Monsal head, Longstone moor, Three Stags Heads and Geoff Fuller, the potter!, Cressbrook Dale, Water Cum Jolly dale

This week we planned to go up onto Kinder Scout with a couple of friends ( http://peakwalks.blogspot.com/2008/06/kinder-surprise.html )
but the forecast was really dire, so we decided to put it off. Sue & I decided to do a more local walk, over Longstone moor because, when we woke up, the sky was incredibly blue and clear!!! We cursed the weather man, and got ready to go. Following the pattern of the last week or two, by the time we'd got ready, it had started to cloud over and as we drove up to Monsal head, where we started the walk, the skies darkened and it started to rain. The sun was trying to get through, as you can see, but the rain made us jump back in the car to see if it would pass.

Incredibly, after one or two more false starts, it DID pass, and we set off in hope.
Now that Autumn is well over and we're into winter, there are very few leaves left, so wood walking is far more drab.
Still some nice fungi to 'spot' though.
These are birch brackets, or 'razor strop' fungi, so called as they say you can sharpen a cut-throat razor on it by 'stropping' it on the rough surface of the fungi.

As we gained height onto the beginning of Longstone moor, we looked back to Monsal Head.

This is the view as you top out on the moor. The sky still looks black, and we had our waterproof coats on but, touch wood, it hadn't rained again since we left the car. The wind was a cold & cutting westerly though, but the coats kept it at bay.

Again the sun tried and tried to pierce the heavy cloud, here it is picking out a farm in the distance.

Our first goal today was the Three Stags inn at Wardlow mires. One of our favourite pubs, it is PACKED with character. The main one is Geoff Fuller, the landlord. Although the pub is now only open at weekend, we decided to just take a look - and we were lucky! Geoff's other passion is pots and his work sells for quite respectable prices. Geoff saw us, and came to the door and invited us in. We felt really honoured, as he can be quite a private person. He showed us all around the old cow shed , which is now the pottery, and allowed me to take pictures.

Also, he went into the pub and brought us a pint of beer! This is Geoff with one of his bespoke beer mugs. You KNOW you're special if he makes one of these for you.

A close study of Geoff applying colouring 'slip' to the pot.

These are the various brushes he uses to get different effects with the slip.

A 'Three Stags' beer mug, ready to be fired.

One of his square plates, ready for the kiln. He says he loses about one in three of these when they are fired.

Pat is also a potter. Where Geoff has his own electric fired kiln, complete with a door. Poor old Pat has to make do with a home-made version!
It really looks unsafe to me, but what do I know? We were amazed to learn that Pat has to brick up the front every time she does a kiln of pots! It DID strike me there was no door to this Heath Robinson affair, but to have to go to all THAT trouble, it MUST be love!!

FIRE in the hole!

Thar she blows.

After the lovely tour, we took our glasses back into the closed bar. It gave me chance to take a couple of pictures. This is the bar, nothing fancy at all, dogs rule here.

The 'house beer' - deadly in pints at 8% gravity!!!
(Sorry the picture is a bit blurred - it wasn't the beer - honest!)

DON'T ask for lager in the Three Stags!

And here is the 'piece de resistance', this is a PETRIFIED CAT, which was found down an old mine shaft. If you look on top of the case, you can also see a petrified RAT.

All too soon, we had to leave to continue the walk. We crossed the road and entered Cressbrook dale. A short way along the dale is this lump of limestone called 'Peter Stone'.
The dale was VERY flooded from recent rains, but passable.

Looking back along the dale, you can see how much water was in it.

The weather was still holding out for us though, and a glance up the steep dale side showed blue sky.

....but a look back showed the threat of rain.

"I know, let's sit and eat our lunch before we get to the top - we'll be more sheltered".
This was what Sue said, so we sat in a force ten westerly and ate our home made spicy pumpkin soup, caraway seed bread and Emmental cheese.
The views weren't bad though.

We continued, through the now leafless scrub, to the bottom of the dale.

We passed this amazing tree trunk, which had fallen across the path.
Look at the twists in the trunk. How did that happen?

We next reached Ravenstor cottages, usually inhabited by climbers for the crags opposite.
I am told that only one is permanently lived in, the rest are all holiday cottages.

Finally, we got to Water cum Jolly dale, where I KNEW the mill race would be in spate, and therefore good for pictures.
After this, it did start to spot with rain, but only a little, and we arrived back at the car reasonably dry, and VERY happy with our day.

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Tideswell, Monks Dale, Millers dale, Chee dale, Wormhill,

Although the forecast wasn't great, we set off on a lovely morning. We parked at Tideswell, walked west up the hill and over to Monks dale. Here we turned left and dropped into the Dale. Monks dale is not a really popular dale, mainly because it's very hard going and treacherous underfoot. It's overgrown and damp. This makes for lots of moss and greenery, but also like walking on ice, so you have to be careful. After Monks dale we reached Millers dale. The we went into Chee dale where the first of the rain came. We had lunch under the viaduct, which I have abseiled off in the past, and walked past Wormhill springs and into the dale proper. We had good access across the stepping stones (which can become submerged and impassable in very wet conditions). At the end of the dale, we reached Great rocks dale, but turned North and over the tops towards Tunstead. Before this village, we then turned east and passed through Wormhill. We were disappointed to find the stocks locked, so we couldn't get a picture of us in them. Shame! The rain came again as we climbed out of the village and over again to Monks dale head, where we simply re-traced our steps back to the car. A good and tiring day, with a lot of good photo opportunities, I hope you'll agree. Don't forget, click on any of the photo's to see a larger version.


Here we go then, as we left Tideswell, we got this lovely view of the church, known as 'the cathedral of the peak'

As you can see, there were a LOT of large cumulus clouds about, but benign at this point. However, we realised that could all change in a moment.
These are particularly good field patterns.

I just love this photo....................

Here are a few pics of the fauna and flora we saw.
Sue knows more than me on the names, but I take the pictures :-)
I'm not sure what this grass is called, I just thought it was lovely with subtle pinks and greens.

This is easy - a buttercup!

Two studies of scabia - new.........

......and old.

A nice Cranesbill geranium (Sue tells me).

Again, no idea what berries these are, but they are fabulous in colour and intensity.

I saw a log COMPLETELY covered in dozens of different greenery. Mosses, lichens, ferns, etc etc, so I just lay down with the camera and shot this. I'm really pleased with this one.

These small, black fungi were on the next log.
They look somehow alien, don't you think?

I managed to shoot this Red Admiral as it landed on a scabia.

Always a favourite of mine - a lightning tree against a blue sky.

The entrance to Monks dale. Look fairly innocuous, doesn't it?

Then you see the conditions underfoot.

This spider was busy trying to catch a few flies in the dale.

At last we left the heavy undergrowth and started to climb up the side of Monks dale.

The path became more passable as we got to Millers dale. It was really pleasant to walk beside the Wye with the babbling water for company.

As we turned the corner, we saw the huge viaduct, one of many on the Monsal trail. This was a train line from Buxton to Rowsley, so the people of Buxton could get to Bakewell, Haddon hall, Chatsworth etc. It cut right through the heart of the peak district, with no obstacle too great to surpass. It leapt great valleys, and bored through great hills. Now, most of the tunnels are closed for safety reasons, and the line is now a Mecca for bikers and walkers. The viaducts attract abseilers, and I have 'done' this particular viaduct myself a few years ago. Exhilarating stuff when you lean back, I can tell you.

At this point, the rain came again. We just had time to eat lunch under the arch of the viaduct though. We then set off for Chee dale, our next dale. Chee dale can flood quite badly, and stepping stones have been laid to try to increase the chances of getting through. The going underfoot in Chee dale is, again, very difficult and slippery. It's really rocky and muddy in places, but it is also one of the most beautiful dales in Derbyshire, especially in a morning mist.

Sue negotiates the first set of stepping stones.

Then my turn........

This dale is also very good for birdlife, with many dipper there. I've seen HUNDREDS of these birds, but today, for the first time, I heard TWO singing, one after another. Their song is nothing special, it's a sort of chattering, twittering sound, but very pleasant all the same and Sue & I stood and listened for ages. I recorded one of them, and the video will be on my 'peakwalks' blog later this week.
Here is a picture of a dipper.

The towering 'Ravens Tor' limestone buttresses. Some of the highest in the country. I've stood right on the top of these, and the view is stunning. looking up to them isn't bad either!

See that walk, click:

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I ask you - what more could you want out of life? This was what Sue and I call a 'good to be alive day'. The rain had stopped (for now) and we were in heaven!

Does anyone know the number of a good roofer?

This character wanted a word as we passed by.

We dropped into the valley, back to the head of Monks dale, before retracing our steps of this morning and heading back to Tideswell. The same view as this morning, but in a different light. A great day, despite a bit of rain, and hardly anyone about. That's the advantage of walking mid-week, we can park easily, and NO crowds.
Hope you've enjoyed the pics and text, sorry that there's a lot but I SO love taking them and recording the walks we do. I hope to get a new, even better, camera soon (it's my birthday), so will be even more eager to 'shoot'.

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