Tuesday's walk took in several small Derbyshire settlements - Wensley, Brightgate, Upper Town, Bonsall, Snitterton and Oker. On the eastern edge of the Peak District, close to Matlock, it was an area that had never before felt the reverberations of my plodding seven league boots.
As some visitors will recall, country walking enthuses me for several reasons. I enjoy studying maps and taking photographs, ancient history, Mother Nature, visiting places I have never been before and rambling provides healthy exercise for a sixty year old pork-pied fellow like me. I reckon that each mile I walk probably extends my life - all that cardio-vascular activity, the gasping breath, the sweat on the brow. It can't be bad. And the more I walk - usually midweek solitary affairs - the more I feel that I am engaging in a kind of natural self-healing therapy. There's something vaguely spiritual about it all.
A selection of Tuesday's pictures:-
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| Some guys rave about Formula One, scotch eggs, ice cream machines, new bands... but I get excited aboutDerbyshire's many isolated stone barns and cowsheds - like this one that I spotted after trudging up Masson Hill |
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| The village of Bonsall grew because of lead mining and the knitting industry |
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| A modern replica of "T'owd Man o' Bonsall" - the oldest known stone carving of a Derbyshire lead miner. |
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| A former shop window in Bonsall with two odd and contradictory written signs and a saucy manikin too. If you look closely at my second picture youcan see this window from afar - overlooking the medieval village cross |
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| The village of Oker viewed from Salters Lane |
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| Copse on the ridge by Tearsall Farm as November sunlight bows out too early |
Eee YP, lovely that is. I especially love the second-to-last image. New Zealand villages are so ugly. (Don't tell a soul I said that!)
ReplyDeleteI guess you'll be making the most of your shorter and shorter days. What a treat for us, your walks. Certainly spiritually uplifting for me, if only 'vaguely' for you.
"Eee YP, lovely that is."... Eee by gum, your Yorkshireish language skills are developing nicely Kate! Trouble with the shorter days is you have to set off earlier if you are going to get a good walk in. By three o' clock it's almost evening.
DeleteYou picked another good day for a walk.
ReplyDeleteIt's not an area I particularly like but you have inspired me to have another look at it.
I am glad I have aroused your curiosity Adrian. Bonsall was delightful. I would have liked to explore it some more.
Delete'Pork Pied Fellow'.....surely not after all that walking? I did think of you at the weekend YP when we crossed into Yorkshire...and no wonder you delight in walking over this beautiful land.....green and gorgeous isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by again Libby, now sing along with me...."And did those feet in ancient times walk upon England's pastures green..."
ReplyDelete..."and was that SHEEP on England's pleasant pastures seen?"
ReplyDeleteThose damned sheep were eating the pastures green! Sorry I didn't post a sheep picture this time as I know you New Zealanders drool over the beast.
DeleteYP ~ plodding is your "religion" ~ it is admirable and I am envious of the way you make time for this in your week. Go You!
ReplyDeleteI shall worship the pagan god Plodder and like a pilgrim tread the path to his everlasting glory.
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