Ripon and Ripley

A day out to Ripon and Ripley today using public transport. The journey on the bus from Leeds to Ripon takes about ninety minutes and so that's why I'm assuming there's a library shelf on each vehicle...although there were no books or magazines there today - I was quite happy watching the countryside pass by though.

I spent three hours at Ripon and then called at Ripley on the way back to Leeds. Ripon turned out to be pretty much as expected, but Ripley was  delightful, an unexpected pleasant surprise...very busy though.

Slack, Milltown, Woolley, Brackenfield, Lea, Dethick, Riber, and Matlock

The route I walked down from Slack to Milltown is shown as a track on the map but it's actually a tarmaced road for half its length.

I passed some pretty countryside, a horse in fancy dress...and a shed graveyard.

The pub, The Masons' Arms, at Milltown is rather drab and so there was nothing for me to photograph in the village.  I walked along the road for a bit and then continued to Ogston Reservoir using the footpath. Unfortunately there's not a path going along the shore of the reservoir and so I had to use the road to Woolley, and then Brackenfield; the road keeps quite close to the water's edge though...and I did manage to snap a photograph of a lovely cottage.

I spotted another charming cottage before stopping to eat my sandwiches in the churchyard at Brackenfield - the door to the church was locked though.

It was country roads, bridleways, footpaths, tracks, and fields until I reached Wheatcroft and then the road that goes to Lea.

Another nice house...

I only just briefly entered Lea before taking the footpath that goes across the meadows to Dethick; the approach to the church at Dethick from the south is wonderful...one of the best I've experienced.

It was a steady, but gentle climb up to Riber and then a much steeper descent into Matlock...coming down not quite where I was expecting.

Travelling back on the bus to Sheffield I had a long interesting conversation with Matt, a busker about politics, science fiction and Asperger's syndrome; quite lively at times. Very satisfying and enjoyable though - the time certainly passed quickly.

Local County Tripoints

No...I haven't made a 'typo' when writing the title; I didn't mean to type 'trig points.'

A county 'tripoint' is a location where three counties meet. Here's a list of my local ones, starting at the nearest and then moving clockwise. 

South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and North Yorkshire: Right next to the southbound carriageway of the A1 trunk road about a hundred and fifty yards north of the Barnsdale Bar roundabout. The tripoint is located at the edge of a quarry and so there is no public access; the nearest point that can be reached is the bridge that goes over the dual carriageway and I've travelled along there a few times, on the bus, in a car, and even walked across it a couple of times...without realising the significance of the spot at the time.

South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and East Yorkshire [East Riding of Yorkshire]: On the northern bank of the River Went about two hundred yards south of Balne Croft. The closest I've been is the level crossing at Fenwick, about two and a half miles to the west. There's a footpath only about a hundred yards away and so it might be possible for me to visit this tripoint.

South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire: This tripoint is in the middle of nowhere on the northern edge of Thorne Moors; the nearest building is Red House Farm. I think reaching this point would really test my navigating skills in this flat featureless landscape and so don't think I'll bother to try...anyhow I don't think there'll be anything to photograph.

South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire: Almost half a mile east of Ninescores Farm, midway between Wroot and Blaxton. A footpath passes to within about two hundred yards and so I might be able to reach this tripoint. Yet again it looks to be a rather uninteresting location though.

South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire: Right at the crossroads on Thorpe Common and so no problem with getting there and bagging a decent photograph. I've already visited Thorpe Salvin, about a mile and half away to the north west.

South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, and Derbyshire: The only local tripoint on the moors, located to the west of Dunford Bridge. Looking at the map it seems to be the point where the catchment areas of three watercourses converge. To the north the River Holme flows to join the Calder, which then itself joins the Aire, and finally the Ouse, which merges with the Trent to form the Humber Estuary. Flowing to the east are the headwaters of the River Don which flows directly [by a looping route] into the Ouse at Goole. Interestingly the Don used to have two outlets, one a few miles to the west of Goole...and the other entering the Trent along its lowermost reaches. Flowing to the south and then turning to the west is one of the headwaters of the River Etherow which flows into the Mersey, which in turn empties into the Irish Sea at Liverpool. This tripoint is obvious on the watershed between rivers that flow into the North Sea to the east and the Irish Sea to the west and so I'd like to reach it - but it looks to be difficult boggy terrain...and it's a long way from the nearest bus stop.

Pre-1973 Tripoints

Local government in the United Kingdom was re-organised in 1973, re-drawing the boundaries of many of the traditional counties, splitting some into smaller units, and abolishing others altogether. Prior to this date Doncaster was in the West Riding of Yorkshire and my local county tripoints would all have been located in different places...and there were fewer of them.

Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire: This tripoint would have been about half a mile to the north west of the current South Yorkshire/Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire equivilant near to Ninescores Farm.

Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire: About half a mile south of the current location of the present South Yorkshire/Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire tripoint on Thorpe Common. Nearby Shireoaks gets its name from the fact that three oak trees were planted to mark the spot where the three counties met.

Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Cheshire: Located on Withern Moor, a mile south west of the current South Yorkshire/West Yorkshire/Derbyshire tripoint. Interestingly it isn't on the line of the watershed. Of course, nowadays neither South Yorkshire nor West Yorkshire has a stretch of boundary shared with Cheshire since the eastern salient was transferred to Derbyshire in 1973.

All of these tripoints are listed with links to interactive maps on this website:

http://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_tripoints_of_English_counties

Litton, Cressbrook, Litton Mill, Miller's Dale, and Topley Pike

The blisters I picked up on my walk on Saturday weren't too bad and after a couple of long soaks in a hot bath and covering them with corn plasters held in place by fabric dressing they were fine today; I only did six miles today though.

The bus arrived on time at Litton, and after taking a few photographs in the village I headed off along the footpath which goes across the fields and stays on the high ground just to the west of Cressbrook Dale.

It was sunny when the bus left Sheffield, but it wasn't now - there were a few spits of rain and a cold wind. There was plenty of sunshine to follow though.

The path reaches the edge of the woods at the top of the valley and after a few hundred yards there were some steep steps leading down into the dale; the entire hillside was covered in wild garlic...and I could certainly smell it. I'd not walked down here before, one of the few stretches of footpath in this part of the Peak District that I haven't.

On the way down I got chatting to a very nice woman who was part of a family walking group; she showed me her recently taken photograph on her tablet of a couple of 'amorous' frogs...as she described them. She was really quite excited.

I soon reached Cressbrook, entering a part of the village unfamiliar to me.

The church isn't very old, it was built in 1902.

Most of the buildings at Litton Mill have been converted into holiday cottages but I can remember visiting thirty years ago when they were derelict. there's a pleasant paved sitting area where I ate my sandwiches before climbing up onto the Monsal Trail and onwards towards Miller's Dale.

There are two groups of old limekilns at the side of the trail at Miller's Dale.

There were no abseilers on the bridge today.

When I reached Blackwell Mill Cottages I couldn't find the footpath I needed, and no-one could help me with the directions and so I just walked down the track to the main road at Topley Pike. That's twice now I've not been able to find the footpath that goes through Woo Dale to Buxton.

I had thirty minutes to wait for the bus back to Sheffield; I didn't fancy walking along the road to pick up another footpath so that I could finish my walk at Buxton as intended - there's no causeway, or even verges as I recall, and there are several dangerous blind corners. My other option was to cross the road and walk down Deep Dale, looping back to Taddington. I've been walking in Deep Dale twice in the last few weeks and both times it was muddy and waterlogged. I'm fed up with the wet conditions underfoot - so I stayed put.