Lose Hill, Castleton skyline, Winnat's pass, The Buttresses, Snow, snow, QUICK QUICK - SNOW!

.....or; 'slow, slow, sat nav, slow'!

Our first day off in THREE WEEKS! We had worked hard, and we deserved it. It dawned (for a change) JUST how the weather men said - cold, sharp and clear - PERFECT for walking. There was a sprinkling of snow on the high ground, so I decided we'd do the Castleton skyline walk.

Sue had been given a new sat' nav for Christmas, so we turned it on. ( http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nWFj3fPLx8I ). We knew the way, but just wanted to see which way it would go. A big surprise was; 'at the end of the road - turn LEFT'????? We ALWAYS turned right, but we let her have her head, and followed the instructions.
I wish someone had told her that it had been snowing;

I soldiered on, but it WAS very dicey! It's probably a great way to Castleton in good weather, but I think I'd give it a miss on the way home, and go via major roads.

The views across the fields gave us a taste of what was to come. The skies were clear, pristine and bright
We soon arrived in Castleton, found somewhere to park, and set off.
To say it was cold was an understatement. Sue didn't start to feel her feet for about an hour, and it hurt my teeth to breathe, but that was all just small asides - what mattered were the SUPERB conditions.
A quick look left, and there was Mam Tor - the 'shivering mountain'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mam_Tor

We saw this young Shire horse in the frost and snow.

The sun, as it rose, came through the trees with a magical light. The fields had that frosty mist on them, the one where you KNOW it's damn cold just by looking at it.

We walked along the road to Lose hill hall, and set off on the climb to Lose hill.
This track doesn't look steep in the picture, but believe me - it WAS!

A glance back to the Hope valley revealed the only carbuncle in the area - the Hope cement works.

Ah well, just keep looking forward then, there were PLENTY of great views today.

I had been given a snowman hat for Christmas, so I thought I'd give it an outing.

It seemed like ages since I'd heard the 'creak' of fresh snow underfoot. Today I was reminded just how much I love that sound. Every footstep brought pleasure!

Looking right, we could see the tip of the Derwent edges.

But it was time to press on for the top. Sue is just about there in this picture.........

....and her reward was this spectacular view along the ridge to Mam tor (left), with Rushup edge beyond, and Brown Knoll to the far right.

Not many people about today, but I managed to get two walkers in this pic with us!

The Edale valley, and the southern edge of Kinder Scout. We thought there'd be even more snow up there, but as you can see, not much more than where we were.

We set off, with huge smiles on our faces, towards lunch at Mam Tor. I had packed my favourite canned soup - Heinz tomato - JUST the thing, with a hunk of fresh bread, to warm the cockles of your heart on a day like today.

Deep and crisp and even.

The shivering face of Mam tor, from Back tor.

Looking back to Back tor.

The old, collapsed road was a sliver of silver with the coating of snow.

This picture of the sky tells it all, what a GREAT day to be out.

We eventually reached the top of Mam tor. The sun was now beginning to get lower, and the final hundred feet or so we walked in shadow. NOW you could feel the biting cold eating into even the warmest of clothing.
(We still had another layer though, just in case it got any worse)

Someone, the Peak Park, I imagine, had added six icons, or pictures, depicting events on Mam tor.

Again, the Sparrowpit road, like the old road, was picked out in the snow, snaking across the moors.

Our next destination - the gorge of Winnats pass.
When the old road collapsed the last time, the road up this pass was improved to take the increase in traffic, and the old road was abandoned.

Come on Sue - get the snow shoes on!

Looking back to the face of Mam tor in the lengthening evening shadows.

A solitary vapour trail over Winnats pass.

The road, as it snakes down the pass.
These limestone cliffs make for a really impressive walk at any time of year, but when there's snow, it's probably at its best.

You just have to be careful, and watch where you put your feet.

SUE!! I said CAREFUL!

Oh, now she's just plain showing off!

Towards the end of the walk, and this is cave dale.

Soon, we were surrounded by the smoking chimneys of Castleton, and back at the car.
The light was fading, and the sky was turning pink in the evening glow of the sunset.

It had been a super day, and when we woke the next morning, it was drab and wet, so we felt even better that we had 'stolen' another good day to walk.

We felt it was well deserved!

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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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