17 August 2018

Sillydale

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.
Old barn at the south end of Silly Dale
Just a couple of horses at the head of the valley and at the southern end a derelict barn and a bull standing on a mound observing his harem of brown cows below. Yes - Silly Dale was something of a disappointment. 
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.
Bull in Silly Dale
Above him you can see typical drystone walls - not fences!

12 comments:

  1. 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.

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    1. Those 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.

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  2. I just called you a Silly Billy on my blog, before I even read this!

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  3. Some great stone walls in Silly Dale.

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    1. There were a lot of micro managers around in those days. Husbands preferred to spend their daylight hours building walls.

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  4. I 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!

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  5. I 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!

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    1. I 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.

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  6. What 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.

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    1. The 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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