Later one morning ... in the month of May.

After reaching Cressbrook Mill as described in One Morning in the Month of May  I started on the return half of the walk. I walked uphill to reach this rather impressive memorial seat ...

 

According to a page on the Sole Society website the stone plaque reads  

"Charles Edward Solly for 8 years in charge of Cressbrook Mill.

Died 5^th January 1898 aged 33 years"

He had been the manager at Cressbrook Mill but died in his early 30s.

I've heard it said that it was placed half way up the hill so the millworkers could have a break on their way up to the village of Cressbrook. I had to make that climb too ...

 

Eventually I turned off the road onto a narrow woodland path running between dog mercury and wild garlic ...



 A track leads to Ravensdale Cottage with a view of the far side of the dale ...



 Ravensdale Cottages were originally lived in by millworkers. I always have to take a photograph here ...



 On the opposite side of the path from the cottages there is usually a spectacular display of wild garlic ...



 The lower part of Cressbrook Dale is well wooded and largely different shades of green in Springtime ...



 I passed through a stile into English Nature's reserve and enjoyed the birdsong ...





The dale opens out a little later and I spotted the first signs of lead mining in the valley ...



 Above Cressbrook Dale is Peep o' Day Cottage which you can just pick out in the photograph below. What a fantastic view they must have ...



 Before you get near the cottage though another path takes off to the left into Tansley Dale ...



 Part way up Tansley Dale I turned around to look back down into Cressbrook Dale ... 



 Many visitors to the Peak District and Derbyshire Dales [which overlap to some extent] are amazed by our walls. We like walls up here ...



 A well used path [one of a number of options hereabouts] leads across a field towards Litton village ...



 ... it leads right up to a cottage ...



 There will be some who hate the thought of a footpath being that close to their house. Well, they should never buy a cottage or a house like that because the chances are that the path was there before the house.

In Litton itself I was amused by this sign ...



 Outside the Red Lion is a seat with a memorial plaque on it ...




 So I did ...



 After the pint and the nuts I walked past Litton Cross out of the village ...



 A path underneath a line of beech trees took me back to the car ...



 A short walk packed full of interest.

   This walk was followed on the 6th May 2011
 
Length of walk ~ 5.74 miles *
 
Total mileage walked so far in 2011 ~ 172.54 miles
 
Total mileage between the 1st September 2009 and the 6th May 2011 ~ 694.28 miles

  39 of 2011 [which means in 2011 I was averaging approximately 4.42 miles a walk.]
 
* distance calculated on Ordnance Survey's Getamap

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.