11 February 2021

Hope

View to Mam Tor (The Shivering Mountain)

We live on a hillside and our road faces north. When there is snow and icy weather - as we have had this week - the road surface can be treacherous. This is the reason why Clint has been in refusal mode.

"If you think I am going out in that you have another thing coming!" the stubborn vehicle retorted.

However, this morning he relented. We could see dry tarmacadam and a couple of vehicles passed by as I was pleading with him to take me to The Hope Valley. I was desperate for a long country walk and I reminded Clint that I  recently bought him a new "Pirelli" front tyre.

"Oh go on then!" he said.

                                See how the powdery snow is blowing on the slopes of Lose Hill

We were in the village of Hope twenty minutes later,  Clint parked himself in a sunny spot on Edale Road - then with boots on I set off across snowy fields towards Lose Hill. 

View to Hope Cement Works

It was a lovely day to be rambling in the Hope Valley though in places the snow had drifted  and I found myself knee deep in the white stuff. From Lose Hill Farm, I headed down to Castleton  before following the nascent River Derwent back to Hope.

Once there was a little antique shop near the village church -  called "Living in Hope". Sadly, that business folded some time ago. I think Hope is a great name for a village and indeed  for the  valley it sits in . Near Lose Hill Farm I took this picture of a signpost. During a deadly pandemic, we all need to find  the path to Hope...

46 comments:

  1. Once stayed in a bunkhouse near Hope cement works. Lovely part of the world near the Galloway cattle.

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    1. Bunkhouse? I thought it was a jailhouse!

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  2. I remember from 1992 that President Bill Clinton grew up in Hope, Arkansas, and that one of his campaign slogans was “I believe in a place called Hope”.

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    1. I also believe in a place called Hope because I visited it today!

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  3. A perfect match of image and text.
    The Shivering Mountain beckons us, *Climb me, climb me.*
    Your camera caught the powdery snow, and the tree bark etched with Hope.
    I am glad little Phoebe is tucked up warm on days like these.

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    Replies
    1. No summery birthday parties for that little one John. Not ever.

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    2. As a Capricorn too, I can vouch for that - and the fact that you sometimes only get one present to cover both Christmas and birthday! However, Phoebe could always be like the Queen, and have an Official Birthday too!

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  4. Anonymous10:06 pm

    You've had quite a good fall of snow. The look of snow in the city is so different to the look in the country.

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    1. That's true Andrew. Have you ever seen snow in Melbourne?

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    2. Anonymous1:31 am

      Not for a long time and I don't think it has ever settled within the city area, but certainly has and does on the nearby mountain range. Although it didn't settle, it snowed here one Christmas Day, which is a month into our summer.

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  5. Such different scenery there from where I am! That marshmallowy-looking snow! Very timely post, I think because yes, we all need hope. Every one of us.

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    1. Some winters we do not get any snow at all but this year we are experiencing a proper winter - yet still we hope for springtime.

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  6. What a great photo of the Shivering Mountain in the snow. It certainly made me shiver just looking at it.

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    1. Thank you JayCee. I like that simple picture too.

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  7. This post made me feel quite homesick...I´m an ex-pat Yorkshire lass and know Mam Tor, Lose Hill and Hope very well having walked there often!

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    1. I see you live in Brazil now. I guess there are a lot of nuts there. Thanks for calling by and I am glad that this post brought back some happy memories.

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  8. Clint is a curmudgeon sometimes, isn't he?
    Why only one new tyre?

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    1. Only one tyre got a dirty great nail through it and repair was impossible.

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    2. T
      Just one new tyre - that's lucky YP., here we'd have to have two new front (or back) tyres if one needs replacing.

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  9. Wonderful scenery. Hope is a lovely namw for a town. I hope you still have all your toes after tour walk

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    1. I nearly fell down twice but managed to right myself. I didn't want to give you a cheap laugh!

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    2. Shame. I actually come here for the cheap laughs.

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    3. Maybe that's all I am good for.

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    4. You seem to cook...and you are an expert grandfather. If you and Clint squabble, you almost always win.

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    5. My heart is duly lifted Debby.

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  10. I always thought the expression was "you have another *think* coming".
    Not to be a pedant or anything.
    And yes, I know the song says "thing" but the song's wrong.
    Still cranky here. Sad is probably more accurate.
    And sore from shovelling two feet of snow out of the driveway earlier this week.
    Sorry. I won't comment any more until I can be less cranky. Deal?
    By the way, your little granddaughter is beautiful. She is very bright and aware for only three weeks old, isn't she? I'm glad you're getting to see her often. Give her an extra little pat on her tiny back for me next time, will you?

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    1. I was just over at her house this morning and I said that Jenny in Nova Scotia wished to say hello. Strangely, this made her cry.

      I never knew that "think" preceded "thing" in that everyday saying. Thanks for that.

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  11. It's a little different hiking when you have to walk through new snow. At least it wasn't cold.

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    1. Not cold by Canadian standards - that is for sure!

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  12. I think I have mentioned before that my Uncle David in Thurnscoe is part of a group of volunteers who renovated an old barn above Hope and manage it now as an accomodation for groups of disadvantaged children and young people, giving them a chance to get away from the cities and learn about nature and working together. I once spent a weekend there with Uncle and Aunt; much of the path is only accessible on foot or with a 4x4 car - Clint would have blankly refused to go up there, and rightly so!
    Was the antiques shop in Hope the one where the owner made his visitors sing Celine Dion songs with him? We did - my Aunt sings at weddings and in the church choir, so she was all for it, and delivered an impressive show :-)

    Love the picture with the powdery snow blowing about - I am thinking of nicking it for a future edition of my Yorkshire calendar.

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    1. Well you are welcome to do that Meike - I could send you a copy of the original to your e-mail account but please remember that it is across the border in Derbyshire.

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  13. PS: In case you - or anyone else - is interested, here is a link to the barn's website:
    http://www.crookstoneadventuretrust.org.uk/index.php

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    1. I have walked right past that barn on several occasions.

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  14. There are two villagers in my country which lie next to each other
    Caergwrle and Hope
    And there is a local saying


    Live in hope die in caergwrle

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  15. A lovely name for a village. We could all do with living there right now. We've had tons of that white stuff here this week. It's still lying around on our road and my car is covered in a 3 inch blanket of it so my Heidi the Hyundai has been sleeping peacefully.

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    1. Clint is also a Hyundai. If he connected with Heidi they could make bubble cars together.

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  16. The photo of the sign pointing towards Hope deserves to be framed and put on a wall as a constant reminder :)

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    1. Where lies Hope? Far away but I may get there one day.

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  17. That IS a great name for a village. Beautiful country, as always! I have never heard the word "tarmacadam." I've heard "tarmac" and I've heard "macadam." I will have to look this up and see how they all relate.

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    1. I like to keep you on your toes Steve.

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  18. Caergwrie is a lovely name as Addy said: I shall look it up online.
    Is there a back post on Mam Tor, the Shivering Mountain?
    How long would it take to climb, on a day without snow?
    What direction would we see from its summit?
    That snowy hill is haunting me as is Caergwrie.

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    1. Mam Tor is an easy climb depending on where you start from. Even starting from Castleton you can be up at the top in an hour. Have you seen the Channel 4 continuity link where the tall robot is walking above a valley. It is the same valley! The Hope Valley.

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    2. Thanks for your reply.
      What can I see from the Tor? Farther than the county boundary?
      Small hills are special perhaps because they ARE an easy climb.
      I have a book, *English Mountains*: the title alone fascinates me.
      Auden's line reminds me why I like regional writers:

      Clearer than Scaffell Pike, my heart has stamped on
      The view from Birmingham to Wolverhampton,

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    3. You can see along the Hope Valley to Castleton, Hope and Hathersage. Above Castleton there's Peveril Castle. Above Hathersage there's Stanage Edge. I love that valley as I love Edale which is on the other side of Lose Hill.

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    4. Thanks. I'll follow these places online.
      As Freud said at the end of his letters, *We shall return to this again.*

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