Foolow, Eyam, and Bretton

Well...it rained all day; quite a bit heavier than forecast too. If I hadn't made plans to meet Chris and Simon today I wouldn't have been walking any further than the kitchen or the bathroom. As it was though, as usual I was at Fox House just before ten o'clock to meet my walking companions. It was only Chris who turned up in the car though; maybe Simon had already read the weather forecast.

We drove down to Foolow and parked on the green [not literally] and set off across the fields towards Eyam. The rain was making it difficult for me to see the footpath and the the stiles, and so I got slightly lost. I headed for Tideswell Lane, a wide track, having to climb over a wall...but it wasn't difficult. In one of the fields we walked through we noticed an owl flapping about on the ground. It was obviously injured; a broken wing most likely. We wondered what we should do for a few seconds, but both soon decided to just let nature take its course.

We reached Eyam and walked down the main street to reach the information barn: a few minutes respite from the rain. Another opportunity to escape from the rain was provided by the church. Chris wasn't that interested in the displays inside about the plague, and I had seen them all before, so we didn't stay long...Simon would have read every word on the display boards.

It was a bit of a slog uphill to reach Eyam Moor and then Bretton Clough. It was an awful day for photography with very poor visibility and hardly any daylight. This is the only decent photograph I took, just as we were descending into the clough; I rarely took my camera out of its case.

In the bottom of the clough we found a bit of shelter under an ash tree, where we ate our sandwiches. There was a lot of sheep droppings about, and an obvious smell - I think that Chris was a lot less comfortable than I was at this point.

We climbed up to Bretton and then walked along the road back down to Foolow. On the way back to Hathersage, where Chris dropped me off because it's more convenient, we stopped at the café at Calver crossroads. It's under new management since the last time I visited; the menu seems to be pretty much the same, but I think the prices are slightly higher.

I ordered a large pot of tea and a scone; Chris had crumpets.