Monyash, High Peak Trail,

We got out AGAIN last week, but not had chance to do pics until now. We went to the village of 'many ashes' (or Monyash as it's now called) and set off in bright sunshine and shorts (at this point, remember the adage 'ne'er cast a clout 'till May is out).

This tells you all about the village of Monyash, a ten minute drive from our cottage. This is where the walk started from. If you click on the picture, it will enlarge and enable you to read it more easily.

The village green and church, with the lovely daffodils standing proud. We're really looking forward to the next 'event' in the calendar - the bluebells. There are just a few dotted here and there, but a week or two will see them at full strength.
The village pub 'the Bulls Head', taken at a jaunty angle (lying on the floor).
No - I HADN'T been for a pint beforehand!


Looking back across the pond to the church as we walk out of the village.

Lots of lambs in the fields, the air was full of their bleating - lovely!

A lovely sight, but look at the sky - this was a short time before the snow came. At this point it was getting cooler, but we had NO IDEA what was coming in the next 15 minutes!

It was a blizzard, and a very fierce one too which lasted for about 40 minutes. Luckily, we carry all the gear, but even so we had to shelter behind a wall from the driving snow, and even with two pairs of gloves on, I was losing the feeling in my fingers (that's the reason I didn't get the camera out for a mid-blizzard shot).

It may have been cold, but the flowers knew that spring was on the way, Celendine clumps were everywhere - next stop, the BLUEBELLS!

After the amazing snow storm, the sun came back out with a vengeance, and in no time at all, the snow had melted and the land was STEAMING.

This is an old rail line (google 'high peak trail' and 'parsley hay').
There's cafe in this old station building, and we had a welcome cup of hot tea. It took a while, but we thawed out and continued the walk.

NOW look at it - a lovely day.

You know what they say - if you don't like the weather in England, wait five minutes, it'll change!

(Or is that Scotland??)

On the last leg of the walk, we passed a smallholding with lots of strange animals on, probably one of these 'rare breeds' places. This pair of Emus looked like a right pair of bookends!

This Llama was really inquisitive, but I never trust them as I've seen how far they can spit!

As we drove back to home, one more picture of the sky tells a story - just LOOK at it!

You can see the rain straight ahead - and Bakewell and our home is in that dip!

Sure enough, when we got home, the rain was hammering down but at least we were now warm and cosy inside. Hope it's nicer next week - I should then have some pictures of the bluebells.

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Hathersage, Abney, Abney Clough, Stoke Ford, Eyam Moor, Callow farm

This weeks walk was from Hathersage, and took us over Offerton and Eyam moors. The weather forecast was for a changeable day, and that's just what we got!

The sky looked very angry as we continued our first climb of the day.

From this picture, rain looks imminent, doesn't it?



Ten minutes later - and it looked like this.
You can see that's the same hill in the distance (Win hill).

I am always the optimist, and today saw the first outing of my shorts!

What a stunning view from this farmhouse.

That's Hathersage in the dip.

One minute we were ready to unzip the coats, and almost took them off......

.....but it's a good job we didn't, as it was really chilly up on the tops.

We crossed this moor, and dropped into the hamlet of Abney.

I didn't take this on the day, it was taken a few days later but is such a nice picture, I thought I'd include it. Half an hour after it was taken, the snow had melted off the daffodils.

This lovely clump was in Abney.

The beautiful path through the woods down Abney clough to Stoke ford.

Looking back to Stoke ford.

The view to Higger tor (left) and Bamford edge.

Sue takes the climb out of Abney clough in her stride.

The light today really accentuated the drystone walls and the patterns they make.

The long climb up to Eyam moor.

This is usually a good place to stand for a pose - but not today, it was REALLY windy.

A last look back in sunshine - five minutes later, the rain set in and I put the camera away.

But - I COULDN'T resist taking a picture of this. It MUST be the most horrible caravan I've ever seen! God knows what they thought when they did this.

This is a short video of the panorama from lovely Callow farm.

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Ladybower, Alport Castles, Howden Reservoir, Cronksley Moor cabin, Slippery Stones, Derwent Valley

We were EXCITED!! We had a WHOLE DAY to devote to walking and, when we looked out of the office window - on the tops, we saw SNOW! YIPPPPEEEEEEE!

Knowing that usually, in the High peak of Derbyshire, there is more snow than on the lower ground, we got booted up and ready to walk the whole day in what promised to be a winter wonderland. However, the further North we went, the less snow we saw. Were we disappointed? Well, take a look at the view that greeted us. Would you have been?

No - us neither!

Don't forget, you can see a larger version of any of the pictures by left clicking on it with your mouse. If you want to save the picture to your computer, right click on it and select 'save picture'.

We decided to park at Fairholmes visitors centre, at the side of Ladybower reservoir. Our route was then over the top of Hagg side to Lockerbrook farm, then onward and upward to Alport castles, the largest natural landslip in Europe.

The morning sun lit the reservoirs to a shimmering expanse and it was beautiful. Despite the lack of snow, today gave promise in lots of other ways. The light was particularly good for photography. The walk up through the woods made us feel good to be alive!


I paused to look up - this is what I saw.
The pines reaching for the warmth of the sky.

At the top of the woods, this small gate leads out onto the hillside and we were greeted by the fabulous blue hues of our winter sky, tinged with just a sprinkling of snow.

We turned left, and got our breath back along the flat track with views forward to the Southern edge of Kinder Scout. That hunch you see on the horizon is Back Tor on the Lose hill to Mam tor ridge. You can always pick out its distinctive shape.

Here's Sue, ready for the day, with Woodlands valley behind her.

We walked along the edge with only the odd sheep for company.

Now we walk mid-week, we get much more peaceful walks.

The business part of the walk!

Alport Castles.

This is quite a dramatic picture, but it's much more so in real life. The side of the hill has literally slipped down into the Alport valley, leaving a distinct edge that we walked along.

Looking back along the edge.

Note the three walkers to give you some sense of scale.

After the Castles, we turned sharp right and dropped steeply back down towards a finger of Howden reservoir, but we then turned left again at the bottom, and started the long climb up onto Cronksley moor. The day was still really clear and living up to the mornings promise. It was cold, but perfect for walking. We saw lots of impressive icicles hanging from the peat.

Here's a happy lad!

Our goal for lunch - our favourite shooting cabin, where we had lunch. Surprisingly, there were two other couples there and we spent lunchtime in pleasant conversation.

The road onwards was a dream come true, with inviting views of Derwent edge. Although the days were now drawing out, we'd neither the time, nor the light, to visit the edge, which would have added maybe 2 hours to our route (which was already 7 hours long).

We dropped off the moors to meet the young river Derwent. We forded this (and I got a boot full of VERY cold water), and then followed it as it wound down the valley towards captivation in the reservoirs. Here I am at the bottom of Cranberry clough, posing on a small footbridge.

This is Slippery stones bridge. When the reservoir chain was flooded, it would have been submerged, but it was disassembled and re-built at the head of the valley, where it now stands today.

Sue sits and reflects on a perfect day.

Not over yet though, as we still had to walk the length of the reservoirs to get back to the car.

A tranquil scene.

A small puff of cloud lends itself to a photo.

To really make it perfect, the water would be dead calm and reflect the land & sky.

I can't remember us having had a lot of rain recently, but the reservoir chain was full to capacity and the water was flowing over the top of the Howden dam.

Looking back to Howden dam, the sun just catching the Eastern tower.

A zoomed shot onto Derwent edge, and one of the many weathered rock formations.

We got back to the car about 5:30PM. It really had been so perfect today that we were sad it was over. We'd walked 15.6 miles, and taken in almost 3,000 feet of ascent. This was our last view of the reservoir before climbing into the car and wending our way home. Beneath this picture are a couple of short videos, the first time I've put any on blogger.

Here I am near the shooting cabin, showing you the panorama over Derwent edge.

I've not quite got the hang of the sound yet, so you can't hear me talking (but then it's all about what you can see, not hear).

And here's Sue, walking on after lunch.

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