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

Tissington and the Tissington Trail

From the car park on the Tissington Trail I turned left down to Tissington pond where the mallards were soon waddling towards me in the hope of some titbits ...

Turning uphill a few yards later takes you between the local tearoom on your left and the church on your right. A church that has been open when I have cared to check ...



A little further up the gentle slope motorists can park their cars on the grassy verge provided they ensure their "bonnett" [rather than their boot] is nearest the wall.



Continue along the lane out of the village and a footpath continues towards the Tissington Trail.



In several places the path is walled on both sides.



The path reaches the Tissington Trail. Turning right, there are far reaching views to the north.









The low winter sun was scratching through the trees as I walked into the car park on the Trail.



Date of walk ~ 13th December 2009

Length of walk ~ 2 3/4 miles

Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 102 1/2 miles

A sodden mess ...

We'd had a lot of rain though I didn't realise how much until later ...

Brook Bottom is about a mile outside Tideswell on Manchester Road. There's a large water trough there ...

Water Lane then runs west from Brook Bottom to Wheston.

In Wheston, at the side of the road in a small enclosure, there's an old stone cross ...



 A lane then drops down from Wheston to Dale Head.



From Dale Head I walked south through Peter Dale. Usually it's a dry dale ... but not today ...









Once I'd reached the lane at the bottom of Peter Dale [and resisting the temptation of walking through Monk's Dale] I followed the Limestone Way up the hill and part way along the track towards Monksdale Farm I turned north-eastward towards Slancote Lane.



When I reached Slancote Lane I followed it southwards until it swung left, back towards Tideswell. I didn't really fancy walking along it ...



It was something of a relief to get back onto tarmac.

I passed Tideswell church and finished the walk ...



Date of walk ~ 12th December 2009

Length of walk ~ 6 1/4 miles

Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 99 3/4 miles

So who was Weag ?

The sky was full of clouds with not a ray of sunshine. The heavy rain had filled the riverbed and the Manifold was in full flow ... and then some.

Starting from the small car park by Weag's Bridge we walked along the Manifold Way, noticing the rock strata at the side ...

 We passed under Thor's Cave ...



... and continued beyond towards Whetton Mill ...

What struck me was that there was a lot more water in the River Manifold than I had ever seen before.



Usually it is empty hereabouts and by that I mean a dry riverbed in summertime.

We kept walking north, still on the Manifold Way towards Whetton Mill ...



Eventually, after a stop at the tearooms at Whetton Mill, and after traipsing through the mud further down the valley, we got to the bottom of Ossoms Hill. Neither the National Trust nor the Ordnance Survey seem to bother with an apostrophe.



 We climbed up to Grindon where we had a coffee by the church. Then we walked down the lane to Weag's Barn where I took this photo overlooking the Manifold valley and Weag's Bridge.



So who was Weag ?  I rather suspect that both Weag and Ossom date back a long, long time. I don't suppose we will ever really know who they were.

Date of walk ~ 28th November 2009

Length of walk ~ 4 3/4 miles

Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 93 1/2 miles.

Hartington to Pilsbury ... and back

I'm getting behind with these blogs ...

Well, back on the 15th November I drove out to Hartington to check my teashop walk.

It does seem as though the cheese factory is closed ~ and I assume this would mean no more Stilton from Derbyshire !

This signpost is near to the cheese factory ...

As you can see from the photograph above this path is well used ...



 After crossing the River Dove, I climbed up the bank as though I was heading for Sheen but instead turned north towards Harris Close. There's a good view of Hartington hereabouts with the medieval ridges and furrows in the field in the centre of the photograph below ...



 I passed through the attractive plantation on my way to Harris Close ... as well as some sheep [recently tupped by the look of things]





Beyond Harris Close, Sheen Hill was to my left ...



 Just beyond Sheen Hill I caught up with three walkers who were following my walk !

In time honoured fashion, I introduced myself and had a chat. From left to right [I hope I've got this right] it's Keith, Rita and Neil ...



I left them and headed down the old track to the ford over the Dove. The track was a lot worse than I remember, though initially it wasn't so bad ...





 Eventually I made it down to the River Dove. I followed the steep tarmac lane behind the buildings and looked back just as Keith, Rita and Beil started to walk up out of the valley ...



I actually Twittered whilst walking through the fields back to Hartington ... but got no comments. 

A little further on there were a couple of warnings about falling down mineshafts and not letting your dog savage any sheep.



 I bought a telescopic lens a few months ago for about £80 ... and so far I've taken just a handful of photos with it. Still, it's fun !  Here are a couple of images taken looking back up the valley towards Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill ... Chrome's on the left, the pointed one ...





A little further on, nearer Hartington, there were plenty of signs of leadmining, including these two covered mineshafts ...



On the outskirts of Hartington there was a Peacock Butterfly fluttering in the mid November sunshine ...



Back in Hartington, the visitors [and cars] had built up in number ...



Date of walk ~ 15th November 2009

Length of walk ~ 5 1/4 miles

Total since 1st September 2009 ~ 88 3/4 miles