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| At the north end of Silly Dale |
Yesterday I put on my clown costume and went to Sillydale - sometimes written Silly Dale. Silly Dale is a short, dry limestone valley just north of Wardlow Mires in Derbyshire. How it got its silly name I have no idea. Perhaps President Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion should be renamed Silly Dale. You could say the same for 10, Downing Street in London.
Having parked in the charmingly peaceful upland village of Foolow, I made my way across the landscape like an earthworm. First to the hamlet of Grindlow and then south to the head of Silly Dale. I was expecting to find giggling people walking backwards or riding on unicycles while juggling bananas but there was none of that. Not even a monument to Spike Milligan.
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| Old barn at the south end of Silly Dale |
Back in Foolow I lifted Clint's tailgate as I removed my colourful clown's outfit. Regarding country walks, please store this piece of advice - Avoid walking in oversized, floppy clown shoes. Even in Silly Dale I think it is probably best to wear proper walking boots.
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| Bull in Silly Dale Above him you can see typical drystone walls - not fences! |
Lovely... those drystone walls are a marvel. We have them here in Victorias' western district also - a skill brought over from various countrymen of the British Isles.
ReplyDeleteThose walls still fill me with wonder Elle. So many man hours and not a blob of cement. Some of the walls in the north of England are a thousand years old.
DeleteI just called you a Silly Billy on my blog, before I even read this!
ReplyDeleteSpooky Sue!
DeleteSome great stone walls in Silly Dale.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of micro managers around in those days. Husbands preferred to spend their daylight hours building walls.
DeleteI wondered if the Fool of Foolow and Silly were linked, but the internet website I found gives the following explanation.... both names come from Anglo Saxon English and have entirely different meanings than in today’s language. Foolow means multi-coloured hill, possibly a reference to nearby Eyam Edge. Silly is Old English for pretty. Now we know!
ReplyDeleteYou silly lass!
DeleteI wonder if "Silly" in this sense is at all related to "The Isles of Scilly" -- even with the different spelling, if what Addy says above is correct maybe both names stem from prettiness. I haven't Googled this so I could be totally wrong in my speculation. Either way, what a Silly name!
ReplyDeleteI have discovered that the "c" in Scilly was a late and deliberate addition because the word "silly" had gradually developed the new meaning that we know today.
DeleteWhat a beautiful bit of countryside. My eyes must be failing because I do not see any horses, but those drystone walls are very attractive. Did you visit the bull in your clown suit? I hear they like that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteThe bull and I talked bull together. As for the horses - sorry, I did not take any pictures of them - your eyesight is fine!
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