The weather forecasters got it right yesterday. It was as if a light grey quilt had been spread across the sky. The temperature beneath that counterpane was mild and the "no rain" prediction was ratified.
Clint kindly agreed to transport me to the village of Hayfield between Glossop and Chapel-en-le-Frith in north Derbyshire. I had found a great free place to park with the assistance of Streetview and magically one of the five spaces round the back of the village church was indeed unoccupied.
I did not expect to take any stunning pictures because of the washed out light as I set off on a circular walk around Chinley Churn which is a long, undulating hill between Chinley and Birch Vale. Up on the top there is much evidence of historical stone quarrying. The land remains scarred but Nature has a way of softening and repairing - taking away some of the ugliness that humans create.
Sitting on a wooden stile at Throstle Bank I had my humble lunch - a banana from Ecuador, a Jazz apple from Italy and a caramel wafer bar from Scotland. The water came from our tap.
Two hours later and back in Hayfield, the sign in "The Village Chippy" window said that it would reopen in ten minutes so I hung about and after an annoying delay bought a portion of chips (American: fries) and a sausage. The delay was especially annoying because the proprietor and another customer were talking bullshit about the coronavirus pandemic and how it had all somehow been engineered by big business and the idle rich. Thankfully, I was wearing a mask to conceal my sneering dismissal of their stupid theory. They were both maskless as well as brainless.
Driving home I listened to a Tom Paxton album on Clint's CD player. I was especially struck by a song he wrote long ago about a fellow singer-songwriter called Phil Ochs who committed suicide in New York City in 1976: "Gone, gone, gone by your own hand".
"Can't you put something cheerful on?" snapped Clint as we descended Winnats Pass.
Funnily enough I was thinking about writing about how lone women walker's feel. I had had a discussion with N my window cleaner. She had taken her two dogs to Cawthorn Roman camps - a safe place because of other dog-walkers.
ReplyDeleteFish and chips, haven't had any since this whole business of Covid appeared!
Go on treat yourself Thelma! I am sure there's a nice chippy in Malton. You could sit in the market square gobbling them! Remember to take your mask off.
DeleteCold Harbour Farm would be a great title for a book.
ReplyDelete"Cold Comfort Farm" is already a novel by Stella Gibbons - though I have never read it. "Cold Harbour Farm" by Dave Northsider would be about how some ruthless bank robbers holed up in a remote Derbyshire farm.
DeleteOr a man held hostage by his cantankerous car (think Misery) at a remote farm.
DeleteI saw the movie version of "Cold Comfort Farm" many years ago. The only thing I remember about it is Joanna Lumley playing a woman with an obsession for lingerie. I never worked out whether she was supposed to be a lesbian or not.
DeleteIn Dave's novel, a starry-eyed tourist from Pennsylvania would pull up in her hire car and ask for directions. The ruthless leader of the gang Reve Steed would drag her inside and force her to make sandwiches before chucking her in the chicken coop.
DeleteCold Harbour Farm looks suitably eerie there in black, white and grey.
ReplyDeleteI like your sheep photo. You always manage to find a pretty one don't you.
I must admit I do like a pretty sheep but I prefer a lamb. No need for small talk.
DeleteCaramel wafers - the stuff of legend! I wonder how many mountains they have climbed.
ReplyDeletePS. I'm partial to a wagon wheel too... and a Tunnock's tea cake...and...
If Scotland leaves The United Kingdom, the import of Tunnocks products should be banned - along with whisky, Pringle sweaters and "The Broons" annuals.
DeleteA jazz apple enjoyed on Throstle Bank. And a grey veil cast over the day.
ReplyDeleteA veil cast over the troubled life of Phil Ochs, remembered in Tom Paxton's tribute.
Circular walk could be a metaphor for the emptiness that suicide leaves behind.
Our mind goes round in circles as we ask ourselves if we could have intervened in some way and saved that person's life.
Think of David Foster Wallace whose novels spoke to a generation.
Or Daul Kim, the Korean model. She wrote in her diary that she felt like a ghost.
Jennifer Michael Hecht wrote a book about it:
*Stay - A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It*.
She speaks on YouTube.
J Haggerty
Sad to say, it is a rich area for reflection. The 31 year old son of some good friends of ours hanged himself just eighteen months ago. So many questions have been left behind, so much sorrow.
DeleteI think almost all women have at least a fleeting moment of apprehension when nearing a man in an isolated place. And we have good reason.
ReplyDeleteI love your baby lambs!
As I said to Lily below, walking alone is different for women. I rarely see lone women walkers.
DeleteCold Harbour Farm looks depressing in the photo. I'm sure on a sunny day it's lovely but then I thought about short, grey winter days.
ReplyDeleteWomen walking alone is far different than men walking alone. I would probably never go to any of the places you go by myself. I was attacked by a man in a public park when I was nineteen years old, slammed against a wall by an ex boyfriend and terrified by a drunk ex husband. Even a man my size is stronger than me.
When I'm an old lady I shall get a huge dog to walk with me and serve as a protector.
If the dog is big enough you can get a saddle for it and ride around the dog park. Walking alone is, I think, different for women. You need to be braver.
DeleteChinley Churn might be another good title.
ReplyDelete"Chinley Churn" - new from England's foremost thriller writer Sir Tasker Dunham O.B.E., C.P.* author of "Death in Shepley" and "The Long Road to Huddersfield".
Delete*C.P. = Cycling Proficiency.
Good for you for biting your tongue rather than contradicting Mr. Chippy. He might have slipped something into your chips.
ReplyDeleteAs I say, I did have a sausage!
DeleteIs that lamb the same one you saw the other day YP? If so, you're either being stalked or he gets about a bit!
ReplyDeleteI can empathise with the lone woman walker. Over the years it's crossed my mind about the risk I might be taking out in the (English) countryside, even when walking the dogs. Not a problem here as I keep nearer to civilisation these days. Most people I meet are also walking their dogs and quite happy to pass the time of day.
Very atmospheric photo of Cold Harbour Farm - just the right setting for a dastardly murder or two, with Inspector Yorkshire Pudding solving the case!
It was Coppa's Girl in The Billiard Room with a wrench.
DeleteI have a strange feeling that I have read Cold Comfort Farm. Can't remember much about it though. I seem to recall it was a very odd novel.
ReplyDeleteThe whole issue of being a man on his own makes me very glad that I'm the age I am. I would hate to be going through the process of dating and so on these days.
You would need to have a shower, spray yourself with manly perfume like "Butch" or "Neanderthal". Then don a suit and pick up some flowers from the petrol station. Also it would be important to avoid using swear words on the first date. I can see how all of this would be a big challenge to you Graham.
DeleteYou always have wonderful walks! And then of course, you throw in a little history.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you bother to read my walking posts Red. Thanks!
DeleteI know you do not enjoy a cloudy day for picture-taking but I appreciate that you do so anyway, because I enjoy them greatly. There is something calming about them to me.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I enjoy your other photos, too. A mix is good!
It is challenging to get good photos under cloudy skies. I am usually disappointed with the results Jenny.
DeleteCold Harbour Farm (not unlike Cold Comfort Farm) looks beautiful but 'challenging'. CCF is, of course, in Sussex.
ReplyDeleteSussex? Is that where the great Duke of Sussex is from?
DeleteAnother good walk in beautiful countryside. Aren‘t the various shades of green this time of year particularly gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI am never worried walking on my own out on the fields or in the woods. What makes me uneasy sometimes is walking on my own in certain parts of town at nighttime, when folks are about that appear to be up to no good. that is especially the case at and near the train station, but due to the pandemic, I have not been in such a situation in a long time.
Out on the fields and in the woods, I simply don‘t believe someone with sinister intentions would hang around on the odd chance of happening upon a lone female walker. When I see others walk there, I assume they are there for the same reasons as I, and not because they plan on committing a crime.