I got off the bus at Baslow Nether End and then walked through the village to go and take some photographs of the church.
I walked over the old bridge to Bubnell and continued northwards along the main street of Bubnell and then across the fields to Calver, always keeping close to the River Derwent.
New Bridge is about half a mile north of Calver.
About three or four hundred yards beyond New Bridge I veered away from the river and climbed up to the road and then took the path which passes by Knouchley Farm and on to Stoney Middleton. The church here is rather unusual.
I climbed up the lane to Eyam and sat on one of the benches in the middle of the bullring to eat my sandwiches. Whilst I was there a group of at least two dozen members of Seven Hills Cycling Club in Sheffield arrived hoping for something to eat; the cafe was already very busy, and the tearooms were closed, or not yet open. They stayed awhile and were still there when I left, so I'm assuming the tearooms must have opened at twelve o'clock.
As I was climbing up onto Eyam Edge my mobile phone rang, it was my friend Justin ringing to check the arrangements for Wednesday night when we are going to see an Abba tribute band at Rotherham Theatre.
The signal cut out three times although I was only about two hundred yards from the mobile phone transmitter tower - this can happen with radio signals though when you're near to a tower due to the steep angle...so your signal needs to come from the next nearest available mast.
I continued past Ladywash Mine and then on to Eyam Moor. It was frosty when I left the house this morning, but by this time it was really quite mild...so mild in fact that a young man had taken his shirt off and only had his rucksack on his back. I stayed well wrapped up; three tee-shirts, two fleeces and an anorak - now that I'm much slimmer I really do feel the cold.
I dropped down to Stoke Ford and then climbed back up the other side of the clough to reach the road that leads to Highlow Hall - I don't think I've actually seen it before...so here's a photo I took.
There's a well-maintained track to Offerton which continues all the way to Shatton, although I opted for the riverside walk; there are some lovely views.
It was then only a short walk to the bus turnaround at Bamford Station. I knew I was pressed for time and so started jogging...I took it quite steady, but still wasn't getting out of breath. I arrived with two minutes to spare - but I needn't have bothered, the bus was twelve minutes late...and that caused an unexpected problem for me. There were already people waiting; one of them spotted the bus and shouted to his friends that it's coming...so I bent down to pick up my rucksack and then fumbled in my pocket for my bus pass. By the time I'd done this the bus had arrived and so I got on. However, at the traffic lights the driver turned right and headed towards Castleton...damn, I'd gotten on the wrong bus.
I decided to stay on for a couple of miles, got off at Brough, crossed the road and stepped inside the Traveller's Rest and enjoyed a pint of Diet Coke in the beer garden. I then caught the same bus back to Sheffield.
This mistake by me wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the fact that we need to place our passes on the scanner instead of stating our destination and being issued with a ticket. This is because, we are told, that disabled people prefer to do it this way when travelling on buses...no-one asked me though.
No comments:
Post a Comment