13 April 2021

Combs

Clint was fuming. We were stuck in a long traffic jam outside the High Peak town of Buxton. Vehicles were moving forward slowly and haltingly  as we edged towards roadworks where as per usual nobody appeared to be working. We were in that jam for a full hour, doubling my anticipated journey time. I resisted Clint's urgings to "go for it" like a police driver. He promised to yell "Waah! Waah! Waah!" as we overtook the crawling line of vehicles.

Finally, finally I reached the parking spot I had identified via Google Streetview - two miles north of Buxton on the Whaley Bridge road. With brand new walking boots on, I set off on what was a chilly but bright blue sky afternoon. It was just after midday.

And what a delightful walk it was too - in an amphitheatre of north Derbyshire countryside, more or less surrounded by Combs Edge. The tops were dusted with April snow but the valley was green and fresh with new spring lambs resting or frolicking in the old sheep pastures.

The photographic highlight was the grouse shooters' cabin above Allstone Lee. I descended from there on the grouse shooters' track only to arrive at a gate at the bottom that was topped with barbed wire and padlocked. A sign had been fixed to it warning me to "turn around" and that the track now led to "private property". Bugger! Now I had to schlep back up the slope until I could circumvent the sheep pastures and find a different way down to the village of Combs. This all added an extra hour to my ramble.

Then I plodded up Lesser Lane - a steady mile and a half  all the way back to its junction with Old Road - a former Roman route in the far off days when Buxton was a Roman spa town known as Aqua Arnematiae.

I was knackered when I finally unlocked Clint's tailgate at 5pm. My new boots had been entirely comfortable as expected and it had been another really splendid walk. I decided to avoid Buxton on the drive home and headed up to Whaley Bridge instead before cutting down to Chapel-en-le-Frith and then along Rushup Edge back to The Hope Valley and home. I unlocked our front door just before six.

41 comments:

  1. As always excellent photos YP, spectacular scenery, and it's a special treat to see the spring lambs.
    Before I read the contents of your blog today, the photo of the grouse shooter's hut set in such beautiful scenery, made me think "Grand Designs", and sure enough you almost immediately came across a barred pathway. So someone has, we must assume, purchased the land nearby and are possibly negotiating for the hut too. They'll have plans to extend the simple building into a monolithic glass monstrosity totally out of keeping with the landscape, and Channel 4 will be there to film it in glorious colour!
    When you mentioned your new boots I thought "ouch", so I'm glad you had no discomfort. May you, and they, enjoy many more happy hours walking amidst such beautiful countryside.

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    1. They are my fourth pair of boots in this brand. All identical and all Size 11.5. It is a shame that they are not suitable for resoling. As for your "Grand Designs" fantasy...the presenter would be Ms Ceegee, desperately clinging to her frock as the moortop breeze threatens to lift it.

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    2. Well, I hope it is just a fantasy! As for my frock, I can't remember when I last wore one - it's trousers these days - much more comfortable!

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    3. My imaginings have just nose-dived.

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  2. I am not surprised you were cream-crackered after that YP.
    It looks a little bleak up there, but the lambs are very cute.

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    1. I put the lambs in specially for Northsider so that he could go - "Awwwww!"

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    2. "Four legs good, 2 legs bad". Said the sheep after reading Animal Farm and seeing Yorkshire Pudding.

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    3. If I were a character in "Animal Farm", I would be Boxer. Which one would you be?

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    4. Boxer was one of my favourite characters. He worked very hard. I liked Moses the Raven who talked about Sugar candy Mountain where the animals reside in eternal paradise.

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    5. Is there such a mountain on The Sheep Shed Peninsula?

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  3. I swear I can hear those lambs giggle!
    Wonderful scenery, and a good intro for your new walking boots. What was the occasion for them? Did I miss your birthday? (That wouldn't surprise me. If there is such a thing as a World Championship of Missing Birthdays, I must be the title holder for the last three decades at least.)

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    1. My other boots were totally worn down so no "occasion". Regarding the verb "knackered", I almost put in brackets - "To use a term favoured by Mr M.Riley!"

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  4. That photo of the grouse shooter's cabin is lovely. Nice to see that there are other places in the world that still have a little snow.

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    1. We do occasionally get snow in April - especially on the hills - but it never hangs around for long.

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  5. *sigh* The views are lovely. That is my favorite thing about blogs: traveling along on rambles. You all do a great deal of walking over there. I like that the law gives you that right.

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    1. Our network of public footpaths is one of the things about England that I really treasure.

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  6. Well, that sounds like an unexpectedly long adventure, but you got plenty of exercise and some great photos! I'm surprised the path was closed at the gate with the barbed wire. Aren't public footpaths required by law to be kept open? Can a landowner petition to close one? That just doesn't seem right.

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    1. The track was not a public right of way so I guess they had every right to make that gate impassable but it caused me one hell of a diversion.

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    2. Oh! Look at that little lambs!
      My foot is healing and I am so looking forward to some nice walks, albeit short ones at first to see how it goes. No five hour treks for me.
      You are an inspiration, Mr. P.!

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    3. Well- I have never been called that before! Walking is in my view the very best form of exercise - especially for older people - because it happens in harmony with our bodies.

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    4. Oh, I see. I didn't realize it wasn't a public footpath.

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  7. What brand of boots do you wear Mr Pudding? I am curious because Paul needs a new pair.

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    1. TECNICA STARCROSS V MEN’S BOOTS from Decathlon. Now £99.99. Very comfortable and especially so if a man has wide feet like me.

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    2. Oh - and they are waterproof too.

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  8. Did Clint think you might be mistaken for tourists?

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    1. Clint thought we might be mistaken for cops but thankfully I do not look like a copper. I look like a burglar.

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    2. You must be wearing your mask incorrectly.

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  9. I love the word knackered. I've been happy with my Keen boots although they're not for heavy duty hiking. Your pictures are wonderful!

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  10. Are there any grouse left?

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    1. The rich shooting fraternity employ game keepers to mainatin or boost grouse numbers. They are not entirely wild.

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  11. Anonymous11:30 pm

    The remaining snow looks very attractive and how cute is the dozy lamb on the left.

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    1. Coincidentally, the lamb on the left was called Andrew!

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  12. Super country - I was up in the hills today too, though no snow on the Beacons. I have never taken much to Buxton - much prefer your side of the hill .

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    1. Our side is certainly less wet Mr Shed.

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  13. So what had been a public footpath was now private property with little forewarning? I suppose the game keeper was under no obligation to post a public notice, like on the internet. I certainly looked the long hike back.
    If it makes you smile, when I first saw the little building, at the beginning of the story, I thought it looked very like a pump station. In the event you don't handle public utilities like that, they are built here to help the water through the pipes. Or, the sewage.

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    1. Dear Joanne - That track was not a "public rigt of way" and I do not believe it ever has been. I guess the grouse shooters pay the farmer to pass through his land.

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  14. What beautiful views as well as lovely sky and clouds. I love the little stone cabin and the view from the top of the hill.
    Isn't Google Streetview handy for so many uses!

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    1. Yes it is Bonnie. I often use it to identify parking possibilities.

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  15. The photos are glorious, the 'private property' not so. But..........given the public's habit of turning the moors into the dump from hell, perhaps signing such as that should stay. Enjoy all your walks.

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    1. I have walked along several grouse shooters' tracks and this was the very first one that I found barred.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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