Eyam, Housley, Burnt Heath, Great Longstone, and Bakewell

It was a rushed start this morning. I didn't wake up until 07:30; the cocktail of painkillers I'm taking at night for the dry socket pain after a wisdom tooth extraction makes me drowsy...which is good I suppose.

It was a lovely day today, it actually felt like summer; mostly sunny, warm (hot at times even), and no cold wind...and the wildflowers, they were blooming everywhere - clover, campion, vetch, and buttercups; entire fields of them in places.

I got of the bus at Eyam and walked through the village, taking plenty of photographs.

Towards the far end of the village I took a lane that leads to the south, then a footpath across meadows and then down to Horseshoe Quarry through the grassland and woodland - a lovely spot for picnics.

Because the entrance to Horseshoe Quarry isn't marked on the map I wasn't sure how far along Middleton Dale I'd come out at; regrettably I made the wrong decision and turned right and had to walk for half a mile along a busy road without a pavement until I found a path at Housley.

It was level going along a byway and then some fields until I reached a location which is identified as Burnt Heath on the map, but every time until now when I've been there the sign would show 'Cavendish Mill' - well, now it's called 'Glebe Mines'. It must have new owners.

I then descended down Black Harry Lane into the upper reaches of Coombs Dale, and climbed up the other side to reach the top of Longstone Edge.

I found the safest way down, along a beautiful dry dale and then a lane which comes out near to the church. No chance to photograph the church though because it was covered with scaffolding.

I popped into one of the pubs in Great Longstone and bought a very expensive glass of Diet Coke; in the process of sitting down my map case knocked over a very slender vase in which two lilac-coloured cornflowers had been very carefully positioned. I might have apologised...but I probably just blamed gravity.

On the way from Great Longstone to the Monsal Trail, and then later as I was walking along the Trail, there were some stunning views of fields carpeted with yellow buttercups.

At Bakewell I treated myself to fish and trips in the restaurant - the mushy peas were served in a small stainless steel bucket.

Denaby Ings Nature Reserve

Another short walk at a local beauty spot with Marshall, my support worker; today was a chance to talk in a different environment, away from my front room...and there's a lot I needed to talk about, there are a lot of issues on my mind at the moment.

Located close to Mexborough, Denaby Ings is a lovely spot right next to the River Dearne, featuring a variety of landscapes, ponds, waterways, pastures, woodland, and meadows; all formed when mining subsidence caused the land to sink and permanently flood.

A Trip To Fort Paull and Hull Waterfront

The first trip out with the autism group today, which was meant to be quite relaxing for me after yesterday's ten mile walk in the White Peak.That wasn't how it turned out to be though, but I'm not complaining; I don't mind tiring myself out when I'm enjoying myself.

Fort Paull, about five miles east of Hull, right on the bank of the Humber, was better than I expected; lots of opportunities to explore, both on the surface and down below...and on the battlements, which had nice views of the Humber.

The highlight of the visit was the opportunity to climb right inside the cockpit and cargo area of a large military transport plane; this required climbing a lot steps, two or three ladders, walking along walkways and gangways, opening hatches...and ducking my head and stooping quite a bit. Myself and another member initially had the aircraft to ourselves and so I could explore and take photographs without anyone getting in the way.

The best photographs were taken looking through the dirty portholes at the propellers.

Later, I also walked along the ramparts and tried sitting in the place where the gunner would sit on a couple of the large pieces of artillery; it was cramped and very uncomfortable.

The second part of the day was spent in Hull city centre. I visited the Ferens Art Gallery and the Maritime Museum with a few members of the group and then went down to the marina and the waterfront on my own.

Monyash, Heathcote, and Hartington, with Chris From Leeds

What would otherwise have been a perfect day's walking was ruined again by a persistent cold wind,  even stronger today than on other occasions; so strong that it made my eyes run and gave me earache. Fortunately it was a good day for photography, and I'm including a dozen pictures today.

Another walk with Chris from Leeds; we tend to do them on the first Saturday every month in the summer.

I arrived at Sheffield Railway Station with plenty of time to spare and so took the opportunity to use the toilets. As I was sitting on the pot in the cubicle I started the process off with a stream of loud farts, a man who I could hear washing his hands yelled out, "Come in Vicar!"  I presumed he was referring to me and he was probably expecting me to reply with some standard response...well, I didn't have a clue as to what to say; I've never heard the phrase, 'Come in Vicar!' used in this context before. Does anyone reading the blog have any suggestions as to what I maybe should have said?

Walking through the concourse a few minutes later on my way to the bus station I was glad to see that the station piano had been returned...to a different location though.

Just outside,  the table tennis tables had been set up for the summer season.

As usual I met Chris at Fox House, and we drove to Monyash.

We took a series of footpaths leading to the west, across fields or boxed in by drystone walls until we reached the High Peak Trail, a disused railway line.

We then walked along the trail, stopping at Parsley Hay to use the toilets and eat our sandwiches. Refreshments were on offer; for myself it was a choice between an ice cream, Bradwell's of  Bradwell - my absolute favourite, or a mug of tea. I must apologies to Bradwell's - but today was a mug of hot tea day I'm afraid.

Just before reaching Parsley Hay we passed a strange looking building; I thought it was a re-constructed Iron Age roundhouse, but when we read the information board we found out that it was an Istrian kažun.

Our next stop was made at Hartington Station where there was quite a bit to see, especially for Chris, who's interested in railways. We spent a few minutes inside the old signal box which has been preserved and turned into a small museum.

Not much later we left the trail and took the footpath to the hamlet of Heathcote, then passing through some lovely countryside to reach Hartington.

When we reached Hartington I was somewhat disappointed with the village; my expectations were high after reading so many positive things about it online. It did have a few majestic buildings, which I photographed, but the village pond was more like an open-air septic tank filled with green slime...and every shot of anything interesting I wanted to shoot was ruined by parked cars and motorcycles. There was even a perspex bus shelter that was no different to those we have on the roughest council estates here in Doncaster.

However...I wasn't to be disappointed with the countryside as we continued our walk beyond Hartington, heading northwards back to Monyash. For a long while we were walking in one of the most beautiful valleys I've found in the Peak District...yet I don't know its name. I've studied my Ordnance Survey map, and looked at various maps online and no name is shown - all that I could find out is that the river that flows through the valley is the Dove, which forms the boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire at this point. Maybe its correct designation is the 'Upper Dove Valley'. I honestly don't know; can anyone help me?

We were both tiring a bit as we approached Monyash, but that's what happens on a walk. I'd certainly enjoyed myself exploring a part of the Peak District that I wouldn't otherwise get the chance to visit because I can't get there by public transport..I shall have to try to return there though..

A Sunny Day Spent At Home

I booked my support worker for a day out to Beningbrough Hall and Gardens near York today but due to an administrative error she wasn't told by the office. So...I'm spending the day in Doncaster sitting in the garden next to the pansies and geraniums, doing a bit of weeding and deadheading, and spraying my rose bush to kill the greenfly. It's not been a bad day at all though today because I also met up in a pub in town with a few friends from the autism group for lunch, but I had been looking forward to going to Berningbrough Hall; the online reviews are very good. I've re-booked Siobhan for Monday, we won't be going to Beningbrough though because this early in the season it doesn't open on Mondays.

Here's a photo of my garden, taken a few weeks ago.