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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Derwent Dam Museum, Cronksley Moor, EXTREME BBQing!!!!

PLEASE! IF YOU DO TAKE A BBQ INTO THE WILDS, MAKE SURE YOU PUT IT OUT, TAKE ALL LITTER HOME, AND LEAVE NO TRACE.

Today I re-visited Cronksley moor. It's only three weeks since I was up there last, but Colin (my brother) came walking today, and we decided to carry a BBQ, with all the accoutrements, over 14 miles, and up 2400 plus feet of climb. We decided we had started a new craze - extreme BBQing!!! I'll tell you what - I had all the food, and I really knew I was carrying it, as my shoulders ached with the extra weight. Colin took charge of the wine.

Talk about lunatics, and asylums HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Anyway, here we go. The day dawned just as the weather man had predicted, a nice day. We set off from Fairholmes visitors centre on Ladybower reservoir.

We walked up the left hand side (looking up the reservoir), and stopped for a look in at the Dambusters museum, which is housed in one of the dam turrets. This is a privately run museum, and is open Sundays, and bank holidays. It's free to look round, and is a great place to learn all about the dambusters, the bouncing bombs, and also the building of the dams. There's a wealth of photo's, artefacts and nostalgic pieces in the museum, and the guy that runs it is always helpful and chatty. Some of the photo's are from private collections, never seen before and unpublished. If in the area, please take time to look in.


This is what the bombers would look though when they dropped the bouncing bombs to destroy the Rhur dams.

A replica of the actual bouncing bomb.

Some of the contents of the museum.

This memorial is to Tip, the faithful dog, who's master died up on the moors.
Tip stayed by the side of his body for FIFTEEN WEEKS in the depths of winter.

With all the damp weather we've had lately, the fungi is starting to sprout, now it's warming up a bit.
This is a fly agaric. Pretty, poisonous, and very hallucinogenic!

I don't know what these are called, but they look lovely.

THIS was our goal, the shooting cabin. I know it doesn't look much, and it's not, it's VERY basic, but on a wet day, there's no more welcome sight. Today though, the weather was perfect, so we soon set about rustling up lunch!

WAITER......WAITER - where's my lunch????
(Notice - wine already poured)

COMING right up, sir!

First course, garlic, ginger and blue cheese stuffed Portobello mushrooms, with French bread.

Main course - lemon chicken kebabs, sirloin steak, roasted baby peppers.

(Yes - the peppers are SUPPOSED to be black - you just peel off the blackened skin to reveal the sweet, juicy flesh, and boy, they taste GREAT!)

THIS is the life!

After the meal, we set about walking back. You can see a short video here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N40D4A05ZxQ

There are a few berries showing on the moors.
We saw some bilberries, and these, which I thought were lovely.

The river Derwent below us. Not nearly as much of a torrent as three weeks ago.

Colin deftly negotiates a crossing. Again, three weeks ago, you couldn't see those stones he's treading on.

A gaggle of Canada geese.

After this, it began to rain lightly, then turned heavier. Luckily, Colin had a new brolly, so that kept us dry until we got back to the car. 

A really good day, leaving me pleasantly tired. This kind of tired is great, satisfying, and makes you feel like you've actually DONE something with your day. Hope you enjoyed the pics.
Les

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Derwent Valley, Cronksley Moor, Alport Valley, Rowlee Pasture,

Yesterday, we decided to cock a snook at the forecast, even though it was DIRE. I am SO glad, as it turned into one of the best walks for AGES, probably in my top 20, and that's saying something. It did rain, but I had a secret weapon - I carried an umbrella! I've never done this before, but Nicholas Crane (of the 'coast' program on TV) always has one, and as a lot of showers were forecast, this time I took one. I have to say, it was BRILLIANT! Usually, in the summer, wearing a coat is purgatory. You get SO warm, especially as today had over 3,000 feet of climb involved. The brolly seemed to answer all these problems, and boy - was I glad I had it. It rained only 4 times, and never for more than 15 minutes. The brolly saved the day every time, I even had my lunch under it's protective cover. For the record - here is 'umbrella man'.

The walk started at the middle of the three dams in the Derwent valley, called the Derwent dam. The bottom dam, Ladybower, does not allow water over the top, it goes down two HUGE 'plugholes'.
As you can see from this pic, there was a hell of a lot of water coming over the top of Derwent, and the upper dam, Howden, was just the same (as you will see).

I wish you could hear the roar of this cascade, to stand at the side of it was exhilarating!

A much more serene scene - looking back to Derwent dam.
That right turret houses a very good 'dambusters' museum.

The view looking up the Derwent reservoir. This is the 'quiet' side of the res', and I only saw about 8 people in total, most on bikes. After I left the reservoir and progressed up onto the moors, I saw no-one for six hours.

Next was the Howden dam, with its own impressive overflow

Looking across Howden dam. The water was moving quite swiftly, and yet looked sort of still?

Looking back to Howden, only the turrets are obvious above the water.

Looking forward. This is where the people ended. You can see the path leading off into the wild blue yonder.
I always feel excitement when I see this, I can't explain it, I just go all shivery, and can't wait to get out there.

There was quite a lot of evidence of damage from the recent floods.
Here, part of the path had collapsed and washed down the hillside.

Slippery stones bridge. This was originally further down the valley, but when they flooded the valley, they dismantled it and rebuilt it here, at the top of the valley.

Further up the valley, the stream had increased in size from what it was usually - something I didn't think about!
To continue my intended route, I had to cross it. What to do?

Only one thing for it!

After my spot of wading, I climbed up onto Cronksley moor. NOW the views were really getting good!

I stopped at my favourite shooting cabin on the moors, and took time to sign the visitors book. The grouse shooters come up here, but they don't walk, they come in land rovers.
This is what happens after a few seasons.
Remember, this track was originally at the same height as the top of the walls each side!

On the far side of the moor, the track starts to descend. The views here stopped me in my tracks. Today was just about as perfect as you can get, both temperature wise for walking, and air quality wise for pictures.
I described it as; 'a good to be alive day'

How green was my valley??
THIS green - that's how!

I always try to get the smaller picture too. This little beauty was captured by my lens.

You CAN drink this water - if you're REALLY desperate!
Look how brown it is from the peat.
It would be VERY acidic and hard to swallow.

Looking back as I climbed up ditch clough towards Alport castles. It was here I got my third shower.

It's OK guys - relax - I've only got an umbrella!

I crested the rise to be greeted by a really strong wind that would tear lumps out of you! NO chance of using the brolly up here if it rains. But look - doesn't this view of Europe's largest natural landslip, Alport Castles, make it worthwhile?

A happy bunny (Speaking of which - I saw TWO hares today, both had lost their white winter coats though.)

As is so often the case on the moors these days, a flagstone path runs most of the length of Rowlee pasture.

At the end of the ridge, and just before I lost height, I was treated to a sunny view of the Derwent reservoir.

It was a day of paradox.

One minute, a sky like the one a few shots ago. Next, it looked like this.

As I said, shortly after this, I got my last shower of the day.
Was I disappointed? On a day like today, it was hard to wipe the smile from my face. It was a ten of a day by any standards, and I was reluctant to walk to the end of it. However, as I drove home, the rain REALLY came down and the roads were flooded.
I felt really blessed at what I had had today.

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