Penistone,Thurlstone and High bank.

25/02/2018.

Decided to stay local [South Yorkshire] for this mornings walk. Well I say local, but its still a fair drive to Penistone, probably about 25 miles. The hill country in South Yorkshire is so underated, this is probably due to its closeness to the Peak district.Everyone rushes through South Yorkshire to get to the Peak park, which is a pity as there are some great walks around these parts. When I woke this morning I couldn't decide between Bradfield or Penistone, a toss of a coin and we were bound for Penistone. Its a fine little town situated on the South bank of the River Don. It is said to be the highest market town in the whole of Yorkshire although there is not much of a market there these days, since the closure of the Cattle market.

We started off along the Trans Pennine trail for a mile or so before turning off to drop down to the village of Thurlstone. It felt almost spring like. Although I have heard talk of a cold snap heading our way. Don't think I will pack my thermals away for the year just yet..I like Thurlstone [once away from the main Manchester road]..A proper Yorkshire feel to the place.

We gained height quickly as we walked up to High bank, some lovely old stone cottages along here.We soon left the village behind and some grand views opened up. Several folk about today, walking dogs, Riding Horses, jogging and cycling...good to see people enjoying the countryside, its like one big playground. I saw one particular bloke walking towards us with 2 massive dogs, he suddenly disappeared, only to pop his head up from behind a wall, "lovely morning" he said loudly in a Bristol accent. I said to him "I thought I was going mad as you disappeared so quickly"....."I'm a Ninja" he replied...he was a character..

Near the top of High bank we came to the wind farm on Spicer hill. Like them or loathe them you certainly cant ignore them. I quite like to see them, they certainly add something to the scene.

Downhill now as we headed back to the Trans Pennine trail. We came across a field of Penistone white faced sheep also known as Whitefaced Woodland sheep a hardy bunch of locals that have been reared around this area for hundreds of years.

Back on the Trans Pennine trail now all that was left was to follow the disused railway track back to Penistone..Birds were singing and the sun was out, heavenly.There is no better was to spend your free time..Back in the town I couldn't resist a look around the churchyard. Its a really nice spot.

Only 6 miles but its a cracking little walk....An area I shall be returning to soon.

Eyam...Village of the Damned.

18/02/2018.

A dark, grey, miserable day. But a walk around Eyam and the weather is soon forgotten as there is much to see here. Think of Eyam and what instantly springs to mind?, Obviously the Plague that swept through the village in 1665, around 260 of its residents died. During this time the Plague was kicking off big style in London where it is said to have claimed 60,000 lives. The folk of Eyam would have thought they were safe here, away from the Rat infested streets of the cities. And this was true until on 7th of September 1665 a local tailor bought a box of cloth from London. As he unpacked the cloth he unwittingly realeased some plague infected fleas...The Tailor was the first to die. Soon after other villagers fell victim. Something had to be done, led by the rector, William Mompesson, the village put itself into quarantine. No one was allowed in and no one left the village for a period of around 14 months.Without this action the terrible disease would have spread like wildfire around the country.

The walk today started with an amble around the streets of the village, admiring the many interesting buildings, Notably Eyam hall that was closed as we passed. This lovely old Jacobean manor house is looked after by The National trust and is worth a closer look. [but not today]

The Church and churchyard are also worth a look..Many interesting features here including an old Celtic cross that dates back to the 8th century, an old sundial that dates from 1775 and the Tomb of Catherine Mompesson, the wife of the vicar, William Mompesson.

We left the village via Lydgate where we saw the Lydgate graves in a small enclosure, these are the graves of George Darby and his daughter Mary..We set off across an extremely muddy field heading down to Stoney Middleton...On the boundary of the village of Eyam we came across another interesting feature of the Plague, The boundary stone, This was as far as the people of Eyam were allowed to venture, This stone has several holes drilled into it, into which the folk of the village would place coins soaked in vinegar, as it was believed to kill the infection. In exchange for the coins outsiders left food and Medical supplies.

We dropped down to Stoney Middleton, another interesting village steeped in history. It is said to have Roman connections. From Stoney middleton it was up and up on a steep path through trees to eventually come to yet another Plague site. In the middle of a field to the east of Eyam we came to the Riley graves. Here is the spot that Elizabeth Hancock buried her husband and 6 children. More victims...It is said that she dragged their bodies up to this lonely spot.

Back in Eyam now we fancied a cuppa in the tea room, it looked jam packed with cyclists so we pressed on up to Mompessons well...Named after William Mompesson, this is another spot where medicines and supplies were left for the people of the village. Mompesson also conducted services here throughout the ordeal. Services are still held here every August to commemorate the heroism and the self sacrifice of the entire community.

I enjoyed this fascinating walk.

Ramsley and Big moor.

11/02/2018.

Our walk today started from the little car park at Shillito woods above Ramsley moor in Derbyshire. We nearly didn't make it here due to the adverse weather, the snow whipped across the road, covering it and I was beginning to think about turning back as we slipped and slid along the road from Owler bar. However no heavy snow was forcast so we decided to carry on to Shillito wood. The walk was to follow a route that is completely new to me, so we were in for a treat. We booted up and set off down the road in weather that quite frankly you wouldn't send a dog out in. Our dog on the other hand didn't mind and was soon rolling around like a fool.It took a while to get into the walk as the strong wind was giving us a bit of a battering. Wont be taking many photos today I thought. I did manage to whip the camera out to get this shot of the rough weather.

Soon after passing the little reservoir on Ramsley moor the weather calmed down [a bit]. Now we could begin to enjoy the walk. Its a decent path along this part of the moor.

Crossing the Owler bar to Baslow road and we were now on Big moor, Much quieter on this side of the moor, We could see people scurrying along like little ants along White edge which is situated on the western side of the moor. Its a place with a lot of historical connections Bronze age settlement sites, Cairns and field systems are dotted around the moor. There are also 3 stone circles here on Big moor and we were lucky enough to visit one on our walk, it goes by the name of Barbrook 1 and is a typical small embanked stone circle. Standing close to the path this is a circle of about 12 or 13 stones on gently sloping ground above the Bar brook. There are many stone circles around these parts and I hope to get round to visiting more of them some day.

We continued along the track up to Barbrook cottage. This lonely spot on the moors was once home to the reservoir keeper but is now the office of the Eastern moors partnership who look after these moors, what a grand job to have...

We enjoyed walking through the snow up here, no other walkers about although we did meet two or three cyclists following the tracks, enjoying their day. Heading downhill now and the snow began again. Most peoples thoughts will be starting to turn to spring now,but I'm hoping to get a few more snowy walks in this winter first... Winter goes far to quick for my liking, in no time at all we will be moaning that it is too hot, lets enjoy winter for a while yet.

Downhill and we picked up the route of the Peak district boundary walk, the path is a quagmire along here, I have heard that the mud never dries up all year round as the water drains down from Ramsley moor creating a bit of a swamp, still for a new walk  I enjoyed it on the whole and will be returning to do it again, at only 5.5 miles its a great walk for a half day. Back at the car park,one more thing, I had to visit the old Cross in the woods, probably erected in the 13th century by the monks of Beauchief abbey as a guide for early travellers across the moors. Well that's another walk over, looking forward to the next.

Pateley bridge and Brimham rocks.

04/02/2018.

I always found it odd that Nidderdale was excluded from The Yorkshire Dales National park when it was designated in 1954. The reason given was that the three reservoirs,  in the upper reaches of the valley had spoilt the natural environment. In a way I suppose this is something to cheer about as exclusion from the park has left the valley much quieter than the vast majority of the dales. It has however been made into an AONB [An area of outstanding natural beauty] and anyone that visits this beautiful dale can instantly see why. Our walk today was to explore the mid reaches of the valley around Pateley bridge and Brimham rocks. We parked up beside the river in the showground car park £1.80 for the day which I thought was reasonable. We sat in the car for a few minutes waiting for the wet snow to stop. It didn't last long and we were soon booted and off.

Walked up the main street, stopping at regular intervals to clear up after Alfie, why do they always show you up like that?..We headed up to the old church of St Marys high above the town. Now just a shell the old church is worth a visit, having great views above the town and across the dale. We picked up the path that is known as the Panorama walk, a popular walk in Victorian times apparently. Its a nice walk [dry],we were soon well away from the town.

After leaving the lovely tarmac of the panorama walk, we soon entered another world...a world of mud, never seen so much and we slipped and slithered along the Nidderdale way, a 52 mile circular long distance walk. I wouldn't mind walking it in its entirety, maybe in summer,allowing time for some of this mud to dry up.Before long we came to a farm that was a bit unusual as it was a place where you could go trekking with Llamas..i wondered if you had to clear up behind them like you do dogs?...At £39 for a 2 and a half hour session I don't think I will be walking any Llamas in the near future.Bloody cheek,why don't they walk their own Llamas.

We pressed on heading uphill towards Brimham rocks. Snow showers came and went. we could see the rocks on the skyline.

It was snowing quite heavily as we made our way up to the rocks, but upon reaching them the snow stopped and a fine mist came down,it was most peculiar and quite creepy, thinking back now I can remember the silence. It felt like people or things were watching us from the rocks. These are not just rocks but I cant quite put my finger on it, they reared up all around in every direction. It felt strange, not really scary, just strange....I remember feeling like this a few times before, notably on Stanton moor, Bodmin moor and at the Stiperstones in Shropshire.

There are paths going off all over the place up there, its quite a big area. We picked a path and suddenly all changed, all around were people, a visitors centre, a refreshment kiosk and dogs, loads of them charging around, rolling in the snow, letting off steam. After a butty break we carried through more rocks, weird and wonderful rocks. Many of the rocks have wonderful and weird  names such as The Camel, The Sphinx, The Turtle and The Dancing Bear...All good stuff.

We walked through the car park on the way out, £8 for the day [ well that's the national trust for you].

Downhill all the way now to Smelthouses and Low Laithe where I noticed lots of Dafodils in bloom Couldn't believe it as its only the 4th of February, I suppose our winters are getting shorter. A bit like my legs.

Back in the valley bottom now all that was need was to follow the path alongside the River Nidd back to Pateley bridge via Glasshouses. Its been a good walk, Nidderdale has really left a good impression.