonfly ...



The panels are "largely the work of children from Stoney Middleton School". They should be proud of them.

Then the old willow tree ...



Then the water shrew ...



... and harvest mice ...



By now I had got to the point where Stoke Brook runs into the River Derwent ... where brook lampreys spawn ...



For such an attractive area there were very few walkers about.

I continued up the western side of the Derwent until I reached Froggatt Bridge ... 
   








Near Froggatt Bridge the last of the information panels. This one related to the water vole ...



I walked up the road towards Toll Bar Cottage and noticed someone had been cutting the ivy growing up a tree over the wall.



The walk back to Eyam was uneventful ...

Date of walk ~ 17th January 2010

Length of walk ~ 6 1/4 miles

Total walked [so far] in 2010 ~ 11 miles 

Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 141 miles

2 of 2010