Sunday April 17th was a good day for a walk. I parked just south of "The Flouch Inn" and donned my boots ready for a ramble that would take me up onto the nearby moors. Mostly the sky was blue with sharp spring sunshine illuminating that wild countryside but half way through the walk, while I was mooching around the ruins of Hordron Farm with its magnificent Georgian sheepfold, a mass of grey cloud drifted eastwards threatening rain. Fortunately it didn't fall and I continued following The Little Don River in bright sunshine to an ancient crossing point through which countless gallons of recently fallen rainwater were surging.
I decided not to cross.
During the walk I saw many lovely things. Lunky holes in stout stone walls. Evocative ruins. A baby rabbit sitting stock still in that wonderful old sheepfold, a sleeping newborn lamb that woke to find me towering over it like Gulliver, a peregrine falcon hanging in the breeze, northern lapwings scouring a sheep pasture and those brooding moors rolling like dark ocean waves towards The Derwent Valley.
What a joy to be out there, tramping the miles. And I would like to report to my concerned Queensland correspondents that SuperPud's sore right hip held up well and didn't give me any extra gyp. Hopefully, I will be out again plodding tomorrow (Tuesday) as good walking weather is predicted once more.
By the way, a lunky hole is a colloquial term for a hole set in to a stone wall in sheep farming country. Its purpose is to allow controlled movement of sheep without having to use faraway gates.
Gallery:-
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| "I want my mummy!" |
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| "I want my mummy!" |
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| Georgian sheepfold at Hordron Farm |
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| Marker stone on Hordron Road |
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| The Little Don River with a tumbledown sheepfold |
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| A peewit or northern lapwing |
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| A lunky hole with view to Swinden Lodge |
What a beautiful spot, and yet again, more lovely photos. You're really introducing us to places we didn't know existed - and not an ice cream van in sight !
ReplyDeleteThank you CG. I suggest you park your "Coppa" ice cream van near to a school just before chucking out time.
DeleteWhat wonderful photos! The baby animals and the lunky hole are my favorites. Thank you for continuing to share these places with us!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Jennifer. Next time could you please put some apples in our picnic hamper? I hope the blister on your left foot is healing nicely now. I told you not to walk in high heels!
DeleteAnd YP, I wanted to thank you again for the comment you left for me on John's blog. (I was afraid you might not go back and read my reply). Your kind words made tears come to my eyes. You're a good friend and I appreciate it so much! I plan to put your last few lines on a notepad in my purse:
Delete"My advice is to simply be super-nice at work. Rise above the worms down in the compost bin of gossip and bigotry. You are much better than that. Smile at them like The Lord Buddha."
That made me feel so much better!! :)
I think that when people are happy, contented with their lot, they haven't got space in their lives for the nastiness that your manager unkindly reported to you. Chin up Jennifer and go into work content in your own skin and confident about your innate worth. Before too long you will have a different job anyway.
DeleteWe have those holes in our walls up here for the sheep to go through, but I have never heard them called lunky holes. Interesting word.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that they will have different names in different regions. I would be interested to find out what your master and other farming folk around Bellerby call them Mrs W.
DeleteI need glasses
ReplyDeleteI thought your post read
Hardon
On my reader
Ha! Ha! I don't think there is a place called Hardon but it is or has been a surname. Over to Wikipedia:-
DeleteHardon is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
John Hardon (1914–2000), Jesuit priest, writer, and theologian
Joy Hardon (born 1921), Australian fencer
Are you by chance a Jesuit?
Hang on, there is a village called Hardon in India...
DeleteIm going
DeleteBeautiful photos as always Yorkie. I do enjoy your walks.
ReplyDeleteThank you Leishy and thanks for calling by again.
DeleteThank you for answering the question that had formed in my mind as I began to read this post, Yorkie. I'm glad you hip held up during your roaming through the gloaming.
ReplyDeleteThe lamb and the bunny are beautiful little fellows. Cute bird, too. Did you tell it the bus had already gone by? :)
I told him the bus had already gone but he just kept saying "Pee-wit, pee-wit" which in avian language means "Bugger off!"
DeleteHe was looking for a toilet with a seat up!
DeleteBut he has no hands so how can a peewit hold his peewit?
DeleteA great walk with all kinds of history. The stone walls always amaze me. It must have been an incredible amount of work.
ReplyDeleteThe old man I met at Foolow a couple of weeks ago said that more work had gone into the building of Derbyshire's stone walls than all of the pyramids of Egypt and you k ow what, I think he was right.
DeleteI LOVE the lunky hole!! I've never heard of one and now I want one here on our farm for the goats. Only problem is, there are no rocks in this part of the county, darn.
ReplyDeleteIs the stone next to the hole used to cover the hole to keep the sheep in (or out)?
Lunky hole, lunky hole. You Yorkshire people come up with the funniest names for things!
The stone is used for both in and out Mistress H. I am glad you have also become a fan of lunky holes. They are so cool!
DeleteThat is a sheep fold and a half. I doubt the shepherd lived as well.
ReplyDeleteI could have easily missed it, walking along the top track to Upper Hordron. It was down in the valley hidden from view. I have never seen a more well-constructed sheepfold Adrian.
DeleteWell the sun is shining brightly on this side of the Pennines, so I fully expect you to be out walking again today. Sadly, some of us have to work!
ReplyDeleteMoney isn't everything Ian! I will be thinking of you as I wander out later.
DeleteThis was the perfect read for my return to blogland after a few days of being incomunicado thanks to my room-swapping-and-redecorating project.
ReplyDeleteLove the lamb and baby rabbit (who wouldn't!), and of course the impressive sheepfold and everything else in this post.
Most of all, I am very glad to read that your hip is not at all sore anymore, and we (including yourself) can all look forward to many more hikes and walks with you!
I am glad my pictures pleased you Meike. I know you would have loved to see the sheepfold and indeed the remote ruins of Hordron Farm's farmhouse.
DeleteLove the last shot of the stone wall and the first two of the critters. I'd love to see one of those lapwings. Are they around in summer, or only in spring/fall for migration?
ReplyDeleteI am not an ornithologist Steve but occasionally I will spot them - spring, summer or autumn. I have never read up about them but they are very characterful birds. I love the sound they make - "pee-wit, pee-wit".
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