'Walking Around The Peak District'

I'm an administrator on the 'Walking Around The Peak District' Facebook page. One of my duties is to approve new members joining the group. I recently reviewed the membership list since it had passed three hundred names and something that I noticed is that a few people seem to have surnames which are very relevant to the Peak District

ALLSOP: There's a place called Alsop-en-le-Dale near Ashbourne - I haven't been there yet.

BAKEWELL: The capital of the Peak District...well at least the headquarters of the Peak District National Park Authority are located here. A beautiful little town; also the home of the Bakewell Pudding and the Bakewell Tart.

BENTLEY: There's a location near to Matlock called Bentley Bridge - it's where I get off the bus when I visit Lumsdale.

BOOTH: A word that's part of several placenames in the Vale of Edale; Nether Booth, Ollberbrook Booth, Grindsbrook Booth, Barber Booth, and Upper Booth.

BROWN: Brown Knoll is near to Kinder Scout. 

HOPE: A village in the Peak District and the name of the valley where it's located. Easily reached by bus from Sheffield.

KINDER: Kinder Scout is the highest point in the Peak District - it's also a rare surname in England.

ROWLAND - A hamlet near Bakewell.

SHELDON: Another village near Bakewell - Magpie Mine is nearby.

WHITE: A very common name; the limestone country of the Peak District is known as the 'White Peak' and there's also a 'White Edge' to the north of Baslow.

Christmas 2016 At Chatsworth House

An early start to Christmas, before it gets too busy; this year's theme at Chatsworth House is 'The Nutcracker,' my favourite ballet.

I arrived at Sheffield quite early and immediately caught the bus to Baslow so that I could walk through Chatsworth Park at a leisurely pace and arrive at the house not too long before it opens for the day.

Just before entering the park there's a pretty row of thatched cottages which I've photographed before...however, I don't think I've included a shot of this cottage, just a few yards further on.

I was careful to stick to the tarmac and gravel paths; I didn't want to have muddy shoes. The route I chose stayed well away from the areas that had recently been flooded.

The large main entrance gates at Chatsworth House were opened a few minutes early and we were allowed to wait inside a temporary wooden hallway constructed in the courtyard. I was standing in a different area to everyone else and felt a bit self-conscious; I'm a 'Silver Friend of Chatsworth [a season ticket holder] and some people seemed to think I was a guide and was going to be taking them round the house. This misapprehension was heightened when the woman checking their tickets, who was herself only a volunteer, kept asking me to confirm what she was saying. I must have a natural look of authority about me.

Once I'd stepped inside the house, the first room, like most of the others, was magical; a totally different experience to the other times I've visited. Throughout the house there are dozens of brightly lit and decorated Christmas trees, seven thousand wooden toy soldiers [every one wearing a moustache as far as I could tell], plenty of simple wooden toys to play with, delicate snowflakes of all sizes, an enchanted forest, a giant cake, mice, cheese, clocks and clockwork contraptions, sweets scattered everywhere...and a couple a real-life ballerinas dancing and posing...and answering questions about The Nutcracker. Oh, and of course, the wonderful music by Tchaikovsky piped into most rooms; except for a couple where there were sound effects associated with the story.

   

I then had a look round the Christmas Market. There was so much delicious food to tempt me; I resisted everything except the game pie.

Because a one-way system of traffic management was in operation the buses weren't driving up to the front of the house as usual, so I had to walk over to the bus stop at Edensor Gates. The bus arrived on time; the driver had to perform a difficult reversing movement on the narrow road before waiting a few minutes before continuing to Bakewell. I stayed in Bakewell for a couple of hours until it started drizzling.

Rowsley, Stanton Woodhouse, Stanton Moor, Darley Bridge and Darley Dale.

I'm quite impressed with my new camera; it's easy to use and takes very clear pictures with very naturalistic colour rendering. The photographs I've included with this blog post were taken with it - I had a few problems with re-sizing the images though so that they're suitable for uploading to the blog server.

Today's walk began at Rowsley: by the way, I've finally checked online for the correct pronunciation...and it's 'Roseley.'


I crossed over the River Derwent, then took the lane with the bridge over the River Wye, then continued along the track leading towards Stanton Woodhouse. This section is initially level and easy-going, but then gradually starts to ascend out of the valley. There are some lovely views here, looking northwards along this stretch of the Derwent Valley, and westwards towards wooded hillsides; and the lighting conditions were just about perfect. This is where the banner photograph was taken; and many more, as I experimented with various settings and functions on the camera.

The hamlet of Stanton Woodhouse clusters around a small manor house and is quite isolated, and beyond this point the walk continues through heathland interspersed with copses.

The weather was lovely all day, and very mild for the time of year. By this stage I had already realised I was wearing too many layers of clothing, but there was really nothing I could do about it...but sweat. I was glad of my isotonic drink though. On the label it said it was 'mixed berries flavour;' but on the list of ingredients the only natural ingredients I could find were extracts of black carrots and hibiscus - two flavours I 've not tried before. The drink was pleasant enough though.

The next photograph was taken as I was looking back towards Stanton Woodhouse.

I had to climb a bit to reach the road, then took a path past some old quarry buildings and continued up through woodland to eventually reach the eastern edge of Stanton Moor.

I soon reached the Reform, or Earl Grey Tower, which is merely a nineteenth century folly, built to provide work for local labourers I think. I walked for another fifteen minutes or so and came down off the moor just to the east of Birchover.

I could already see the footpath sign indicating where I was going next, downhill across a camping and caravanning site, which was empty; maybe even closed for the season.

Next I re-traced the route of part of an earlier walk, in the opposite direction though, to reach Darley Bridge and then Darley Dale.

I had about fifty minutes to wait for the next bus and so popped into one of the shops for something to eat, which I ate whilst sitting on a bench. It was still nearly half an hour for the next Sheffield bus as I crossed the road to go and wait for it; however a bus that was going to Bakewell arrived, so I got on and arrived just in time to catch the Sheffield bus from there, (a different service) just as the last passenger to get on was paying his fare.

Pilsley, Hassop, Bubnell and Baslow

I got off the Bakewell bus about a mile south of Baslow and soon found the path going up the hill and over the fields to Pilsley, one of the pretty nineteenth century                 Chatsworth Estate villages.

I walked through the village and after a few hundred yards came to a footpath which led across meadows back to the Bakewell road, and then through a wooded valley to Hassop.

There's a very impressive hall in Hassop which I've noticed when passing on the bus, but today was the first time I'd actually visited the village, as it was the case with Pilsley...and Bubnell later on.

The next part of the route was walking along the ridge above Bank Wood; at times the views were quite restricted - which wasn't really a problem since there was a large quarry on the other side of the valley which isn't shown on my Ordnance Survey map.

I had intended continuing to Calver and then walking along the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail back to Baslow but the descent down into Calver looked quite steep, and I had a twinge in my right knee. The path across open fields down to Bubnell seemed the safer option.

I soon arrived at Bubnell, then crossed over the river to Baslow, where I didn't have too long to wait for the bus.

Bakewell

Not a walk today; just a day out to Bakewell with my friend Justin - the trip having been postponed from a fortnight ago because of rain.

The visit began with a hearty cooked breakfast at a posh wine bar of all places; it seemed to be as cheap as anywhere else and had recently won 'The Best Bakewell Pudding award 2010'...not that the latter mattered to us. As you can see from the photos there must be quite a few entrants hoping to win this award since we saw at least three establishments claiming to bake Bakewell puddings according to the original recipe.

We then spent some time looking around the shops and market, in particular the bookshops and charity shops but then had to get the 1:30 bus back to Sheffield so that Justin could arrive back in Doncaster before his mother would get home from the Social Services' daycare centre.

I really enjoyed today's visit; actually spending a bit of time looking round the town - usually when I'm at Bakewell I'm only there for a few minutes at the beginning or end of a walk.

Neither of us bought a Bakewell pudding though - they didn't look that appetising.

No Bakewell Pudding Today

Until I read today's weather forecast on Saturday -  wet and windy, I had intended to go to Bakewell with a friend today, just to look around the shops and the market; and to have a nice meal. He's not too steady on his legs, he's got a limp and needs to use a walking stick, and so even the gentlest of walks in the countryside would be too difficult for him.

I think he's quite keen to taste a genuine Bakewell pudding, although I'm not. They just seem to be like Yorkshire puddings filled with jam. I much prefer the commercially available Bakewell tarts.