These Boots Were Made for Walking

Chasing rainbows

2012-01-08T02:21:00.000-08:00

The last attempt at walking to these masts was cut short and as the bank holiday was such a gorgeous day I decided to keep walking until I found them.

The day was so pleasant that it didn't seem like January at all.

I got as far as Fisherwick (by Lichfield) which is within spitting distance of the tall one. At this point I'd done 15miles (= 30 miles for the round trip) and was doubtful about the hooves carrying me all the way back. It was completely dark half way back but the sky was so clear and the moon so bright that I could see clearly and had a very strong shadow. I was also fascinated with two stars so bright that I guessed that they were planets and later identified them as Jupiter and Venus.

Chasing Rainbows, a set on Flickr.

Radio Mast Walk

2011-12-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

This is probably the first time ever that I've set off without a route planned.

The concept was simple, to walk towards these radio masts until I reached them and found out where they are.

They're just about visible from my house (but only on a clear day or at night when they're lit up). My man says, "That'll be Tamworth or Lichfield". "There's no way they're that far away" I said, and to prove it I set off with the intention of reaching them in a couple of hours. This (above) is as close as I got in the time I had but I believe he's right with Lichfield and more importantly it was a fabulous walk with some wonderful views.

One to do another day with a few more sarnies and more time. One thing I was very pleased about - the compass bearing from my house is 240 degrees (south-west-ish) and by following public footpaths and roads in that direction (without being able to see them very often) I was able to stay very close to that course - after 6 miles the compass bearing was still exactly 240 degrees.

New circular route by Rutland Water

2011-11-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Distance: 5.4 miles
Terrain: gentle incline to about 40 metres above starting point
Location: Rutland / Leicestershire [location map]
Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 234

A very misty November day, perhaps not ideal conditions for looking for good views, but it did make for some nice pictures, and it was patchy and therefore clear in places.

This new circular route is a very pleasant walk, taking in a mediaeval village as well as some very pretty contemporary villages (Brooke and Gunthorpe). The off-road paths are well-waymarked and the inclines are gentle.

For more details about the route, please see its new page at uk-walks. Photos from the day are below.

Rutland Water Brooke circular walk, a set on Flickr.

2011-08-07T07:40:00.001-07:00

30m Trent and Mersey walk, a set on Flickr.

A training walk for the Ivanhoe Way, I intended to walk 25m without a firm plan. On return i found I'd walked 30, so feel almost ready for the 36 of the Ivanhoe.

Lathkill Dale and Youlgreave Spring 2011

2011-04-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Lathkill Dale and Youlgreave Spring 2011, a set on Flickr.

Walked:21 April 2011
Distance: 11.5 miles

Today I walked the shorter version of my Youlgrave and Lathkill Dale route. Lambing time, gorgeous summery weather. It was very easy to forget that it's still spring, just little signs like some trees still not being in leaf.

first leg-stretch of 2011

2011-01-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

I was speaking to someone during the week who'd moved to Portugal and felt that various inconveniences were more than made up for by the lovely weather there.

There have been times when I'd have moved to a sunnier country but I don't feel that way now. Even when it's damp, grey, drizzly and blustery, I'll take England any day.

On a bit of a whim (and a lot of guilt about not walking very far this year) I walked a bit of the Cloud Trail from Wilson towards Derby and then along the Trent and Mersey towards Willington. There's very little life at the moment, the only green is the grass and the ivy which is lagging the trees.

More photos from today's walk

Betws-y-Coed circular walk

2010-11-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

While in Wales last month I had an afternoon on my hands, sunshine in the sky and some beautiful scenery around me. I devised this short circular walk to stretch the legs ahead of the climb up Tryfan the next day.

More photos on Flickr

the walking year

2010-11-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

You won't have failed to notice that as I've walked I've snapped away, posting many of the photos here, facebook and flickr.

If you've enjoyed the photos, why not have printed copies to put on your wall and support uk-walks.info at the same time? Each page features a main image with some inset pictures of things growing and living in the countryside to try and spot at that time.

The calendar is 2011 month to view with preview of 2012. Here are a few of the images, you can see a slideshow of all 12 at http://uk-walks.info/walking-calendar.html

Tryfan Circular Walk

2010-10-28T05:05:00.000-07:00

Distance: 5m

Walked: 25 Oct 2010

Terrain: climb to 900m with scrambling

In Wales for something completely different, the weather looked so good on Monday that I decided to stay and walk.

Tryfan is just about 3,000ft (916m) and not for the faint-hearted or inexperienced. I've climbed it once before but I'd forgotten how difficult it is. At times I thought I'd made a mistake trying to go up alone, but the sense of achievement was amazing.

The walk starts by the beautiful Llyn Ogwen. A very still and sunny day today hence the lovely reflections.

I decided to use the heather terrace to climb it, this is the most gentle way up, although close to the top it's impossible to finish without scrambling (climbing over or up rocks using all four limbs).

The views today were stunning. So lucky given the time of year.

I've not dared to jump from Adam to Eve (or vice versa) but have seen others do it. It's 3,000ft up and the summit is steep, particularly in one direction, so after a missed landing mountain rescue could be picking up the pieces.

I chose another way down, past Llyn Bochlwyd. Again, the views were amazing, although tainted slightly by pain from the legs; briuses and scrapes as well as aches.

Curbar Edge and Froggatt Edge in the autumn

2010-10-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Walked: 16/10/10

Distance: 9 miles

Terrain: good surfaced paths, climb to 340m

This walk has some superb views and is easy walking.

Today was a mixed bag weatherwise but fortunately the sun came out over the most gorgeous views.

There's an option at SK255775 of turning around and retracing your steps, or nipping down into the Derwent valley and using the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail for the return loop. The latter is well-signed and it's enjoyable to see above you the silhouette of the edge you've just walked.

The route is here

More photos are here

Ivanhoe Way Challenge 2010

2010-09-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Distance: 35miles
Walked: 15 Sept 2010

Very proud of myself today (and a little sore) after completing the Ivanhoe Way in less than the challenge time.

I started at 6am, just as the sky was getting light, finished at 6:40pm - that's 12hrs 40mins, well under the challenge time of 15 hours. Includes a 35min lunch stop, and various very short stops.

All photos from today are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieladixon/sets/72157624845072143/

Rutland Water Egleton Circular Walk

2010-08-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Walked: 15 August 2010

Distance: 5.5m

This is a very pretty walk, devised last year while trying to find high views over the reservoir. Today was reasonably sunny, but hazy in the distance, meaning that the long photos aren't quite as spectacular as they could be.

I saw lots of these minibeasts this morning, looking at first glance a bit like something an animal has left behind. I think they may have been looking around for something that an animal has left behind. Very shiny and black, with a little bit of irridescence, similar to the classic scarab beetle.

Ivanhoe Way (in two halves)

2010-08-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

Distance: 36m

Walked: 7th & 8th August 2010

Not feeling quite ready to take the challenge for this year (that's the full 36m in less than 15 hours) I decided a good training exercise would be to do the full loop in two halves, with a sleep in between.

I live virtually on the route, so I drove my car to the furthest point from home - Stanton-under-Bardon so that I could walk half the distance, have tea and sleep, then finish the walk and finish at my car.

I didn't get as many photos as I could have because a few miles in on the first day I thought my camera had packed up. It turned out that the batteries I'd bought in an emergency on the way to the start were useless for anything other than remote controls.

Lots more photos are here at Flickr

More information about the Ivanhoe Way

Rutland Water with Peninsula

2010-08-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

Walked: 31/7/10
Distance: 20-something miles (or 14 without peninsula loop)

More photos of today's walk at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieladixon/sets/72157624499826137/

early blackberries

2010-07-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

Walked: 25/7/10
Distance 5m

Yes it's true, on 25 July, I found ripe blackberries.

With just a couple of hours to spare, I needed a short walk with a start close to home. This walk starts and finishes at the Beeches pub in Ashby, passes the Tap House (used to be Anwell Inn), crosses the A511, past the Bluebell Arboretum, through Smisby and past the Smisby Arms, takes in some beautiful views just north of Ashby and returning via the Ivanhoe Way.

And yes, they were delicious!

More photos from this walk on Flickr

Click the map below to view it at OS Explore

Spring in full bloom

2010-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Walked: 23 May 2010
Distance: 11m

More photos from this walk are here on Flickr

The route is below. For the most detailed 1:25,000 map, buy Explorer 245, The National Forest

My new heroine

2010-07-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

From now on, the Gore-Tex stays at home. Like Mary Henrietta Kingsley I'm going to adopt Victorian formal-wear for walking including corset, good thick skirt and sensible shoes.

Animal-traps, crocodiles and cannibals held no fear for this English lady as she explored Africa clad head to foot and straight-backed.

Read more about this Great British Nutter here:
http://greatbritishnutters.blogspot.com/2008/04/mary-kingsley-friend-of-cannibals.html

Trent and Mersey, Wilson to Willington Circular

2010-07-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

Walked: 8/7/10
Distance: 17m
Route: http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/17744

As my photos have become more important in my posts, I've decided to make more use of Flickr. (Sorry, Blogger)

All photos from this walk are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieladixon/sets/72157624453181190/

Dawn Chorus Walk

2010-05-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

I'm really not a morning person, so it takes something special to get me up at 4am. I've never really been a bird person either, other than enjoying birdsong as background noise.

The Dawn Chorus Walk run by the Environmental Education Project at Rosliston Forestry Centre was a real eye-opener (ear-opener?). Here's a taster of what we were listening to at about 5:30

Dawn Chorus 1 May 2010 | Music Codes

A chap called Dave led us around the site telling us about the songs that we were listening to. It's amazing that once a particular song has been explained to you, you can pick it out from the general cacophany. Also amazing that once you can recognise a particular bird's song, you can then 'spot' that bird from its call alone, tell roughly where it is, and then maybe even see it.

The dawn chorus itself is something special. Each bird has its own special song, but when put together they make a fascinating piece of music with random elements.

I'm very pleased to have experienced it, and to have seen such a wonderful sunrise.

Packington / Normanton

2010-04-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Walked: 23 April 2010
Distance: 5.5m
Terrain: flattish
Summary: Park in packington, cross fields to Sprng Lane and continue straight along track. Take the muddy bridleway to Normanton le Heath, and take paths which run parallel to the road back to Packington.
Time: 2 hrs

The weather's been so nice recently, so the muddy bridleway wasn't. A beautiful afternoon, with lots of signs of spring around; various shades of green in the trees and hedges, blackthorn flowers, dandelions in full flower, elder starting to come into leaf, lambs in the fields.

The route above was generated using Meander.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Map image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

Eerie silence

2010-04-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

the reason that this little chap has a puzzled look on his face is that it's unusually quiet. Eerily quiet.
We're beside East Midlands airport, and the reason for this silence is that somewhere up there is a cloud of volcanic dust from a volcano far away with an unpronounceable name. It stopped the aeroplanes from flying yesterday and again today. It looks like continuing into the weekend. The walk around the perimeter of the airport is pleasant enough, but I wouldn't normally do it because of the constant stream of aircraft going to and fro. But today they're all sat on the ground going nowhere. :-)On the way round, I went out of my way to visit the memorial plaque to the people who died, were injured or helped in January 1989 when a plane crashed on the M1 motorway below.

It has turned into an extraordinarily nice day today.
Some kind of fungus? Or something alien? Not sure what this is.
I do know that this is hawthorn - the leaves are unfurling now turning the hedges a beautiful bright green.
And these are the flowers of its sister, blackthorn, the flowers generally come out earlier than the leaves. And eventually turn into sloes, which make gin into a gorgeous liqueur.

Albert Village circular walk

2010-04-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

Distance: 5m
Walked: 28 March 2010

My first tentative steps into the sunshine after a long hibernation were to explore some paths around Albert Village on the South Derbyshire / North-West Leicestershire border. A short 5m walk was just enough to get the legs working again.

After a very long cold winter and a long wait for the daffs to come out, I managed to spot several very early signs of spring. some trees as well as the hawthorne were coming into bud, and a few of those buds were starting to unfurl. Fluffy catkins were showing on willow trees.

Extra year-round colour on this walk is provided by gorse.

The National Forest is a Forest in the Making. This walk takes in some well-established as well as some newly-planted woods, and has some beautiful views over the lake at Albert Village.

On the second loop of this walk, to the east of the lake, a viewpoint gives you a great view over the lake and surrounding woods.

Stretching the legs around Ticknall

2010-01-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Walked: 18 Jan 2010
Distance: 6m

Words but no picutres today on account of no memory stick in the camera. This is the start of me picking up my walking again after a bit of a lull and starting to work my distance up ready for this summer's Ivanhoe Way walk.

Would there be much to see in the middle of January? What distinguishes January seems to be more about what's not there than what is there. The recent snow flurry has now melted and it's reasonably sunny and warm, meaning that there's little to distinguish this season from others now, other than the absence of leaves and flowers.

There's a surprising amount of green. Holly and ivy kleep things looking green where they grow, and the fields have just turned from white (snow) to green as this year's winter crops are starting to show through. It's fascinating to see what's been planted where. In one field I could see rape springing up where wheat had been last year and maize the year before.

I deliberately left the walk until mid-afternoon because I'd predicted a beautiful sunset. Sadly not correctly, but there was a beautiful thin sliver of a new moon in the clear sky.

My route is on OS Explore here

South Derbyshire Saunter

2009-11-15T06:02:00.000-08:00

This picture best sums up today. The trees are now in a partial or total state of undress but after a horribly wet and windy few days, it's now unseasonably warm and sunny.

Distance: 9m
Walked: 15/11/09

For reasons of time I cut out some of the less nice paths and ended up with a cut-down 'lite' version of my '3 viewpoints' walk. (Missing out two of the original viewpoints!).

The first alteration was to cut off Bardon church and use a beautiful path from Burney Lane (just past Scotland Farm) to Melbourne.

The next alteration was to turn left at Robin Wood and head directly to Ticknall, using another very pleasant countryside path.

Holly berries are out! Jollymerry.

Click the map to view on OS Explore.

What's to see in November?

2009-11-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

This new (to me) camera has been a life-changer. On this breezy but bright November day, rather than tread many miles at a purposeful pace, I spent a couple of hours covering half a mile through some woods and back. Rather than face forward and concentrate on the route, I looked around and found many interesting things.

I did visit this particular woods because I went astray here while walking the Ivanhoe Way last time, and wanted to make sure I knew the correct route ready for next time.

The most noticeable things about November are the green turning brown, trees turning bare and the ground becoming covered with a carpet of bronze leaves.

The dry pods of this broom are beautiful in macro.

The bracken is turning brown.

More bracken? No, this is moss in extreme close-up. Frondy.

These guys were tiny:

There are more new photos in my Autumn Colour set over at Flickr.

Autumn Colour at The Heart of The National Forest

2009-10-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Walked: 11 October
Distance: 10 miles
Summary: Starting from The car park at the bottom of Gorse Lane, Walk to Albert Village and around the lake. Cross the road and through Diana Memorial Woods and Tunnel Wood. Along the railway line to Oakthorpe, to Willesley, Boothorpe and back to the start.

This will be a nice walk to do in the murkiest depths of winter because much of it follows well-surfaced paths.

Today, though, I wasn't really fired up by the walking or the route, but fired up by the autumn colour and by the new (to me) camera that has arrived in the post. To be honest, it's battered and not very new, but it's so much better than my old one and I had to try it out! And what amazing colour there is out there at the moment.

I started close to Albert Village, simply because I pass this tree on my way to work every day and can't believe the colours it's turned:

I was pleased to see these black spots on the sycamore - it's said to be an indicator of air quality (the fungus causing it doesn't thrive in urban areas) and is part of the natural life cycle of the leaves.

Putting the macro through its paces was fun!! And there are so many beautiful things around to get up close to... rosehips, hawthorn berries, elderberries and even some blackberries left. (They were delicious!)

More photos on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieladixon/sets/72157622438095679/

Click the map below to find an interactive version on OS Explore. Find your way around the route with an even more detailed OS Explorer 245 (The National Forest)

South Derbyshire 18

2009-09-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Walked: 16/9/09
Distance: 16 miles
Summary: A walk around South Derbyshire taking in some wonderful views. Starting at the Ferrer's Centre, which provides convenient free parking, through the Calke estate and Ticknall, around Robin Wood and the Foremark Reservoir, Daniel Hayes Farm, Smisby and a little section of the Ivanhoe Way. Finally a rest beside the beautiful lake at Staunton Harold Hall.

A different Start point and slight adaptation makes this a slightly shorter route than the last time I walked it. The Ferrer's Centre provides free and convenient parking. The first three pictures here were taken at roughly the same spot (by Robin Wood). No apologies, it's a great viewpoint and the sun was obliging enough to make the scenes look even better.

A lovely sun-dappled path.

This photo (apologies for the orientation) is of Himalayan Balsom. There's quite a lot of it along this part of the route. It's an invader and there are efforts to stamp it out, although I expect they'll be futile. It raises the question of whether if something finds its way here and thrives, then should it be allowed to flourish? Surely that's nature in action? And a bit hypocritical if we decide that it shouldn't be allowed to thrive at the expense of native species. (I'm thinking of Europeans in America and Australia).

This is one of the changes to this route since last time I walked it. Instead of walking by Bondwood and through the woods past Carvers Rocks, I took the bridleway a little bit further on:

This is the day's big surprise. I noticed a nice high point close by, and then noticed that there are new picnic benches at the top. On investigation, I found that it's a new area of National Forest called Hartshorne Forest, and it has an amazing 360 degree view.

Although this walk just misses the spectacular high point at Daniel Hayes Farm, it's

I think this view of Smisby church is particularly picturesque.

There are a few of these lockups around the place. I think you'd end up in here if you were arrested drunk late at night. I don't know why we don't still use them?

Finally a rest beside the beautiful lake at Staunton Harold Hall.

Click the map below to see a detailed route map on OS Explore. Find your way around the route with an even more detailed OS Explorer 245 (The National Forest)

Foremark Reservoir circular walk

2009-09-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Distance: 4m
Walked: 15/9/09

This is a short jaunt with some lovely South Derbyshire views. You'll see from the map that the start point this time is the 'proper' car park at the top end (just outside Ticknal) and walk anti-clockwise around the reservoir. Unfortunately, there's no way to avoid a little bit of road, but we soon join the sandy lane which travels the western side of the reservoir. Half-way along this are some views across the water.

It emerges at a road. This point is certainly one of South Derbyshire's finest viewpoints. Whether you can call the cooling towers and Toyota factory landmarks or eyesores is your choice.

After Bondwood farm, a path crosses horsey fields and takes you down into the woods, past Carvers' Rocks before emerging at this secret picnic spot at the bottom of the reservoir.

This very straight bridleway takes you back to the start point. An alternative is to pick your way through the woods between this path and the water.

Click the map below to see the interactive version on OS Explore.

Staffordshire circular

2009-09-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Walked: 31 Aug 2009
Distance: 23 miles

I think this is the fourth time I've walked this route, and three have been on August bank holiday. Maybe it's unimaginative to get stuck into such a habit, but I find the routine comforting. It's a route that has much wild fruit; blackberries, apples, damsons, and these are ripening at this time.

This time, I tried parking at Shobnall Leisure Centre, Burton on Trent, It is convenient and free parking for this walk.

The first part of this route takes the Trent and Mersey Canal for some pleasant and easy walking.

It picks up the Millennium Way, which is waymarked, but some careful navigation is needed. We part company with the MW just through Yoxall. Cross fields to Hadley End, then road to Hoarcross, then Newchurch. More navigation across fields to skirt Hanbury and Tutbury.

Previously, I'd used more footpaths to keep off the roads, but this time took a few roads to save time. That's how I found this Roadside Verge Nature Reserve - the sign says that it's managed for its wildlife. I find this a bit of an oxymoron - surely wildlife is best managed by not managing it, ie leaving it alone, if you see what I mean! I still welcome this initiative and would love to see more.

If you have time it's worth taking a detour to the crater at Fauld, the result of a large accidental explosion during the war. Enjoy the view of Tutbury Castle, then head south to Anslow and back to Shobnall. The splodge in the middle of the picture is a drop of coffee - I perched on a stile to take the photo and drink coffee, but

Hops are not as delicious as the beer that they are used to make. I enjoy spotting them in the hedge because I like the way they look and they're not very common.

This is a curiousity. This is certainly an elder bush and is full of berries, but strangely also some flowers...

After nearly 23 miles, Burton is a welcome sight!

To see details of the whole route, please click the map below to visit my page on OS Explore. It won't give you the detail of a 1:25,000 (Explorer) map. This route is covered by Explorer 245

Tarts, puddings and views

2009-08-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

I went out with the intention of getting a photograph of the Monsal viaduct in the summer sunshine, which I pretty much managed to do (although I had to wait for the sun to come out), but also managed to discover a new path and turn my route more circular into the bargain!

I walked the same route that I'd used earlier in the year. Join the Monsal Trail at Bakewell (buy a tart or pudding to eat later) and walk the 4m to Monsal Head. Then turn round and go back the same way. The Trail is a dismantled railway. These are easy to walk all year round because they're often surfaced:

Just before Monsal Head, you have to leave the railway line because of a bricked-up tunnel, so you detour across a couple of fields and then along a road before you get to the exciting bit. Here's the money shot. (It looks sooo different when it's not covered in snow)

It's worth a wander down to the viaduct and across it for the views either side:

This was the biggest and nicest surprise of today. On the way back, almost on a whim I took the bridleway at sk214708 which the map showed would take me back to Bakewell. I should have seen from the contours on the map that it would offer good views - it climbs about 45 meters before dropping back down into Bakewell.

Beside giving these lovely views, it made the route slightly more circular.

(What's the word for a route which retraces its steps half way back before taking a different path? ...semi-circular...?)

The new alternative bit is in pink.

Review - Ordnance Survey 'Active' maps

2009-08-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I bought my first 'Active' map - a weatherproof version of the Explorer map of my area. It costs twice as much (about £14 versus £8 for the paper version).

The paper versions are printed on good heavy paper, but after the odd rain shower, sweaty hands, being folded and re-folded, this is the result - my last paper version of Explorer 245 resembles some holes being tentatively held together by papier mache. The cardboard cover fell off a long time ago, and it's nearly split along its length.

I've seen a couple of paper versions of this map end up like this in just a few years, and so paying a bit more for a hardier version seemed like a good investment.

This is my Active map after about a year of good use. How's it holding up?

Initially, I was a little bit disappointed. I had been expecting a map printed on some hi-tech plastic paper. In fact it's the regular paper map that's been laminated. The corners are left square, and I could see those getting bent and splitting (I suppose I could have taken some nail scissors to them and rounded them off).

However, having used it for a year, I couldn't be happier with it. It's had the same harsh treatment that my paper ones have had; it's been out in the rain, in sweaty hands, it's had insects and blackberries squashed on it, it's been bent and folded in ways that it doesn't find natural. Yet it still looks new.

If it rains, I can just use it as normal without it coming to any harm - the water wipes or dries off. Dirt and other marks wipe off too.

The corners are a little dog-eared as predicted, but only the corners of the cover, which is slightly bigger and protects the rest of the map.

A map case is a good alternative. If you don't mind wearing or carrying the case, that's a good way to go. I find them a bit of an encumbrance and like the flexibility of being able to shove the map away in my pocket when I'm on familiar territory.

Bear in mind that they are being updated all the time, so a map that lasts a lifetime may be a bit counterproductive. However, it only takes one shower and a bit of handling to damage the paper version. The choice is yours!

Some of the best views in South Derbyshire are in Leicestershire

2009-08-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Walked: 22 August 2009
Distance: 6.1 miles
Terrain: easy, but quite a bit of road.

A good viewpoint is an important part of a good circular walk. I've driven past this particular spot quite a few times since I've lived in the Midlands and made a mental note to myself that I should check the map and see what what possibilities there are for a walk that passes by it. But I've not managed it until today.

It's not marked on the map as a viewpoint, but I think it should be. It happens to be over the border in Leicestershire. So why am I saying that it's one of the best views in South Derbyshire? Well, it's just outside the South Derbyshire town of Melbourne and it just... *feels* like South Derbyshire; rural, rolling green hills.

The spot in question is on the B587 close to Staunton Harold Hall. Yes, you have to enjoy these views from the discomfort of a fast road. But it's worth it.

I've devised a circular route which includes this spot, and I've thoroughly enjoyed walking it today. It's been a beautifully clear and sunny day and there are several other delicious moments on this route.

There are a couple of convenient car parks en route (the Severn Trent one just past Dimminsdale and the craft centre) but I chose to start at the round car park below Staunton Harold Reservoir. It's off the circular route by about half a mile, and so adds a bit on to the total distance, but it's worthwhile because of the wonderful views from that car park (which *is* marked as a viewpoint on the map).

I've snapped this next view so many times before, so I've tried to find a couple of different angles. It's where the road passes Dimminsdale and crosses the bottom of the reservoir:

This walk follows the Ivanhoe Way for a little bit. When it parts company with the long-distance route, it crosses a couple more fields before emerging onto that B587. This is the spot I've been going on about. The next few photos are taken from there, pointing in various directions. It's the highest spot around, and there's a good long view in almost all directions. Unfortunately, you're on a fast road, and enjoying these views by peering over hedgerows, but hey. Footpaths are few and far between here, but it's worth walking along the road north-west as far as a sharp bend in the road for another vantage point to take in more of these long views.

Unfortunately, it's then about a kilometer along this road before we pick up the driveway / track towards Stanton Harold Hall and the Ferrers Craft Centre. It's a very pleasant walk.

The Ferrers Centre is one of the best craft centres around and I recommend the tea shop for refreshments. It's in the grounds of Stanton Harold Hall, which has its own church and lake; a real beauty spot.

After passing through the craft centre, it's a short and pleasant walk through Dimminsdale nature reserve before emerging on the road at the bottom of the reservoir, and retracing steps back along the road to the round car park.

Asolo Flame walking boots - interim report

2009-08-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

This was going to be an interim report, but now that I've given them a good look over, I think I'll be digging deep in my pockets to replace them sooner than I'd expected.

I bought these boots over a year ago, they are more substantial, stiffer and taller than their predecessors. My last ones had almost done 700 miles before seeing the inside of my wheelie bin - at a quick tot up, these ones have done 550, but they've not quite reached that stage yet.

they've started to crack in the usual place, over the ball of the foot. One looks as if the stitching is going to give way very soon, which is the point that they retire. I'm prepared to accept that this kind of crumbling is due to poor maintenance. I'm not very good at cleaning and treating them after each walk.

I was most surprised when I turned them over. The tread is almost down in the middle of the foot and is completely down in places on the heel.

I've been making a conscious effort to put my foot down flat when I walk, because the last pair made it obvious that I'd been supinating (walking on the outside of my feet.) I'm pleased to see that while these are still worn down a little bit more on the outside, it's nowhere near as bad this time.

They've been very comfortable. I picked the male version because they fit my wide feet better and because the colour is a bit more subdued than the female version. As I noted before, the soles are very stiff and the uppers breathe very well. I like the big toe box, which takes a lot more punishment than soft material would. I like the lace eyes - the ones over the foot allow the laces to slip and distribute themselves evenly and the lockable ones at the instep do their job well.

Trail magazine have given them very good reviews, the only thing that they've really been able to say against them is that the tread isn't deep enough. I've never found grip a problem (except for damp tree roots, which no boot would grip!). However, at this stage in their life, I can see that a deeper original tread would have given them a little bit more life.

You can't see the biggest problem. I hate having wet feet and so I swear by GoreTex. When new, it's fantastic - completely waterproof and breathable. However, these and my two previous pairs of GoreTex boots began letting in water well before I would have considered the boots worn out.

The worst enemy of a warm, dry foot is wet long grass or crop fields. It's not unusual to walk through wet grass even when it's not raining. Most mornings, the grass is wet from dew, and very wet if it's rained overnight. As your boots swish through the grass, they collect all the water the grass contains - and that's a lot. Over the last few walks, including the long-distance Offa's Dyke path, my heart has sunk at the sight of a grassy field, because I know that after just a few steps, I'll feel that familiar cool feeling and be slopping in my boots fairly soon.

Is it inevitable that GoreTex breaks down after a year or a few hundred miles? is it because I'm not looking after the uppers properly? Is there a boot that remains waterproof for longer? Answers on a postcard please! Or even better - use the comment link below. And if you're from Asolo, I'd love to hear your comments.

Two circular walks around Rutland Water

2009-08-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

Rutland is a well-kept secret and a real gem. Today I went to Rutland Water to find something that turns out to be quite elusive - a good view of the whole reservoir.

There's a walk around the large reservoir (the largest in the country), but you're obviously close to the water's edge and you can't really see it all at once. I still haven't found the view I was looking for, but in the process I have devised two good circular walks in a beautiful area.

First of all, something very funny I discovered today. Type 'Rutland Water' into Multimap and this is what you get....

Multimap / Streetmap / GetAMap are good, but you can't beat seeing a large area spread out in front of you in great detail, which is what you get with an OS Explorer map (Explorer 234 in this case).

I could see that there are several high points around the reservoir which are on rights of way. Armed with this information, I set off to explore...

Walk: Hambleton Circular Walk
Distance: 5.5 miles
Walked: 9 Aug 2009
Terrain: a gentle climb to 165m
Start point: Egleton Bird Watching Centre, SK878072

The Bird Watching Centre is a convenient place to start. It has a car park which seems to be free, and public conveniences. Head back along the track due west, picking up the Rutland Round. cross (carefully) the A6003 and a railway line. Then comes most of the climbing.

There's a bit of a peak, with tantalising glimpses of the water.

The countryside in Rutland is just delightful. The path keeps climbing, giving hope of a better view.

At Brooke Road, the Rutland Round heads back along the road towards Oakham, but here's a secret. Cross the road and pick up an ordinary public right of way, walk alongside Gorse Field Wood and towards the Mobile Phone mast and Hill Top Farm (clues that this might be a good viewpoint!) Before getting to the mast, at SK845077 (ish) is the best view I found today. Here you can see the two 'arms' of the reservoir and the bump on the horizon in the middle of this photo is Hambleton Peninsula.

I then used Braunston Road to get back to Oakham (Britain in Bloom winner), it's pretty as roads go, with good verges on each side.

Heading south out of Oakham, past the Museum and back with the Rutland Round, we leave the B641 at SK864082 cross a couple of fields, the A6003 again and a couple more fields (all well waymarked) before arriving back in Egleton, which really is a pretty village.

More about this Rutland Water circular walk

Walk: Exton Circular Walk
Distance: 6.5 miles
Walked: 9 Aug 2009
Terrain: fairly flat
Start point: Exton (just south of), SK928107

At this start point is a handy lay-by. Waymarkers clearly mark the first part of this route 'Viking Way', a long-distance path running from North Lincolnshire to Oakham (close to here). This part of the Way really is beautiful, and so I'll find out more about the rest of this path.

The path eventually arrives at the water close to the Harbour Cafe (which does a great bacon and brie baguette!) You can see the dam from the cafe patio, and following the reservoir's circular route clockwise (keeping the water to your right) brings you to the dam.

This is the dam, which on an 'out of season' day is a lovely walk.

Instead, I left the reservoir at the start of the dam and headed for Empingham. The Rutland Round crosses fields to Empingham, but today I took a more direct route along a track and then on the A606 for a short way (see map below). At SK947087 I bypassed the town by taking a public right of way across a field (and a cricket pitch!) There was another nice glimpse of water before leaving the Exton Road. (SK948091)

Again I found the footpaths well waymarked and really beautiful.

At the trout hatchery, I followed the road west for about half a mile. It's possible to follow this quiet road back to Exton, but I took the right of way which runs parallel to it (past Cuckoo Farm) which turned out to be a wonderful finish to the day.

The fingerpost in the middle of the photo is pointing back to the footpath that I've just emerged from.

More about this Rutland Water circular walk

Ivanhoe Way 2009

2009-07-26T05:24:00.000-07:00

Walked: 25/7/09
Distance: 35m
Time: 15 hours overall.

This is the second time that I've walked this path. It passes fairly close to my house, and so the first time, I devised the plan of starting at the opposite side of the circular route so that I'd be able to stop at home to have lunch and top up on water and food, meaning I wouldn't have to carry as much with me.

At 7:30 am (an hour and a half later than planned) I was looking up at Bardon Hill, said to be the highest point in Leicester. Strictly speaking, the path doesn't go to the top of the hill, but skirts around the edge. There is a footpath to the top and down the other side, and a great view from the top, and so I prefer to do that.

It's quite a short and gentle climb to the top, through woodland. Note the ripening rowan (mountain ash) berries, giving lovely splashes of red against the green surroundings. They are apparently best picked later in the year.

A benefit of starting a bit later than planned is that the sun was up and the mist burned off, so the views from the top of the first hill were wonderful.

The walk passes through a wide variety of terrain - open country and crop fields, hills, canal towpath, dismantled railway, road and the odd housing estate, National Forest and (here) older woodland.

10:00 am Swannington has a very interesting old inclined railway with winches that pulled the trains up. The path just misses the best bits of that.

The beautiful countryside looks at its best in the sunshine. I'd picked a warm dry day (the weatherman turned out to be right) and in fact it was a bit too hot at times.

A-maize-ing. Walking through maize that's above head-height is a little bit claustrophobic!

12:30 This view over Staunton Harold reservoir is one of the best views in the area. Sorry Leicestershire, this spot is on the border of Leicestershire with Derbyshire, and the view is looking into South Derbyshire.

I really like Moira Furnace, and this part of the walk between Ashby and Measham really is very pleasant.

Many of the paths between Snarestone and Stanton-under-Bardon cross fields. Here they are generally very well maintained.

6:40 pm I think this next picture is my favourite shot from today. While walking along this canal towpath, I didn't see any boats or walkers. It was so quiet too. Really tranquil and idyllic.

8:15 pm Nailstone spire came into view as the sun was setting behind me. I love the way that spires are such good landmarks, helping you to orientate yourself as well as being good 'mental milestones'.

Once the sun had set, I couldn't take any more photos, and swopped my camera for a torch. I had hoped to finish before it got dark, but had to navigate the last few miles in the dark. Finally finished (absolutely exhausted) at 10:30pm = 15 hours.

More information about the route is available at http://www.uk-walks.info/ivanhoe_way.html

Blackfordby spire

2009-07-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Walked: 19 July 2009
Distance: 7.2 miles
Terrain: Some inclines and stiles
Summary: Starting at Shellbrook, Ashby de la Zouch, walk to Blackfordby, continue out to Woodville, then back in a loop to Blackfordby and back to Shellbrook.
Time: 2.5 hrs

I usually start this walk from home, and approach Blackfordby church from a slightly different direction, but today I decided to start at Shellbrook (just outside Ashby) which is a convenient place to start, and goes through Prestop Wood, a very pleasant part of The National Forest. I've watched these trees (on the left in this picture) grow from about a metre high and they're now adolescents, I guess, way above head height.

It was a murky day today, giving the black spire an atmospheric background.

Strawberries? Raspberries? No, much bigger. This is the second time in a week that I've seen robin's pincushions. A friend pointed one out earlier in the week, and I don't remember noticing them since I was a child. A parasite attacks a dog-rose, which reacts by growing this fluffy red nest:

Offa's Dyke Path (north) Knighton to (nearly) Prestatyn

2009-07-05T05:12:00.001-07:00

For a first long-distance path, Offa's Dyke turned out to be an excellent choice. It has a real variety of countryside and good camping facilities at the right intervals. The path is a National Trail following a defensive boundary coast to coast along the Welsh border. The whole Trail is 170 miles, but divides neatly into north and south parts at the visitor and exhibition centre at Knighton . We chose to walk the north part from Knighton northwards to Prestatyn (97 miles).

Being a man-made feature, it crosses a variety of terrain; hills, river plain, scree slopes, boggy moor, forest. The whole length of the dyke hasn't survived the centuries, but it is visible for much of the walk, and in places the ditch and mound is quite dramatic. As the days passed and the countryside changed, the presence of the dyke gave the walk a real sense of continuity and purpose.

We were lucky to have good weather, a tad too hot at times, a few showers, but generally excellent.

This is a great time of the year for walking. Honeysuckle, elderflower, cammomile were still out in flower, wild garlic made its presence felt occasionally, bilberries were ripening and wild strawberries were already ripe.

We chose to back-pack with tent, food, stove, buying meals on the way when possible. That meant heavy packs, which was a hindrance on the hillier sections.

This path is the best waymarked path that I've seen. It would be wrong to even think about attempting a walk relying on waymarkers alone - even on such a well-maintained route, they can be missing, defaced, overgrown or you can simply fail to spot one. I wouldn't go out on a walk now without 1:25,000 OS maps, but fortunately we discovered the National Trail guide, which for the price of one good book contains OS mapping for the whole route.

Day zero - arrived at Knighton with enough time to get to the first campsite at Pampwnton, back to Knighton for a meal and some extremely enjoyable entertainment from superb Elvis impersonator 'Eddie as Elvis'.

Things we learned today: When you want to finish your hot cocoa and go to sleep, an insulated mug is a real pain.

Day one - Pampwnton to Brompton Crossroads. 15m

Our first real day of this walk. This is the toughest section of this walk with regular steep climbs and descents. Fortunately, the mist soon cleared so that we could appreciate the long views over this very unspoiled part of the country.

The distance wouldn't have been such a problem but the heat and the weight of our packs made it tougher. Very relieved to arrive at a great campsite about half a mile away from the Trail.

Things we learned today: The doc-leaf trick really works. Walking south to north is great, because the sun is generally on your back rather than in your face, and the writing on the map is the right way up!

Day two - Brompton Crossroads to Four Crosses. 20m. Walking as if I'd just got off a horse. If yesterday's theme was many sheep and few trees, today was just the opposite. Thankfully this second leg is a flatter walk, much of it alongside the Severn, but the distance and the sun made it a challenge.

The Golden Lion at Four Crosses is highly recommended. Friendly owners, the lowest price we paid for camping, good facilities and informal live music in the pub in the evening.

Things we learned today: the dyke isn't apparent all the time, either because the path doesn't follow it, or because bits of it just aren't there any more. Other things such as river flood defences and dismantled railway lines can look like the dyke.

Day three - Four Crosses to Bronygarth. 16 1/2 miles. Walking as if a horse had just got off me. More rises and falls today and a variety of very picturesque countryside. A nice surprise when yesterday's flat river plain opened up below us as part of an expansive view.

This was a real nice day's walking, and would make a wonderful walk on its own.

Things we learned today: if a campsite is marked on the map, don't believe that it's really there unless you've also seen it in a guide and have phoned them to check. If a forest is marked on the map, bear in mind that trees can be cut down!

Day 4 - Bronygarth to Llandegla with detour to Llangollen - 17 1/2 miles.

The day starts close to Chirk Castle, which we'd spotted the day before. It's a castle that has been continuously inhabited since the thirteenth century. We took the optional path through the National Trust grounds, a permissive route that's only open during the summer.

At Froncysyllte you have to choose whether to follow the official Trail and get a great view of the 120-foot canal aqueduct, or to detour over the top of it. The walk across the top really is an exciting or scary walk depending on your head for heights.

It was a shame to unexpectedly lose the dyke today. The guide simply mentions that this is the last we'll see of the dyke with no further explanation. I think our path leaves the route of the dyke before Offer's Dyke merges with an older earthwork. The remaining part of the National Trail to the coast was simply devised by the pioneers of the Trail.

Today's route should have been 15 miles, but we added 2 1/2 miles by taking a trip into touristy Llangollen for some essential provisions. (Meths for the stove. My evening cocoa / cammomile tea was under threat.) For most part the route is very rural, and even when it does pass through villages, there is often nowhere to even buy water. In Llangollen however, we had no problem finding a camping shop and some good freshly-made cobs.

After Llangollen followed a very long afternoon. After some wonderful views of a ruined castle, we joined first minor road and then precarious path half-way up scree slopes, which to me didn't feel quite as safe as the guide assured us it was. It would have been more exhilarating, but the heat this afternoon was oppressive.

World's End is a very picturesque ford with stepping stones. This made a nice break between the long hot walk along the scree ledge and the long slow climb to follow. A few miles across moor and through forest would have been much more enjoyable were it not for the fatigue.

Things we've learned today: If the sun's on your back, make absolutely sure and double check that you've rubbed on sun-block properly. Wild strawberries are delicious, but you have to pick an awful lot of them to make the same amount as one cultivated strawberry.

Day five - Llandegla to Moel y Plas and half a day's rest. Now within 30 miles of our goal, Prestatyn, but we're both too tired and footsore to face the 17 1/2 miles we'd have to do today in order to make it before we have to set off for home on Saturday. The next two campsites are after 3 1/2 miles and 17 1/2 and so we decide to take the short option and then rest, hoping that we'd then recover enough to face the 14 mile walk across the Clwydians the next day to finish just 12 miles short of Prestatyn.

Moel y Plas is a beautiful location and an excellent campsite. It feels so remote, but is a natural lake used for fishing. The centre there serves wonderful food and the owners and staff went out of their way to look after us.

Things we learned today: how not to make soft and delicious camp-bread.

Day six - Moel y Plas to Bodfari over the Clwydian range. 14m. The last day of walking, and a fantastic day's walking over some great hills. For most of the way, the spectacular views were obscured by low cloud and rain. We were grateful for this in a way, as we'd been worried about doing this hilly section in the oppressive heat we'd experienced over the past few days. I'm not sure whether I'd rather have been dripping with sweat or dripping with rain, but I guess you can't choose.

The weather did mean that we were alone at the Jubilee Tower, which has a car park nearby and is usually teeming with visitors.

The weather had lifted by the time we were within sight of the sea. Even though we wouldn't reach Prestatyn, it was visible from the tops of the hills, which gave us some sense of completion.

The campsite at Bodfari, and the amazing menu at the nearby pub made our last night very comfortable.

Things we learned today: public transport is remarkably reliable.

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieladixon/sets/72157620847404897/

Long walk on a short night - Summer solstice 2009

2009-06-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

The Summer solstice is the point in the year when the day length reaches a peak and the night is the shortest of the year. What better way to mark the occasion and enjoy the long dusk and very early dawn than a walk around South Derbyshire?

A cloudy day had looked like spoiling the occasion a little, but by the evening it had broken up a bit and at 10:45 the late dusk was brushed with some interesting formations. The evening and morning skies had very little red this year.

My viewpoints walk is a familiar route and just the right length to see the night through. We started the circular walk in Melbourne and walked towards St Brides and Robin Wood.

It gradually became too dark to take photographs, but a slight glimmer remained and we were still able to see the horizon all around right through until dawn. Unfortunately it was a new moon and so we didn't have any moonlight this year.

The darkness makes no difference to your sense of smell and we came across some wild chamomile and wild garlic, in both cases noticing the smell before spotting the plants.

When we first saw Bardon Church, it was quite distinct against the horizon.

Half-way up Breedon Hill, the view is wonderful and the light is starting to establish itself.

No floodlights on the church this year. I'm not sure whether they've stopped lighting it or whether we'd arrived too late.

It really did become light very quickly so we had clear views over Melbourne.

The Roaches

2009-05-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Walked: 24 May 2009
Distance: 13m
Terrain: muddy in lots of places, several steep climbs, but the views make it worthwhile.
Route: Starting at Gradback, follow the river to Danebridge, footpaths to Hangman's Stone and Lud's Church, then onto the Roaches and Ramshaw Rocks.

A well-known part of the Peak District, this is a beautiful route, with many points of interest. Today happened to be one of the finest of the year weatherwise, making an amazing day.

The tree under which we're standing, and whose magnificent trunk you can just see on the left of this picture is one of the biggest trees I've ever seen. It's a humbling experience standing within the vast dome that it makes.

Bluebells are still out and looking beautiful.

This is the old bridge at Danebridge

It is possible to nip up and walk out on top of Hangman's stone but I resisted the temptation today.

A very nice spot for coffee and cake.

One of the biggest surprises today was Lud's Church, which is a chasm and well worth taking a detour for.

This is the Roaches itself (themselves?), an edge with a wonderful view each side. From the trig point at its highest point, you can see Jodrell Bank

The water is Tittesworth Reservoir.

This view is looking back at the end of The Roaches. We have descended and are heading for Ramshaw Rocks.

Careful mapreading required here. Many paths head off in all directions, aren't always obvious, and the one we want goes through a couple of farms.

This is Ramshaw Rocks, apparently not as popular as the edge we've just been along, but still spectacular.

Looking down at the winking man. From the road, it's quite a convincing face, and as you drive past, he appears to wink at you. He really does!

The path back to Gradbach is again quite hard to follow, but eventually picks up a bridleway for a pleasant mile back to the start.

Hurrah for Sir George!

2009-05-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Distance: 7m
Walked: 26 April 2009

One of my favourite routes - alongside foremark reservoir, Calke Abbey, Ticknall, back by Scaddows Farm. By Foremark reservoir I saw my first may blossom, not particularly early this year.

The hunter-gatherer in me is really strong, I found this mushroom, which I felt sure was teh cultivated or field type, but it didn't quite match the descriptions in my pocket guide, which takes care to warn you not to eat anything unless it does fit a description perfectly. This one has white gills and no ring. All of the similar ones in the book had brown or pink gills and ring around the stem. I resisted eating it and carried it with me for a bit. When I stopped to crack open my flask, I had another look through the book and found it! The St George mushroom is creamy white, slightly brown top and no ring. So named because it pops up around St George's day, which was a few days ago. So I enjoyed it with my coffee! It has a slightly stronger taste than your usual cultivated mushroom, and I'll look out for these every spring now.

Perhaps the hunter in me is less strong than the gatherer. When I saw this little fella, I could only think 'Aaaahhh'. I did wonder whether it had mixy as it let me stand quite close and didn't seem bothered. But happily not. I tried to switch my camera to 'movie' but he casually hopped away before I got there.

Ash coming out in flower? Not quite, this is Rowan or Mountain Ash, I think, which is similar but unrelated. And flowers much earlier.

And these were my first bluebells, just after leaving the Calke estate to cross the fields to Ticknall.

Back to the Brecon Beacons

2009-04-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

We last visited the Brecon Beacons two years ago. The most recent Trail magazine carries a 10.5 mile route in a different part of the National Park which seemed perfect for a promised sunny Easter Sunday.

The Beacon Way and Trail's route take you out from Glyntawe along the main road, which seems a little strange because there's a right of way marked quite clearly on the map just parallel to it which runs along this beautiful stretch of river. Something's not right here, though, because the landowner went out of his way to point out to us that, contrary to the map, there's no right of way through his land. He has marked out a permissive path, which allowed us to get around his yard and back onto our path, but the map and the farmer certainly disagree here.

I enjoyed the day. The 10.5 miles wasn't a problem, but the amount of climbing proved tough. Lots of walking in Derbyshire is no preparation for walking up hills in Wales.

This walk has some steep ascents almost straight away. The reward is views like this. Strangely, the Beacon Way goes parallel but follows the bottom of this edge, which I imagine makes a less strenuous but much less spectacular walk. It's no wonder that Trail's route takes you up onto the top.

The trig point here marks the highest point of the walk, (although theres a bit of downhill and some more steep climbing to come.)

Just beyond is the cairn at Fan Foel, with some great views all around. This shot looks back at the edge we've just walked along.

A little further is Picws Du, a high point with a great view of Llyn y Fan Fach, allegedly the lake featured in the legend of the Lady of the Lake:

The magazine promised some difficult navigation at this point. It suggests turning south and crossing boggy land with unmarked paths. (You can roam within the boundary of the National Park.) It wasn't anything like as difficult as suggested, and we were soon back on a fairly clearly-marked bridleway. The terrain here is very unusual. It's full of what look like small standing stones. Strata or fissures seem to run vertically, so as stones are exposed, they point to the sky.

The other unusual features here are shake holes. The ground is peppered with these little craters which are formed by water draining away into the ground and eroding the rock and soil - like a giant plug-hole in the ground.

More signs of spring

2009-04-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Walked: 29 March 2009
Distance: 8m

This is becoming a regular jaunt, Shellbrook to Moira, Donisthorpe, not quite to Measham, Oakthorpe and back to Shellbrook. Map is at the bottom of this post. This time I made it a bit shorter by parking at Shellbrook rather than starting from Ashby.

These daffs are really beautiful:

Hawthorn leaves are unfolding:

While its relative, blackthorn, is starting to flower.

Green shoots

2009-03-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

Distance: 11m
Walked: 1 March 09

I've really let my walking slip. It's difficult to get motivated during the winter. But this morning, officially the first day of Spring, that changed. Contrary to the weather forecast, the sun was out and it really did feel like Spring. Seeing a few buds and leaves really did get the juices flowing again! this is Hawthorn, one of the first signs of Spring.

Here we hit a minor snag. That underwater stile and waypost is where the public right of way is. It hasn't been raining, and so this strange flood seemed odd. We couldn't see any reason for it (for example a blocked river), it was just a flooded field. Even more bizarrely, the water is marked on the map (and the dotted green line of the footpath goes through the water), so it seems to be reasonably permanent. Presumably it wasn't flooded when the waypost and stile were put there...? Fortunately, it wasn't too difficult to take a slight detour around the edge of the water.

A classic image of spring. Wool on legs.

I haven't identified this tree yet, but it has big pom-pom-like catkins with busy bees all over it.

Bakewell to Monsal Head

2009-03-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Distance: approx 6m
Walked 8 Feb 09

The Monsal Trail is an old railway line. They're often nicely-surfaced and great for walking at this time of the year - flat and not muddy. The snow today did make the veiws incredibly picturesque, and gave us the opportunity to warm up with a game of snowballs, but the price for that was that it was very slippery.

Monsal Head has to be one of the best views in the Peak District. All the better for being a little unexpected. The viaduct, which originally carried a railway, but is now a surfaced walking path, is fascinating. Imagine the valley without a viaduct, and then imagine someone proposing to build one across the valley. John Ruskin had a real rant about it, and he's quoted on an information board. his main beef seemed to be about making it easier for humans to get (unnecessarily) between Buxton and Bakewell. Ironically, the viaduct is now protected. I did find myself sympathising with the old curmudgeon; the viewpoint that this picture was taken from is a car park, so you can drive up, enjoy the view, enjoy a pint and drive home again. It's lucky that Ruskin couldn't forsee that. I can't help feeling that you should have to work for a view as good as this.

Once we'd arrived at this point, we made a little loop by walking (very tentatively) down to the viaduct (bottom left of this picture), over it, across the river where the buildings are on the right, and back up to this viewpoint again, before heading back to Bakewell along the railway line.

Rover Soar

2009-01-19T11:28:00.001-08:00

Walked: 10 January 2009
Distance; 14.6 m

This walk starts at Diseworth and crosses a few fields before hitting Long Whatton. This is the intriguing church there. Usually, a church has a central original aisle, often with an aisle each side added later. Note that the tower here is not part of the central aisle, but the one that's to our right. I'm very curious about this asymmetry - was the tower added later and for some reason couldn't be added to the central part, or is the right-hand part with the tower the original part, and the two parts to the left added later?

After quite a bit of road walking, we arrive at the River Soar. The route of the river and our walk get a little bit convoluted here. The river flows behind us and in front of us, but we carry on walking along the road for a little bit, cross a field and join the Zouch Cut (a canal) before starting to walk along the river. The point where the cut joins the river is in the middle distance of this picture.

This is the cut. Notice the broken ice on the water. I had high hopes for the weather today but unfortunately this greyness was with us all day.

Anyone who knows me will know why I squealed with delight when I saw this boat:

We had thought of carrying on along the river, but we knew we wouldn't have the daylight and weren't prepared for a night walk. Therefore, we worked out a route which would get us back before dark, leaving the river here and going through Kegworth.

We approach the East Midlands Airport. We're right under the flight path here, and looking back at Kegworth.

Just before the airport, we arrived at the M1 motorway. On the bridge we used to cross the motorway we found this plaque and floral tribute. If you enlarge the picture you may be able to read the wording. It's for the people that died 20 years ago when a plane fell short of the airport and crashed on the motorway.

This is the motorway today. With airplanes coming in to land overhead, it was chillingly easy to imagine the crash scene.

There's no avoiding walking along the motorway for a little bit. This path actually goes parallel with and between the M1 and A453 - this path looks pleasant, but the noise isn't very relaxing! It's just a short stretch, before we cross the A453 and head towards the airport. It was already quite dark and so no more photos.

This walk goes quite close to Castle Donington. Today we avoided the town itself, and headed for the Airport perimeter. Although that's not a public right of way, the Airport authority have marked out the perimeter (and beyond) as a walking path. (For legal reasons, they have to close it for one day per year - I can't remember exactly, but I think it's late November.) There are leaflets describing the Airport Walk. For us today, it was a very convenient way to join us up with public rights of way south of the airport which will take us back to diseworth.

Weaving around Norfolk

2009-01-07T05:14:00.000-08:00

Distance:13m
Walked: 31 December 2008

Weaver's Way is a 60-mile Norfolk walk partly based on an old railway line. the full route meanders south-west from Cromer taking in Aylsham, North Walsham, Stalham and goes on to Yarmouth via the Broads. The name reflects the historic importance of the weaving industry to the area.

While visiting Norfolk, I made time to walk a part of the way; North Walsham through Stalham and on to Hickling. The sunshine and frost made the views beautiful and there were still plenty of rosehips to give some colour.

The Way is marked very well with finger-posts and discs (The green disc has a tiny map of the route marked on it!) However, as always, it would be a mistake to rely on these markers because it only takes one missing post (or for you to fail to spot one) for you to be lost. With the OS Explorer map in your hand (or print some off using the OS get-a-map service) you'll stay on track.

Meeting Hill is very pretty, and despite growing up in this area, I think this is the first time I've walked through. I think the name comes from the fact that non-conformists had to have their religious meetings outside the parish and this was the location of their meeting house.

After walking out of north Walksham town, there are a couple of fields to cross before picking up the old railway at Bengate.

The flat and straight nature of this section gives you the clear impression that it's an old railway, but just in case it isn't obvious, there are platforms and bridges.

One highlight was walking past Sutton Mill. This old windmill made us all wish that we had the cash to buy and restore it! There's a museum in the buildings at its base, but sadly it seems to have closed.

By the light ... of the silvery moon

2008-12-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

Walked: 10 December 2008
Distance: 7.5m

I've been wanting to go out walking at night for some time. It's happened by accident a couple of times, and I've enjoyed it. Tonight was reasonably clear and the moon was very nearly full.

I discovered that my old camera isn't up to taking good night-time photos. To the eye, there was plenty of light to see by, but all of my photos have just come out as black squares.

This is the only one that is usable. The moon doesn't look half as beautiful here as it did at the time.

It was very rewarding. The moon looked beautiful, the towns and cities were clusters of orange lights, and the moonlight was bright enough to walk by. The light was amazing. My disastrous photography proved that it wasn't really as bright as it appeared to the eye. A strange monochrome though, that colour being mithril.

I'm not sure whether it was a bad idea to walk paths that I didn't know very well, or a great idea. Orienteering was a little more of a challenge than in daylight. This being a linear walk, I obviously walked the same route back, but in reverse. I didn't need the map on the return part of the walk, because I remembered the paths pretty well. I think this was because when I did have the map out, I had to try and memorise as much as I could, because after reading a map by bright torchlight, it was very difficult to see in the moonlight once more.

I picked up where I left off last time out - starting in Stanton and walking east to Castle Donington, trying to keep to the higher ground for the views over the Trent valley.

The route above was generated using Meander.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Map image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

The Long View

2008-12-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Distance: 11 miles (linear)
Walked: 6 Dec 08
Terrain: The steep ascents are worthwhile!

The local moggies like to laze on top of my garden shed and take in the great view over fields and The National Forest. I thought about this as I drove to my local farm shop this morning, which takes me over one of my favourite South Derbyshire viewpoints (SK365250). Why do animals and humans alike find it so rewarding to find a high spot and take in a long view?

It might have to do with defence - from this position you can see a predator or enemy coming hours before they reach you and fight them off much more easily.

This is all a bit irrelevant for us these days, but nevertheless it feels great to be up high and see a long way. I felt inspired to devise a new walk which would follow the high spots along the Trent valley.

A circular walk would be great - to the south of the valley, then crossing over and back on the north of the river. This would be a very long walk because points where you can cross the Trent are few and far between.

Today's walk was a bit experimental and I'll develop this route some more but it worked out very well. I started in Repton and headed East, making it to Stanton before having to turn around to get back before dark.

From Repton, there are a couple of paths taking you East - on the map there's the main green line, and a pink alternative. I tried both today (one out and one back) and preferred the latter - the green one is low in the valley and you can't see very much more than Willington Power station.

I've said before that the walk along the river between Foremark and Ingleby (passing Anchor Church caves) is one of my favourite spots. Today the path was flooded, as it often is after wet weather. Once before I took off my boots and waded through. Today I thought I could see a way up over the cave, which gave me a great spot for a picnic lunch. This was off the right of way and was probably trespassing, which I hope the landowner will forgive, so I can't recommend it. Instead, I recommend the alternative path (blue on my map below) through Foremark

This chap seemed to enjoy sitting up high enjoying the view too.

In the distance is Ratcliffe power station making its signature across today's amazing blue sky. I really don't like the short days, and we're very nearly at the shortest day, but it was a perfect day for walking. The air was fresh and clear as a bell and the sun was bright. Despite some puddles being frozen over all day, the air didn't feel very cold.

The white building flying the St George cross is the John Thompson at Ingleby, famous for brewing its own marvelous beer.

This time of the year, there is a little bit of colour if you look for it. Today I saw beautiful yellow gorse flowers and red rose-hips. Here they're both showing in front of a tree in wonderful copper foliage.

I used Meander for Mac to generate the route below. Click the map for a bigger version complete with all of today's photos.

Early winter nature watch

2008-11-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

Route: Blackfordby figure-of-8
Walked: 30 November 2008
Distance: 8m
Summary: Starting at the Heart of The National Forest, Ashby de la Zouch, walk to Blackfordby, continue out to Woodville, then back in a loop to Blackfordby and a different Route back to Ashy (Possibly starting and finishing at The Beeches pub, well worth a swift visit).

I've broken a bit of a lull in my walking and made the most of the glimmer of sunshine which made it through the dull sky.

We're just three weeks away from the winter solstice, which here in the northern hemisphere means the days are almost as short as they're going to get. This, combined with me being short of spare time and letting my fitness lapse a bit, means that a shortish walk starting and finishing at my house was the order of the day.

I've written about my Blackfordby figure-of-8 walk before. It's one of my most regular South Derbyshire walks. The distinctive broach spire of Blackfordby church is in view most of the time. Today the church was looking a bit green and mossy.

In another life I'm bracing myself for Christmas Caroling season. It's not quite the bleak mid-winter yet, but 'The Holly and the Ivy' did seem very appropriate today. On the whole the trees and hedgerows looked pretty lifeless, but a few things were still keeping vigil, or in one or two cases, just coming into their own. Ivy looks pretty healthy and its berries are just starting to appear:

There's quite a contrast here between the brown and brittle bracken (to the left of the path) and the thriving holly on the right:

Surprisingly there are still plenty of red berries, including rosehips. These ones are among brambles (the blackberry bush) which are still green, but looking very tired and yellowing:

This bush was heaving with red rosehips, and looking really interesting, I thought, in silhouette against an attractive winter sky.

The route above was generated using Meander.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Map image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

Hadrian's Wall

2008-10-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

[Brian is writing graffiti on the palace wall. The Centurion catches him in the act]
Centurion: What's this, then? "Romanes eunt domus"? People called Romanes, they go, the house?
Brian: It says, "Romans go home. "
Centurion: No it doesn't ! What's the latin for "Roman"? Come on, come on !
Brian: Er, "Romanus" !
Centurion: Vocative plural of "Romanus" is?
Brian: Er, er, "Romani" !
Centurion: [Writes "Romani" over Brian's graffiti] "Eunt"? What is "eunt"? Conjugate the verb, "to go" !
Brian: Er, "Ire". Er, "eo", "is", "it", "imus", "itis", "eunt".
Centurion: So, "eunt" is...?
Brian: Third person plural present indicative, "they go".
Centurion: But, "Romans, go home" is an order. So you must use...?
[He twists Brian's ear]
Brian: Aaagh ! The imperative !
Centurion: Which is...?
Brian: Aaaagh ! Er, er, "i" !
Centurion: How many Romans?
Brian: Aaaaagh ! Plural, plural, er, "ite" !
Centurion: [Writes "ite"] "Domus"? Nominative? "Go home" is motion towards, isn't it?
Brian: Dative !
[the Centurion holds a sword to his throat]
Brian: Aaagh ! Not the dative, not the dative ! Er, er, accusative, "Domum" !
Centurion: But "Domus" takes the locative, which is...?
Brian: Er, "Domum" !
Centurion: [Writes "Domum"] Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times.
Brian: Yes sir. Thank you, sir. Hail Caesar, sir.
Centurion: Hail Caesar ! And if it's not done by sunrise, I'll cut your balls off.

Distance of this circular walk: 7m
Walked: 27 September 2008

If there was any graffiti on Hadrian's Wall, which bounded the far corner of the Roman Empire, then it's long gone. As is the vast majority of the wall itself.

I have to take my hat off to the tourism people responsible for marketing the area, for getting so much value from something long gone. It's not fair to say that it's not there any more, because there are visible signs, but you have to look for them. On arrival at Greenhead near Gilsland (near Carlisle) I saw big letters on the side of a bus saying 'Hadrian's Wall Country'. It does all lead you to believe that there's a wall there to see and walk along.

To be fair, it's a well marked route, with plenty of information boards and bits and pieces to see and some glorious English countryside. I had just been expecting to see a wall - that's all!

Our starting point was close to Thirlwall Castle. Built long after the romans had gone, out of stones robbed from the wall itself, it's a fascinating piece of history. It marks a time of conflict, not between the Romans and those just beyond their empire, but between the Scots and English.

This route took us north-east; away from the route of the wall, but through some gorgeous scenery. The weather had looked dodgy (at best) when we set off, but as you can see it was superb for most of this walk.

Having turned south to join the river, footpaths took us back to Gilsland and the route of the wall. Our first sign of the wall was Poltcross Burn Milecastle, accommodation for about 60 soldiers or possibly prisoners. There's not much left, but the information boards show how (we think) it looked. The wall extended east and west from here.

This awesome arch, straight out of Lara Croft, is much later. The railway line runs over it.

This is what's left of the wall itself in this area. A bit of a mound and a bit of a ditch. Interestingly, you're asked not to walk in single file or worn bits of ground as an erosion measure. It's easy to see why a ditch and a mound like this is a good defence measure and puts those beyond it at something of a disadvantage. Even without the wall, it would be quite difficult to scramble over this lot with your sword in your hand and an enemy throwing things at you.

Rutland Water - with peninsula!

2008-09-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

Distance: 21 miles
Walked 20 September 2008

The last time I walked around Anglia Water's 3100 acre reservoir (the largest man-made lake in western Europe, folks) I didn't have time to walk the optional loop around Hambleton Peninsula.

Today I did, and it was a fascinating experience. You'll see from the maps at the bottom of this post that the reservoir is a U shape. You can just walk a circle around the outside, or you can add the inner circle. I walked anti-clockwise around the outside, and had walked almost all of the outer circle before arriving at the peninsula, so while still keeping the water's edge on my left, I found myself changing direction and walking clockwise, and seeing all of the paths already trod, across a stretch of water.

Today we're in the middle of what might be an Indian summer; it really does feel as if Summer has returned (some might say 'arrived'). It was a perfect day for a saunter around one of England's beauty spots.

I started in Manton, and the first mile or so is along a road, with glimpses of the water. The first real views come as you descend towards Lynton nature reserve. Note the rosehips on the hedge. I noticed so many red rosehips and the red berries of the hawthorn. It's either been a very good year for them, or I've just never noticed them before.

This is Normanton Church Museum, which I've not stopped to investigate so far:

A long straight path takes you along the top of the dam at the eastern side of the reservoir. It looks like a huge dry-stone wall, and the village to the east is much lower than the water level.

The big surprise on arrival at the peninsula is the long busy road. For a couple of miles I was dodging surprisingly heavy traffic. It was well worthwhile, because once off that road, the views are excellent, and as I mentioned before, across the water I could see the paths I'd already walked.

This is Normanton Church viewed from the middle of the peninsula:

My car is somewhere in the distance across the water:

I don't know the story of the Old Hall, but I loved this view, and the old tree in the foreground.

At the bottom is my route created and measured using Meander (the extra loop is in green, and my start/finish point is at the extreme south-west) but I have to include Anglia Water's own map from their hand-out leaflet because it made me laugh out loud while I was walking. You'll see that the Rutland Belle is marked on the map. When I saw the pleasure boat, it was parked near Normanton museum, which demonstrates the folly of printing a moving object on a map!

Ivanhoe Way

2008-08-25T04:10:00.000-07:00

Walked: Sunday 24 August
Distance: officially 36m (I've not checked this yet) plus a couple of miles for one deliberate detour and going 'off track' a couple of times.
Weather: To start with, it was misty and drizzly at best and raining at worst. It brightened up during the morning and the rest of the day was warm and pleasant.

I've had my heart set for three years on walking the whole Ivanhoe Way in a day. I had big ideas about planning where I'd be at what time, and inviting friends to join in for parts. However, with the day length closing in, and a reasonably fine bank holiday forecast, I decided almost on the spur of the moment just to go for it.

The route almost passes my house, and so the obvious plan would be to start and finish from home. Instead, my more cunning plan was to drive to the other side, so that half way round I'd arrive at my house to top up on food and water, meaning I wouldn't have to carry all of the provisions I'd need for the day. Therefore I parked at Billa Barra car park, which is between Stanton-under-Bardon and Bardon Hill. I walked the route anti-clockwise, though I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it.

For once I remembered to set the time on my camera, so I know where I was when.

I intended to start at 6am, as it was getting light. It was around 6:15 when I arrived at Billa Barra, and I waited for a bit because it was raining. I started walking at 6:30am

6:45 am. This first picture shows Bardon Hill. Or at least the camera is pointing towards Bardon Hill. It's somewhere in that mist.

7:11 am. I'd usually enjoy a coffee and enjoy the view from the top of Bardon Hill - said to be the highest point in Leicestershire (which isn't saying much). You can see this radio mast from the A511.

This is usually a great view of Leicestershire and I've taken this picture before on sunny days. not very exciting today! There was little point hanging around.

There are then a couple of housing estates to walk through. I took a wrong turn in Bardon (Didn't look at the map, thought I knew my way through. One street in a housing estate looks much like another!) That added a mile. There's another council estate to get through at Whitwick, but no problems there. (Give me fields and hedges anytime!)

8:18 am. My photo isn't very good, but the arrow disc says 'Ivanhoe Way' in it. Leicestershire County Council are brilliant when it comes to waymarking. There are plenty of these yellow posts, or the green fingerposts; usually the next one is in sight of the previous one. However, you can't rely on them, the OS map is essential.

9:00 am. This is the first time I stopped for coffee and cake. I crouched under a tree, the driest spot I could find, but it still wasn't very nice. Before I moved on, though, I realised it was getting brighter and saw the first glimpse of blue sky.

9:18 am. Swannington has an old inclined railway (trains were winched up a steep bit of track) which is still there as a museum piece. The Ivanhoe Way just misses it though. I don't know what this metal structure is, but it looks like it was something to do with mining.

10:39 am. This is my first view of Breedon church. Between Worthington and Staunton Harold was field after field of maize, with unpleasantly unkempt paths. This very long grass was still saturated from the rain.

12:09 pm. This is one of my favourite South Derbyshire photo opportunities (we're right on the border of Leicestershire and Derbyshire). I've taken lots of photos from The bottom end of Staunton Harold Reservoir, and it always looks slightly different. The water's still covered with algae, and there's a good reflection today.

3:22 pm. Half-way through now. If I cheated slightly, it was stopping at my house to freshen up a bit and have a hot dinner. (I resisted the temptation to have a shower!) However, I did take a bit of a detour around Ashby to do it, which added a mile or two to my journey. Just south of Ashby here, I like this view. My house is on the horizon, left of centre. We're in the National Forest here, and typically, the trees are still only head-high.

3:51 pm. This picture sums up the season. Blackberries and elderberries together. I stopped many times to pick the former to eat on the spot, and will be back for a bucketful of the latter to make this year's elderberry wine!

3:55 pm. Ashby to Measham is one of my favourite parts of the Ivanhoe Way. This is Moira Furnace, it is a fascinating building with a fascinating history. Unfortunately, I've just missed the furnace itself off this photo.

4:13 pm. After a lovely walk along canal and through woods, this is Donisthorpe church. It has some fascinating recent stained glass representing the mining heritage and new forestry and tourism industries. from here to Measham is cycle path, so easy walking and pleasant views.

6:32 pm. 12 hours' walking! Stops for drink and food seem to be getting more frequent, although things seem to hurt more when you re-start after resting for a while! After a stop for something to eat and drink in Snarestone, there's a little bit of surprisingly beautiful road here in Shackerstone. The Ivanhoe Way just goes off the bottom of Explorer 245 at this point, and so when walking here previously I've always taken a bit of a detour in order to stay on the map. I decided to try sticking to the Ivanhoe Way today, relying on the fingerposts, a strategy which very nearly worked.

7:44 pm. Almost to Odstone. It was still bright, but check out those long shadows - the sun is really low now. At this point I was still optimistic that I'd finish before it was completely dark.

8:10 pm. Just before Nailstone was this beautiful sunset.

The beautiful Nailstone church nestles among 20th century council houses!

At this point it got too dark to take any more pictures, and with quite a few miles to go, I panicked a little about what to do. When I came to Bagworth it was completely dark (stars but no moon) and with a few fields and woods to cross, I very nearly called a taxi.

The remaining paths go in very straight lines, and although it's obviously difficult or impossible to see the waymarkers, I could see my map and compass by torchlight, and pick out hedges and field boundaries and so very tentatively decided to carry on. Each stile or waymarker that I came to was a mini-triumph, and with a new determination dulling the pain a little, and a real peaceful atmosphere and even more of a sense of solitude than usual, I enjoyed walking in the darkness very much.

I arrived back at my car at 10:30pm - stung, sunburned, bitten, mud and blackberry-stained, sweaty, but very happy - 16 hours after setting off.

mad flowers

2008-08-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Walked: 16 August 2008
Distance: 10m

I have done this route before, or variations of it. I've taken lots of photos of Anchor Church caves before, fortunately, because today I didn't have good batteries in my camera, and it was a grey, miserable day anyhow.

I did have enough battery power to take a few pictures of these mad flowers, though. For a long stretch alongside the Trent there grow these pink triffid-like flowers. They're tall (Rog is a good 6 feet tall), smell heavenly, and there are millions of them, tightly packed into this one spot. They look like a cross between a sweet pea and a snapdragon, but I've no idea what they are.

[edit] Thanks to Roger's mum, we now know that this is Himalayan Balsam, it escaped from Kew Gardens in 1837 and is running amok. Perhaps my triffid reference was more accurate than I thought.

Blackfordby blackberries

2008-08-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Walked: 9 August 2008
Distance: 8m

One of my most regular routes, the only really notable thing to say about today's walk is that the blackberries are starting to come ripe. Most are still green or red, but there are a few which are deliciously ready.

Bad planning produces results

2008-08-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Walked: 27 July 2008
Distance: 36 miles
Total time: 14 hours

I planned this South Derbyshire walk to be 30 miles, but because I didn't measure it accurately beforehand, and also because of some incompetent planning, the total at the end of the day was 36 miles. I'm so pleased about this because I've had the Ivanhoe Way as my goal for 3 years, and that's 36 miles, so I now know I can do the distance.

This was a very hot day. We started very early (started walking at 6:30), which was the coolest part of the day, but you can see by the reflection in this pond just how still the air was.

It seemed a little early for wild fruit, but to our surprise, there were quite a few wild raspberries around. It was a real pleasure to pick a couple of handfuls and eat them on the way.

The sky wasn't blue all day. by the time we arrived at Staunton Harold reservoir, there was a little bit of hazy cloud, but you can still see very still water between the algae.

I also felt that it was a little bit early for harvest and straw bales scattered around stubble fields, but this was obviously a good weekend for getting the wheat in.

We covered the very flat but easy-walking surfaced paths of the Cloud Trail and the Trent and Mersey Canal towpath during the hottest part of the day. Shade was scarce, but when we did find some it was very welcome.

These strange squid-like creatures are weeds at the bottom of the River Trent. This photo taken from the Cloud Trail's bridge over the Trent shows just how clear the water was today.

From the same spot, this beautiful view shows more harvesting.

I love dragonflies and damselflies. This fellow with dark spots on his wings was irridescent and changed colour from rich blue to emerald green according to the direction of the light.

My plan was to continue through Willington and leave the canal by Newton Solney. The map below shows how we found ourselves on the wrong side of the Trent with no bridge for miles! I have been caught out like this before, so shouldn't have fallen for it again. We did trespass across a field to find a footbridge which is marked on the map, but the bridge was well secured. A bit tired by now, we had to re-trace our steps to Willington and cross the river there, leaving this very strange appendage at the top-right of our route:

East Staffs 26 miler

2008-07-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

Walked: 19 July 2008
Distance: 26m
Terrain: fairly flat
Summary: starting from Shobnall, follow Millennium Way along the Trent and Mersey canal and through to Yoxall. Leave the MW and take footpaths to Braken Hurst Woods, pass the airfield and head north, skirt south of Tutbury and back to start point via Anslow.
Time: 11.5 hours start to finish
Notable views: View over Burton from SK229244; the view all the way across to Ratcliffe power station from Hanbury and Tutbury; Anslow is a really pretty village

I've now done this walk 3 times. In fact it was the very first post on this blog in August 2006. It's the kind of distance that takes most of a day to do, but the feeling of achievement at the end is amazing. There's some nice countryside and some nice views as a further reward.

The walk starts in Burton on Trent, the home of Marston's Pedigree (it says here). There are many brands of beer that have their roots in Burton, but Pedigree is indeed good stuff. It's the water from the river Trent, I'm told. That's hard to believe if you've seen (or paddled in) the Trent.

The first part of the walk is along the Trent and Mersey canal. There were so many geese around, we named today the Burton Goose Fair.

The Buddleia (or butterfly bush) grows so easily and quickly here in England, that it's often overlooked as the attractive, intensely-coloured and beautifully-scented plant that it is. When it's in full flower on a summer day like this one, it's surrounded by a cloud of butterflies and bees.

I'm not sure what this is. Some kind of rose, I guess. It also looked quite special against the blue sky. For the record, today's weather was what the weatherman calls 'sunshine and showers'. We got wet several times, but in between it was warm and sunny.

This wood has the odd name of the 'Fagness'. Rog nicknamed it 'His Royal Fagness'. I don't know who he had in mind.

Conkers are taking shape but still quite small.

This big steamy pile of manure has been dumped right across the public right of way. If I were more cynical I'd suspect that the farmer had put it there deliberately. I've seen this kind of thing a few times, it's hard to believe it's accidental. (We walked around it with care.)

I find this view quite amazing. In the centre of the picture in the middle distance is Willington Power Station which I've mentioned before. Ugly, but now a familiar landmark. In the far distance on the horizon is Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station. Ratcliffe is just beyond the eastern boundary of South Derbyshire, while the Western edge is somewhere between Willington and the spot this photo was taken. Therefore we can see the whole width of the South Derbyshire district in this shot.

I love wild flowers. It's easy to dismiss them as weeds because they spring up uninvited, but there are some beautiful shapes and colours. These daisies looked so attractive growing among the wheat here.

I believe that you can't eat an animal if you've given it a name, but these girls are probably looking at a long life providing milk and having calves. They've all been given girls' names. This is Lucy:

And this is Niki:

And this is Burton once more. I'm not a fan of any man-made development, but from up here it looks quite awesome. After 26 miles, knowing the car is down there makes it look very appealing too!

The route above was generated using Meander and scanned OS map.

2008-07-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

This is a very nice walk which takes you past what might be a farm or might be a zoo. It's very strange to see a cow grazing near to its more exotic cousins in the next field.

Nearby are llamas, and these deer.

Flowers are fewer and farther between now, but in this hedge I saw blackerry and dog-rose flowers, which are remarkably similar when you see them side by side, alongside honeysuckle.

I found this large mushroom in one of the fields. Yum.

Ashby to Hartshorne

2008-07-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Walked: 29 June 2008
Distance: 9m

Some classic South Derbyshire views, taken before I did my usual stupid acrobatic jump over a stile, landed badly and walked several miles on a sore ankle. That gave me a reasonable excuse to get a lift home when it started to rain.

This is a very pleasant walk. As far as pretty villages go, I love Smisby, the views from alongside the Ashby by-pass are superb, and the part of Ivanhoe Way from there to the Ferrers Craft Centre is one of my favourite local routes.

The derelict cottage is covered in elderflower, a fragrant flower which some people still use to make cordial and more importantly, white wine. I have collected mine this weekend. Later in the year the berries also make wonderful red wine. I've also seen someone eating the leaves in sandwiches.

I love this cottage as an example of nature very quickly reclaiming its land.

Summer Solstice dusk till dawn walk

2008-06-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

Walked: 20/21 June 2008
Distance:14m

Here in the UK it's been getting dark later and later, and last night was the Summer Solstice - midsummer; the shortest night with the longest days.

A bit further north, folks would have experienced a 'twilight night' without complete darkness. Here in the midlands, the duskiness did give way to darkness, but only for a very short time, and the full moon kept it light. It was a wonderful experience watching the twilight go very slowly, and the dawn arrive very shortly afterwards.

The moon was very nearly full, and extremely bright. At one point when we were walking directly towards it, I had to shade my eyes from it. I don't remember seeing my own very distinct shadow in moonlight before.

I chose my '3 viewpoints' route, which I've trod many times, and I'm very familiar with now, but even so, I found that things look so different in the darkness!

I discovered a very funny game when it was quite dark. I didn't use my torch a great deal, but at one point shone it towards a black shape to see whether it was a cow, a straw bale or a bush. It turned out to be a cow, but the big surprise was seeing the two sharp points of light shining back at me! When you shine a torch into a field of animals, they look back at you and their eyes turn into bright spots of light. (Quick someone patent this idea - maybe it has a road safety application...)

It worked just as well with sheep, and when we found a field packed with a million sheep, to see all those pairs of eyes looking like fairy lights was a hilarious sight!

There are many nocturnal and crepuscular animals and birds; we saw owls and a badger, and heard so many rustles. In long grass we startled a partridge or pheasant which in turn startled me.

I started this walk tonight in a different place than usual, so that I wouldn't be walking through Melbourne at pub-turning-out time. I started just outside Melbourne, so it would be several hours before I hit 'civilisation' again.

At 11pm, the sky looked a beautiful blue, with a red horizon. It looks much darker in the photo than it did at the time. This is just before St Bride's farm, looking over at the Trent Valley.

The first glimpse of the rising moon was around Hangman's Stone, between Seven Spouts farm and Foremark Reservoir. It started out a fairly warm yellowish colour, but soon became bright silvery white. This is around 12:15

We crossed fields to Ticknall and by the Calke estate. This was the darkest part of the night, but it was still light enough to see without torches. By the time we first saw Breedon church, the morning's red glow was starting to appear on the horizon. Breedon church is somewhere in the middle of this picture on the horizon.

I've taken so many photos of Breedon Church, but not like these. It's floodlit, so can be seen from a long way away, and looks wonderful up close at night.

At this point, the horizon over to the East started to look very light.

From now on, the light changed rapidly from the eerie half-light to full brightness.

Having walked through Melbourne, perfectly light now at 4:20am, this is the red sky heralding the sunrise

I don't remember watching the sunrise before. Having arrived back at the cars, the first glimpse of the sun was an intense spot of light on the horizon. In just a few seconds, this grew and grew, and the sun's rays filled one of my most favourite views. You can really see the sun rising very quickly over the horizon.

Having witnessed all of this, it's no wonder that ancient people were in awe of the daily and seasonal cycles of the sun and moon.

2008-06-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Walked: 8 Jun 2008
Distance: 14m

Today I walked my '3 viewpoints walk'. I'd normally take the distance in my stride, but today was really hot, and got really tired before the end.

this is one of my favourite views - from the south end of Staunton Harold reservoir. It looked particularly blue today, reflecting the gorgeous sky.

Today's theme was this pink flower. I think it's dog-rose and there was a lot of it about today. If I'm right, these flowers will be rose-hips later in the year.

The 'sister' reservoir, Foremark, also looked beautiful.

This sign makes me laugh at this time of the year! It was scortching hot today - but watch out for the ice!!

Rutland Water

2008-05-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Walked: 31 May 2008
Distance: 14m

Walking the full circuit of Rutland Water was a bit of a whim. I knew that I would be in the area and had packed boots, water and coffee, but had only intended to walk a few miles and find out what opportunities there were for walking around the reservoir.

At the Lyndon Visitor Centre where I popped in to buy an OS map, I was told that the circular walk (minus the peninsular) was 17m. I was a bit unsure whether I'd get around before dark, but it was such a beautiful day, and once I'd started, turning back before the half-way point wasn't really an option!

I've now Meandered the route and find it to be 14m, which fits with the 5 hours I was walking.

The signposts at the peninsular claim that that loop is an extra 7m, so there's a potential 21 mile walk there for another day.

The shop didn't have the OS map, and I'd usually feel uncomfortable about walking anywhere without the 1:25000 to refer to, but the reservoir has a surfaced path all the way round, with so much signage it almost feels like a guided tour.

It did annoy me a little that there are so many health and safety signs around the place, but this one did make me laugh.

The flowers are just going off the horse-chestnut trees and these cute baby conkers have started to form:

This is the dam at the eastern end:

The village sign for Egleton reminds me of the Edvard Munch painting the Madonna with the sperms swimming around the edge. I'm not sure that these shapes are meant to be sperms but one does have a wiggly tail.

The route below was created using Google maps and Meander.

The Meindls are dead, long live the Asolos

2008-05-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

I don't normally go out when it's pouring with rain, but I'd arranged to help risk-assess a new walk which is part of the WHI scheme, for which I volunteer.

A colleague has organised a new WHI walk around Hilton (South Derbyshire). It'll start soon and be on the first and third Wednesday evening of each month, starting (and finishing!) from the Hilton Brook pub at 6:30 folks!

It was great timing as I needed a nice short walk to start breaking in my brand new boots!

According to this blog, my ratty old boots have trodden at least 684 miles of South Derbyshire and beyond! Some of it very muddy, some of it scrambling up hills.

I had to concede that they'd bitten the dust as I nursed a blister last time out because the slowly-growing split (that you can see in the top photo) was allowing the left one to fold differently and dig in. A look at the soles, however, tells me that a) they're worn down past the tread in places and b) I've been supinating (or anti-pronating) which means walking on the outside of my feet a bit.

Note how the tread on the heel is worn right down on the outside but not the inside.

When I had some knee trouble last year, I started walking with a stick, took a look at the soles of my boots, read a bit and decided that my supinating was causing the trouble. If you walk on the outside or the inside of your foot, then it twists your knee. Try rocking your foot gently from the outside to the inside and feel how much your shinbone twists!

Even though I've tried to correct the habit, wearing boots worn on the outside hasn't helped, I guess, and so I'll be keeping a close eye on the tread of these new ones!

The old ones are Meindl 'Jamaica Lady'. I tried on a brand new pair of JL's, which unsurprisingly felt just like the old ones. They've certainly done me some service and I'm very happy with them, but they are listed as being suitable for more gentle work than I've given them. It was obvious when trying on new boots that the slightly heavier-duty models gave more support around the ankle, had stiffer soles and some felt decidedly more comfy around the foot.

My new 'Asolo Flame GTX' boots got a rave review from LFTO ('Trail' and 'Country Walking magazines'). Time will tell whether they get a rave review from me, but it's looking good so far.

I went for the man's version because a) they felt more comfy on my wide feet and b) the lady's version comes in heinous colours - WHY???

The soles are as stiff as a board, they fit very well, feel great around the foot and hold the ankle really well. After a few miles splashing through puddles in the rain, my feet were very warm and dry!

(Yes, boot manufacturers, I'm still angling for some sponsorship or some freebies!!)

This is them after just a few miles in very soggy Hilton.

2008-05-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Distance: 22m
Walked: 25 May 08

For posterity, the first two pictures here feature the cooling towers at Willington. Although I find the huge grey shapes ugly, I have become comfortably familiar with the landmark. At several places you can see both Ratcliffe power station and Willington cooling towers marking (very approximately) the eastern and western extremes of the beautiful district of South Derbyshire.

While idly flicking through this month's Heritage News, I discovered that they are not only no longer in use, but could soon be destined for demolition.

A recent attempt to have them listed has failed, meaning that their future is uncertain.

On to the walk. Today was sunny, but very windy. The may blossom is just going off, some of it turning pink or cream. The lambs are getting bigger.

The route follows part of the Trent and Mersey canal which runs parallel to the Trent valley. It also takes in historic Repton and Anchor Church caves.

I love May

2008-05-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

Distance: 11m
Walked: 18 May 2008

I love May. I love the May blossom covering the hedges like a heavy dusting of snow. I love laburnums dripping with yellow flowers, I love the warm bright sunshine. I love the vivid green colour of the countryside. I love that everything is growing very quickly.

The second picture shows elderflower budding up ready to flower, alongside some holly. Holly grows very slowly, but in May it puts on a few leaves. I've never noticed this before, but when the new leaves sprout, they're soft and fluffy!

Combs Edge - little-known Peak District views

2008-05-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Walked: 5 May 2008(Mayday Bank Holiday)
Distance: 10 miles

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'd arranged a day walking in the Peak District with friends. An Austrian friend has been staying here for a year - the year is nearly over and she was keen to see the best of our countryside.

Having settled on the bank holiday, I was keen to find somewhere not swarming with my fellow walkers, so I thought Combs Edge might fit the bill and it did!

It was difficult to draw a route that would suit experienced and less experienced walkers, but the 10-mile route seemed fine. We allowed plenty of time, and took plenty of stops.

The first part of the walk is along the Goyt Valley, a level walk alongside the reservoir, before climbing the opposite side of the valley, from where we had a fantastic view of the valley we'd just walked along, as well as the high spots that we had yet to climb. Notably the site of an old fort, which looked so high and so far in the distance.

We descended into Combs, which is a pretty village, before making the steep climb to the fort.

That was the half way point and made a great spot for lunch.

Most of the second half of the walk follows the contour of the edge. Despite being so high, it was very boggy and not such pleasant walking. The views did compensate though.

On the previous exploratory trip, we'd picked a route down from the edge which was a bit steep, and had to explore a bit to find a more gentle descent which met a footpath. It was still a bit tough and exercised muscles that don't normally get much use.

It's easy to pick up the Midshire's Way which takes you back to the car park by the reservoir.

This was the second time that I've arranged a walk for a group of friends. Despite being a very happy solitary walker, I thoroughly enjoyed the organising, the company and the walk itself. A very enjoyable benefit of going as a group was the couple of drinks and a pub meal we treated ourselves to at the end.

First bluebells, 2008

2008-05-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Rog took me out on the pretext of a quick stroll before lunch, knowing that this display of bluebells had already started in South Derbyshire. I didn't, until greeted by this amazing sight:

The young bluebells look remarkably like asparagus spears:

Another surprise was meeting these rather young foals.

2008-05-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Distance: 12m
Walked: 13 April 2008

This was an exploratory trip to find a quiet corner of the Peak District to take some friends to on Bank Holiday Monday. I hope I've found it - the views are just wonderful, even on a dull day like this one, and it seems to be reasonably unknown.

We did 12 miles, but some of it was worth cutting out, leaving about 9 miles to walk on the day.

No detail for this one - I want it to myself on Monday!

Spring is springing

2008-04-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Distance: 11m
Walked: 28 March 2008

This was one of those spring days where you find yourself compelled to stop walking, relax and just look and listen. That doesn't happen during the winter, and it's a lovely moment when it first happens in the spring.

This walk starts at Shelbrook, just outside Ashby,and picks up the Ivanhoe Way, which goes to Moira, Donisthorpe and Measham. I didn't go as far as Measham, leaving the IW at Oakthorpe and through a potentially beautiful new part of National Forest to Willesley and back to Shelbrook.

Just had to record this. All that tweeting is bird-talk for 'Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day..."

Here's a still of that scene. It really was a stunning moment.

Leicestershire 4 Peaks Challenge

2008-03-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

Walked: Easter Monday, 24 March
Distance: 17 miles

Today's important lesson was that making plans to stop and enjoy lunch / coffee at a viewpoint only works if it's a nice day. Today was a cold and breezy day, with some late snow sprinkled around. On a day like this, somewhere sheltered is a much better bet.

Having planned to have lunch on the Markfield viewpoint, we didn't spend long up there, and retreated to the church below. Even there I got very cold and wanted to press on to warm up.

This is a variation of a walk I've done a couple of times before, and called the 'Leicestershire 3 Peaks Challenge'. That's a bit of a joke name, as the 'peaks' aren't really very dramatic Leicestershire is pretty flat. (I enjoy saying that as I've spent my life railing when people claim that Norfolk, my homeland, is flat. It isn't!)

I noticed before that there are other viewpoints marked on the map nearby, so this could easily become the 5 or 6 Peaks Challenge. I'm intrigued about why there are so many viewpoints clustered in a small area. Today we started in a different place; the lay-by on the A511 is convenient but not a pleasant start / finish to the walk.

The car park just through Whitwick was much better. There's a short walk along a road before Mount St Bernard Abbey. The monastery may be worth exploring, but we didn't make time today. Just past the abbey, you can take a footpath to the right and cross a reservoir dam. Footpaths take you to Ingleberry Lane, but there's then a couple of miles to do by road before coming to Beacon Hill.

This is the current beacon. Strangely not near the top of the hill... Apparently you can see the one on Breedon Hill from here, but we couldn't spot it today. It was a bit misty, and the strong breeze made it uncomfortable trying. I'll try to get a small pair of bins, I think.

This is the top of Breedon Hill. A really good view, but as expected there were lots of people on top, thanks to the car park close to the summit.

After Beacon Hill, we're back on footpaths, past a 'Priory, Rems of' (it sez on the map) which looked as if it was being converted or restored.

These were my first gamboling lambs of the spring.

The road sign opposite says 'Polly Botts Lane' which is a delightful name. Take it, and

This was today's surprise. We included the Quarry at Markfield (Hill Hole Quarry) as it has a viewpoint marked on the map, and it delivered on that promise. As you can hear in the video below, (turn your sound down before pressing 'play') it was cold and windy up there, but it has a very good 360 degree view. You can see why it's called Hill Hole - The water is where a hill used to be. It's as if the hill has been turned upside down or inside out:

I've written about Bardon Hill and Billa Barra before. We approached it from a slightly different direction, so this is the view of the 'crown' of trees on Billa Barra from the 'back':

Fourth peak is Bardon Hill. This is said to be the highest point in Leicestershire, and Garmin confirmed that it was the highest point of our walk today. The picture shows the view looking across at Bardon Hill taken from Billa Barra:

You can pick up the Ivanhoe Way to get to the top of Bardon Hill and then follow it all the way back to the car park.

Ouch!

2008-03-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Walked: 13 March 2008
Distance: 24 miles

I'm walking as if I've just got off a horse. A couple of weeks ago I did 27 miles over two days and so thought that I'd manage 22 with no problems. Once out there, I couldn't resist a detour to see Anchor Church Caves which boosted the distance a little, and the last couple of miles were a little bit tortuous.

First thing this morning, when I left the house, there was a hint of spring in the air. It was early, but the sun was high, Despite the chilly air, it didn't feel quite so wintry. This feeling didn't last long, The sun stayed out for half of the day, but the air was chilly. Note to self - During March, it's worth taking gloves - they're not too heavy to carry if you have to take them off.

The weather deteriorated during the day. Towards the end, the sky was decidedly heavy.

Some good nature watch photos today. Things are starting to creep out blinking into the sunlight.

This chap was quite tame and let me take lots of photos quite close.

This was quite a common and wonderful sight today - the green is hawthorn and the white is blackthorn (yes, really). The former is one of the earliest leafing shrubs, but the flowers don't come out till later (May, which is why it's sometimes called Mayflower). Blackthorn comes out in flower first before it shows its leaves.

Oops - sideways. Unless I'm mistaken, these are fairly fresh deer tracks (and the odd bootprint).

I couldn't resist recording this woodpecker doing its thang. The views here are great too - just past Anchor Church you climb up quite high and have a good view over the river.

This is the bridge over the Trent between Willington and Repton. A lovely bridge, and one of few crossing points. The impressive spire of Repton church is in the background.

These caves are known as Anchor Church - read back through this blog for more info.

Sunny South Derbys 12

2008-03-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

Walked: 2 March 08
Distance: 12m

We just needed a local 12 miler to walk up an appetite for dinner. A variation of my 3-viewpoints fitted the bill. Daffs are out - yay.

Three Viewpoints again

2008-03-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

Walked: 24 February 2008
Distance: 14m
Terrain: some inclines
Summary: Starting from the Severn Trent car park close to Dimminsdale, head for Breedon Church (first viewpoint). Via Melbourne through Robin Wood to Foremark Reservoir. Pause where the wicker Jack and Jill used to be and the abandoned car park at the South of Foremark Reservoir (second viewpoint). Back via Pistern Hill.
Time: 5.5 hours start to finish
Notable views: See above - plus the view back over South Derbyshire from the trig point just before Robin Wood.

I've walked this route a few times now. any route looks so different at different times of the year. Today was a bit dull and grey at times, but leaves and buds are starting to appear. I find this such an optimistic time of year.

The route and stats above were generated using Meander.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

Brrrr...

2008-02-18T05:17:00.000-08:00

Walked: 17 February 2008
Distance: 18m

Summary: Starting from Hartshorne, walk around Foremark reservoir, past Bendall's and Seven Spouts Farm, Hangman's Stone and on to Ticknall. By the Calke estate, pick up the Ivanhoe Way at the Ferrer's Centre and on to Ashby. Head off right (west) before crossing the bypass, and back to Hartshorne via Smisby.

It can take some determination to keep walking through the winter, when it's often cold, grey, wet, muddy, dark or all of the above. I have resolved to walk the Ivanhoe Way (I've said this the last two years and not managed it), and so am trying to build up my distance early in the year. The weather has been glorious, if very cold, so it was easy to get out this weekend.

I had been planning to do a 20+ mile walk this weekend, but after yesterday's 9, I stopped short of 20. That's still 27 over the two days.

Was it worth getting out of bed at 7am when the temperature was minus a lot outside? Sure was!!

This is one of the best views in South Derbyshire:

I'm very pleased with this picture of Smisby church:

Snowdrops

2008-02-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

Walked: 16 Feb 2008
Distance: 9.5m

Park at the Ferrer's Centre car park, walk through to Dimminsdale and enjoy the snowdrops (if it's February), to Melbourne, Ticknall and back to start.

This was meant to be a warm-up for a longer walk the next day, but the weather was so gorgeous that it grew to 9 miles. We've had a high pressure over us for a week or so now, which means lovely sunny still days and cold clear nights.

The spectacular annual display of snowdrops at Dimminsdale Nature Reserve looked even more amazing in the bright sunshine.

This was the best surprise today, I'd never used this path (head on past Scotland's Farm for a bit and off to the left towards Melbourne). The view here is stunning.

Norfolk nature watch

2008-02-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

I have been told that there are some daffs out in flower in some areas, but I've not seen any yet. All the ones I've seen have been just budding up like these ones:

Norfolk is full of wonderful old trees. Even without leaves, they look lovely against the clear blue sky. In their coats of ivy, they reminded me of wizened old men and women in green fur jackets:

Snowdrops:

Hawthorn is just starting to leaf up:

I was intrigued by these white flowers. I thought it was too early for blackthorn or hawthorn flowers, but these *are* blackthorn. The flowers do come out before the leaves and are supposed to come out in late feb, so these ones are a bit early:

Honeysuckle:

Youlgreave

2008-02-03T02:28:00.000-08:00

Walked: 27 January 2008
Distance: 17.5m
Total time 8 hrs
Terrain: some steep climbs. Total ascent: 200m (lowest point to highest point)
Summary: Starting at Alport, along the Lathkill Dale, onto Limestone Way via Moneyash, Midshires way and on to Middleton, divert south East to pick up Limestone Way back to Youlgreave.

Every so often you get an unexpected overwhelming "it's all too beautiful" moment. That happened today. It was unexpected partly because we hadn't expected such great weather, and partly because I hadn't realised how high we'd be going. (I'll have to learn what those orange lines mean!)

The first half of this walk is down in dales and cycle routes. Even this was far more beautiful than I'd expected. From Alport, we used a track to get to Over Haddon, and then down into the Dale. The first part of the path alongside the water is marked with a brown line before changing to green later on. This means that it's not a public right of way, but some kind of concessionary path. It obviously has some history, because you first see this old sign which explains that it's free to use the path, except for the thursday of Easter week, when the toll is one penny!!

This is how beautiful this dale is, and so quiet!

I get frustrated that so many wonderful views don't look anything like as great through a viewfinder, I wonder whether sound and motion help? This is my first attempt at doing this; does it work?

This is where the water emerges from underground. It looks a little odd on the map that the water just starts apparently out of nowhere. Here's the answer: it emerges from a cave, which looks very much like something from early Lara Croft.

After emerging from the dale we found the cycle route via Moneyash and the wonderfully-named Huntmoor Butts (yes, really). The cycle path, an old railway, can be a bit flat and uninteresting in places, but has its moments:

I was surprised to see later (from the tracklogs profile, reproduced below) that this was the highest point of the walk. The climb up to the start of the cycle path was pretty gentle, and we didn't realise we were going so high.

After leaving the cycle route and finding Middleton via Green Lane, we decided that we had time and energy to take a detour that we'd kept in reserve. This took us south-west and it was on this part of the walk that the sun shone and we found the most amazing views.

Click the map below, and then each image attachment in turn to see all photographs from today's walk.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Map image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland .