9 December 2017

Monyash

Yesterday morning I tied Clint up outside "The Bull's Head" in Monyash. Snow had fallen over night and the Derbyshire landscape had a wintry Christmas card look about it.

As I donned my trusty walking boots, it crossed my mind that later on I might treat myself to a drink and a bite to eat in "The Bull's Head" when I got back. I zipped up my Hull City manager's coat and rooted around in Clint's bottom for my thermal hat and fingerless gloves.

First of all I had a bit of a wander around the Peakland village after realising that I had never seen its old church. Unfortunately the building was locked but I took this picture of St Leonard's from its snowy churchyard:-
 And then as I headed for Fere Mere - the village pond, I came across this little track. Conveniently, sunlight was spotlighting the rather unique wooden street sign:-
It was time to set off out of the village, across snowy fields and over ancient limestone walls - up to a long moorland track called Hutmoor Butts that used to connect the long abandoned Hutmoor Butts lead mine to the old Roman Road that links Buxton with Ashbbourne.

It was a mile to the main road and the going was hard with small snowdrifts amassing in the lee of the limestone walls. In one field a bewildered herd of young bullocks stood shivering, wondering where their grass had gone.
Twenty minutes later I approached an old farm hidden in a hollow. Its name was quite magical - The Whim. And close to The Whim a small flock of sheep thought that I was a farmer bringing them a welcome bag of food supplement. Instead of running away from me they ran towards me till I felt like the pied piper of sheep, leading them across their snowy pasture. The bolder ewes attempted to nuzzle my thighs and I had the feeling that if I fell over in the snow I myself would become sheep food.
Two and a half hours after setting off I was back in Monyash. My boots were rejected in favour of shoes and I entered "The Bull's Head" where a log fire was roaring. Though it was now well past the end of food serving time, the landlady agreed to make me a sandwich and I also ordered a coffee. The sandwich seemed rather pricey at £6.75 but when it arrived I was delighted because it was accompanied by a substantial and tasty salad with potato crisps. 

I fell into conversation with a lone woman who had walked six miles from Bakewell and would be walking back as soon as she had finished her leisurely lunch. Co-incidentally, she told me that her grandparents had lived at The Whim and she remembered the harshness of their simple farming life there. No electricity. An open fire with a kitchen range. No running water and an outside toilet with a cesspit. She was grateful to have witnessed the tail end of that basic yet very contented lifestyle.
"The Bull's Head" in Monyash

20 comments:

  1. I love the snowy landscape, and your description of the cozy inn with the roaring fire.

    It's been snowing all around this area although we've only had cold rain so far. Last night I lit the fireplace for the first time this year and we had homemade soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for supper. It was a nice winter's evening.

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    1. I guess your emotions about Edythe's death are still quite raw so it's nice to have some comforting food by a real fire and to think of her as you look into the flames.

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    2. It is nice. We've been staying in and watching old black and white films and just being together. The soup is Edythe's recipe!

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  2. Your photographs are a delight. Pub lunch by a roaring fire sounds delightful too. No snow in Wiltshire, just frost and ice.

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    1. Are you talking about the weather or the hearts of Wiltshire women?

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  3. Gorgeous pictures! Can there be anything more perfect than a lunch of good pub grub in front of a fire?? (I thought pubs in England were modernized and such concepts as "kitchen closed" were a thing of the past.)

    I wish I had a 100-pound bag of sheep kibble for those lambs. Oh, and that I was not 5,000 miles away.

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    1. Pubs certainly are changing in England Vivian. There are fewer and fewer of what I call real pubs - independent hostelries that have evolved through the decades. "Kibble" is a fine word though I had never heard of it until you sprang it on me.

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  4. I loved the beautiful photographs and the story that went with it, well done.

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  5. I can't tell which photo I like the best, Mr. Pudding. What a beautiful day you had! Our weather in the states is all upside down. In my part of Colorado, there has been less than five inches of snow this season thus far and lots of days where the temperature is above 60 (F). But yesterday it snowed in Texas and Louisiana! Meanwhile, California is burning up....literally! Hope you and Shirley have a wonderful winter weekend!

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    1. Regarding America's mixed up weather, I blame the current tenant of The White House. He has disturbed the order of the heavens. Fond regards to you and Ursa Major as yet another Christmas approaches.

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  6. Great pictures! It is the best way to spend a sunny winter's day, isn't it, being out in the fresh air. Your picture of the village church would definitely sell as a Christmas card.
    Poor sheep! They must have been really, really hungry, behaving the way they did.

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    1. I have taken so many pictures of churches but I must declare that I was especially happy about that one. Thank you once more.

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  7. It's a great day when you can be outdoors and find interesting stuff like the curious sheep.

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    1. I am so used to sheep running away from me. It was very strange to have them rushing towards me.

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  8. Late afternoon yesterday around here looked as if it had been snowing...a thick cover of hail covered the ground. To my surprise when I went out my back door this morning to collect the Sunday paper from my driveway there was still a pile of hail up close to the wall in one section...about two feet in length by 9 inches in width. Quite extraordinary!

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    1. Hail in Queensland in December? That is very weird.

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    2. Why would that be weird, Yorkie? It is summer here, after all...and storms are part and parcel of our summers.

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    3. Oh.. In England we associate hail with winter storms - that's all.

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  9. Very nice post.really I apperciate your blog.Thanks for sharing.keep sharing more blogs.

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