Benjamin and I head to Grindleford ...

I need to catch up with my walking blogs ...

So back to early 2011 and Benjamin and I drove ten miles or so up the Derwent Valley to Grindleford Station. We resisted the temptation to have a bacon butty at the cafe and walked along the path leading to Padley Mill ...

Before that though we had to cross the bridge over Burbage Brook ...

 

As we got near to Padley Chapel one of the locals came out to make my acquaintance ...



My new found friend then took me for a tour of the old stones of Padley Manor behind Padley Chapel ...



He [or is it she] even opened his eyes ...

 

As soon as we'd got past the last of the houses Benjamin started clambering on some of the large rocks ...

 

We left the main and more popular path here and walked through Rough Wood ...







Near Kettle House the view opens out towards Hathersage with Win Hill rising beyond ...



We passed under the railway line ...



Just beyond a watercourse pours out of the hillside ...

 

One of the great things about walking with your grandson is that you realise you've probably become a bit jaded in your outlook. I see old carved stones and wonder where they came from ... Benjamin sees them as a something to jump from ...

 

I've asked it before and I may ask it again, where are these stones from ? The stones that lie on the ground near Harper Lees ...



  

As we left the stones behind to follow the River Derwent southwards I looked back towards Harper Lees and Hathersage ...

 

The spring sunshine sparkled on the River Derwent as we walked south ...



... into the wood ...

 

Part way through the wood we forked left uphill to retrace our steps back to the car. On the way we passed Padley Chapel. No cat this time ...

 

Could those old stones a mile or so away come from Padley Manor, the ruins behind the chapel shown above ?

This walk was followed on the 6th March 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 3.13 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 50.1 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 6th March 2011 ~ 578.15 miles
 
13 of 2011
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

 

Boxing Day, 2009

I was on my own that day for some reason ...

I walked along an icy and slippery Baulk Lane towards Brookfield Manor, Hathersage Church on the hillside behind me ...

Sheep were scratching around in the snow, looking for the odd tussock of grass ...



After passing Brookfield Manor, I crossed the road with Bronte Cottage to my right and walked up the field to enter The Warren ...



In the Warren there's a newish handmade footbridge ...



 There's more about the bridge here ... http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/index/news/news-display-page.htm?id=17861

Once I'd got past Green's House and walked up the side of the plantation at Dennis Knoll, I turned round as the sun was just starting to catch some of the landscape behind me ...



 I zoomed into the middle distance of the photograph above. The next photo shows Carhead Rocks and Cattis-side Moor ...



After zooming in a little more the next photo shows a closer view of Carhead Rocks on Cattis-side Moor ~ neither of them are names I use but they are shown on the Dark Peak OS Map ...



Perhaps it was the cold or the snow ... whatever it was, there weren't many walkers about. I climbed up Long Causeway towards Stanage Edge. By now the sun was more visible as I looked across the valley towards the mast on Shatton Moor ...



At the top of Long Causeway there was a great view north-west along Stanage Edge.



It was so good to see so much snow I went a bit trigger happy ...





One too many photos of Stanage Edge perhaps ... 

I descended through Stanage Plantation and then followed the path through the wood towards North Lees Hall ...



 I stopped for a coffee leaning against the gate at the edge of the plantation, admiring the view towards North Lees Hall [in the trees ahead] ...



A couple of other walkers passed me as I stood there ...



Then I reached North Lees Hall which looks better in winter than at any other time of the year ...



... though from the lower side it didn't look quite such a wintry scene.



Continuing down the path from North Lees Hall I passed to the left of Cowclose. After a field or two there's a great view of Hathersage Church ...



 At the edge of the churchyard one of the yew trees was nicely backlit by the sun ...





  Date of walk ~ 26th December 2009

Length of walk ~ 5 3/4 miles

Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 108 1/4 miles