Unstone

General view of Unstone

A day of sunshine today. I was up and away just after nine, ready for the ten mile drive over into North East Derbyshire which borders the southern suburbs of Sheffield. Past Meadowhead and Low Edges then on through Dronfield on the B6057 till I reached Unstone. Left turn then up the lane to the main village where I parked Butch - my Nissan Juke.

Boots on and I was off in the sunshine - a six mile circle to complete. Heeding advice from a few well-meaning blog visitors, this morning I ate a bowl of porridge with a mashed banana in it and half a spoonful of honey too. There was proper fuel in the Pudding tank.

I walked through two tiny villages that are served by unclassified roads - quite off the beaten track. They were Hundall and West Handley. If I had then walked a further mile eastward I would have reached West Handley's sister villages - Middle Handley and Nether Handley.

In West Handley, I saw this sad plaque on the side of a house:-

I undertook a little research about this awful event and discovered that Eliza and Benjamin were not only husband and wife but also first cousins. A contemporary newspaper described Ben Hudson as "an idle, ignorant, selfish and cruel-hearted man". The fatal beating he gave Eliza with a hedge stake was as horrendous as it was unjustifiable. Ben Hudson was tried and found guilty of murder at Derby Assizes Court and later hanged in Derby Gaol.

Path across a field of sugar beet

Given recent rains, some of the paths I was following were quite treacherous so I walked with caution to avoid slipping down. As Monica (Beyond the Lone Islands), Jason (Arctic Fox) and Elsie (Drifting Through Life) have recently reminded us all, having a fall can have very regrettable outcomes for senior citizens. I did not wish to join that list.

It was a lovely, varied walk. I saw some things and made good use of a sunny morning at the very end of November.

Thatched farmhouse in West Handley