Especially for Canadian visitors to this blog - including Red, Pixie and Jenny - I took this photo of a farm sign earlier today. It was out in Derbyshire, south of the main road that links Matlock and Alfreton. There was once a bit of a fashion in England to name farms after faraway places and I have seen several of them but I think this is the first time I have seen one that bears Canada's name.I was out south of Chesterfield, bagging a few photo squares that had eluded me and getting some walking exercise too. Not far from Canada Farm, I spotted this lone sheep crouched upon his forelegs with Moorwood House beyond him - at least I think the animal was a ram. He appeared more stocky than ewes of that breed.
Earlier on I had parked at Stretton Cemetery - a small rural burial ground. This grave caught my eye. There are no dates and only William Nutt is specifically remembered. His relatives are just "The Nutt Family". I like the simple legend "In Fond Memory". Ridgewell Farm is just a mile away across the fields but the owners are no longer "Nutts". They rent out attractive farm cottages. What ever happened to the "Nutts"? It's such a great surname.
My last photo-gathering halt was at Toadhall Furnace, north of "The Amber Hotel" in an area known as The Amber Valley. The old hotel sits on the course of an ancient Roman roadway called Icknield Street or Ryknild Street that began at Bourton in Glocestershire and advanced in a fairly straight line through The Midlands and up into Yorkshire. Little remains of it apart from the say-so of historians and archaeologists who know about such things.
It is worth reminding ourselves that The Romans were here in Britain for over four hundred years and no doubt thousands of legionnaires marched by here in those four centuries. We live in 2024 but none of us can remember 1624. The Roman occupation spanned that amount of time.
Finally, this is just one of my new "Geograph" images showing the main Midland railway passing over Back Lane at Stretton. Fast trains speed by here, connecting Sheffield with London.
I was back home for 4pm when I immediately set about preparing a beef stew for the evening meal with swede, carrots, potatoes, lentils and dumplings. It turned out really nicely and Mrs Pudding gave it a five star review. There's even some left over for her to have for her lunch tomorrow. I am going to see a football match.
I think I might be in love with Moorwood House.
ReplyDeleteNice day! Lovely pictures, as usual. I don't understand the erosion between little plots of land where your ram is pictured. Is that water erosion or done deliberately to keep the herd there without fencing?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know what swede was so I looked it up and it could be a kind of turnip or a relative of the mustard plant. Have a happy weekend, you lovebirds!!
Yeh us! (Canada). Very few farms are named here. My relatives call their farm Royston Farms after Royston where some of the family lived. Now I'm going to start looking for farm names. Hi Pixie and Jennie.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos. I once worked with a wonderful nurse whose last name was McNutt.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize the romans were in England for so long, 400 years is about 16 generations.
There was a Terry Nutt working at the cheese making factory when I was there long ago, perhaps a distant relative of those Nutts in the cemetery. I like all your old English buildings but that barn looks in need of a little TLC. Or a coat of paint.
ReplyDeleteYou've not heard about Sheep Yoga? It's the latest trend in animal welfare!
ReplyDeleteMy other sister-in-law and her family live in Shirland, Alfreton. I've only been there once and found it a pleasant area.
Good point about the Romans. "Northerners", the book I reviewed here
https://librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com/2023/12/read-in-2023-31-northerners-history.html
of course dedicates a good part to them, also explaining what a multi-cultural and -ethnical society "the Romans" and their families formed - legionnaires from all over the vast Roman Empire made up the people living and working together in the many forts, settlements and cities, not to speak of the slaves of the wealthier ones who often originated from places even further away.
PS: I imagine the Nutts family gathering at a large country pub or hotel for a special birthday, wedding or funeral, and the owner there saying to his staff "They're all Nutts in there!"
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely place for a walk, especially in such good weather. Is there enough beef stew left over for me?
ReplyDeleteExcellent photos as always YP. You have enjoyed some good weather on your travels.
ReplyDeleteThe beef stew sounds very tasty.
They could name farms after my favourite Canadian Prog bands: Rush Farm, Saga Farm..
ReplyDelete"Grandpa, why does that sheep only have half its front legs?"
ReplyDeleteThe Nutts with such a name would be popular in the US. I've heard a lot of nutting goes on there.
I've been looking at dates for Roman occupation of Britain and the dark ages and medieval times. It is hard to imagine how an average person would have lived but from what I now understand, the dark ages weren't as dark as some suggest. That part of the human race went on, so clearly men and women still had fun together.
The architectural balance of the Amber Hotel pleases my eye, even if the patrons aren't always so balanced when they leave.
If the Romans had stayed perhaps there would be less potholes.
ReplyDeleteSue, didn't Romans use cobblestones for roads? Yes, less potholes but a bumpy ride.
DeleteWe always called it turnip at home. Never heard of swede until later.
ReplyDeleteps it is clearly a ram.
I was driven to look up swede, turnip and neeps. Swedes are a bit different to turnips, though I read that Scots refer to swedes as neeps, or nips, coming from the word turnip.
DeleteThat sheep, be it ewe or ram, does indeed look as if it is doing yoga.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up "swede". We call it rutabaga here in the states. I'd never heard of it by the name swede before.
Lovely pictures.
Looks like a great walk! There's not even a birth or death date on the Nutts. They are enigmas.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know when you're in a Geograph "square"? You've probably explained this before and as I recall you don't have a smart phone -- so are you working from a paper map?
Nice photo adventure today, Neil. How nice to see the sun shining!
ReplyDeleteA nice walk, it has been warm here, mild today, time for a walk.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the sheep with the male genitalia is definitely a ram, or perhaps a transsexual ewe that underwent reconstruction surgery.
ReplyDeleteI have more than a few "Nutts" in my family tree, especially along the lower branches.
I wonder if the Nutt's were teased throughout their life for their name. I imagine lots of silly comments and nicknames but I suppose they would be used to it. Or maybe people didn't do that back then...
ReplyDeleteA lovely round Robin
ReplyDelete