South Derbyshire 18

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.