The Crooked Spire ...

It was Spring 2011, perhaps I'd been to hospital and I had some time to play with ... I can't recall ... but I found myself in the Church of St Mary and All Saints in Chesterfield.

If you know the church at all you'll probably know it better as the Crooked Spire ...

It was rather dull outside so I went in to look around ... and noticed this memorial to Betty Bower ...



 ... dead at 25 having given birth to at least four children.

I was just in time to take a tour of the tower.

On our way upward we looked down into the nave of the church ...



 We reached the bell room where the bellringers ring the bells ...



 Then we reached the belfry and the bells themsevles ...



 According to Wikipedia "The tower upon which the spire sits contains ten bells. These bells were cast in 1947 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, replacing a previous ring. The heaviest weighs 25cwt. The place in which the bells are situated once held the builders windlass, which is one of the only examples of a medieval crane in existence and is the only example of one that has survived from a parish church. The windlass is now on display at Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery".

We reached the bottom of the spire and looked upwards ...







  It's an interesting jumble of woodwork. The tour guide told us the weight of the tower but it hasn't stuck. It was certainly some tons ... and there we were with it above our heads.

We went out into the open and looked up at all the lead rising towards heaven ...



 ... then down, into Chesterfield ...



 I must admit as I looked up it made my head spin a little.

By the time my feet touched the ground the sun was still out ...



 We'd been stood just above the clock ...



 If you're in Chesterfield and have half an hour or so to spare the Crooked Spire is worth a visit ...


 

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