W/C 11th January 2014 - Pleasley, Upper Langwith and Palterton

I headed more or less due north this week. It was a very pleasant day, but much of the way was very muddy and difficult. That did nothing to stop my enjoyment though! 

I made for the Skegby Trail, which took me almost to Pleasley. I then turned left along Longhedge Lane to Stoney Houghton. Footpaths and forest trails took me on to Upper Langwith. I then turned west to Scarcliffe and Palterton. I descended the steep hill to the Stockley Trail, which lead to Glapwell. I then followed the main road towards Pleasley before turning back onto Longhedge Lane and the Skegby Trail.

I started much later than I had planned. I overslept quite badly, I am ashamed to say! I was so late, I had to scrap my original itinerary. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I am very sad not to have seen more of it! The winter sun cast long shadows all day, as you can tell by my silhouette appearing in several of the shots. This first one was near the southern end of the Skegby Trail.

Just before Skegby, there was a beautiful mix of sun and shade in the old railway cutting.I should really have cleaned the camera lens before I started out. Several shots show the watermarks of last week's rain.

 Beyond Skegby, much of the route is bordered by vegetation. Even in winter, it is difficult to see a lot either side of the trail. One rare open stretch just south of Pleasley gives a view of the old Pleasley Pit chimney in the far distance.

 This is a view of Newboundmill Farm, again just south of Pleasley. It gives an idea of what the whole area must have been like before the industrial revolution arrived, with its coal mines and colliery villages.

 Immediately south of Pleasley, I turned left onto Longhedge Lane, which runs along the south western edge of the old Pleasley Colliery site - now a nature reserve and park. This was the first of several very wet and muddy sections on this particular walk.

 Near the A617 Mansfield-Chesterfield road, it is possible to see the upper part of Hardwick Hall across the fields, in-between the 2 trees in the middle of this photo.

 Crossing the A617, I continued north west towards Stony Houghton, seen here on my right as I walked along Green Lane.

 Instead of turning right into the village, I carried straight on along a green lane towards the B6417.

 Just beyond the junction with the B6417, I turned right along a narrow, winding country road leading round the north side of Stony Houghton towards Shirebrook. After a short distance the Archeological Way footpath crosses the road. I turned north along the footpath towards Roseland Wood. The land is flat up here, at around 170m above sea level. Looking north west across the fields, I had a clear view of Palterton and the southern edge of Bolsover on the horizon. I would be passing through Palterton later on.

 Roseland Wood was deathly quiet. Apart from a dog barking in the far distance, I neither saw nor heard any sign of animal or human life. It was just me and the trees!

Between Roseland Wood and Langwith Wood, there is a view of Scarcliffe Village, unfortunately spoiled by power lines - something of a problem elsewhere on my walk, too.

 The Archeological Way runs along the south eastern edge of the woods as you approach Upper Langwith. In the very far distance, I could see the steam rising from a power station. The alignment of the path here suggests to me that this is West Burton Power Station near Gainsborough.

 The sun was still shining brightly as I approached Nether Langwith village - more or less the northernmost part of my walk.

 The church here is very plain, but none the worse for that. Trees make it difficult to get a really good angle for a photo.

 I walked along the footpath by the church and across a small valley to the A632. I had decided to head west towards Scarcliffe, as I knew it would be dark in a few hours. This was the view looking back to the north east from the highest point on the A632, near Scarcliffe Lanes Farm. By now there were 2 power stations in view, along the Trent Valley.

 Just beyond the farm, the road takes a sharp turn to the right. I headed straight on along a footpath down a steep, wooded bank towards Scarcliffe.

 This footpath crossed the direct road from Upper Langwith before climbing steeply again. Most of my photos were taken looking back to where I had come from by now, as the sun was very much in my eyes on this section of the walk. This view looks back towards Upper Langwith, with Gildwells Farm nestling in the valley.

 To the north west, a narrow valley leads the eye towards Scarcliffe Grange.

 The footpath eventually led onto another muddy lane leading to the edge of Scarcliffe village. Here is the church.

 From the church, I walked west before turning sharp left onto Gang Lane. More mud!

 Gang Lane did offer a nice view back across the fields towards Scarcliffe.

 Just before the woods, a footpath heads through a hedge and across a field on the right. This took me through the Birch Hill Plantation to the B6417. Crossing the road, I headed along Poulterwell Lane (very muddy!)

 The moon was clearly visible in the afternoon sky by now. Here is a view looking east, midway along Poulterwell Lane

 The lane leads to Palterton, perched on a steep slope above the Doe Lea Valley. The buildings along the edge must have a truly spectacular view.

 Here is a panoramic merge of photos to give some idea of the view. The low sun made this difficult to photograph.

 The drop is around 100 metres from Palterton to the valley below. This is the start of my descent - not too steep!

 Lower down, the hills of the Peak District are still visible on the horizon.

 Near the bottom, I turned around to take this view back up the slope to Palterton.

 To my right, Bolsover Castle was clearly visible in the distance.

 At the bottom of the valley run the Stockley Trail, yet another old railway line converted into a footpath.

 This too was muddy in places! On the horizon, looking east, was the silhouette of the spire of Heath church.

 Glapwell Hill came into view eventually, with Glapwell village leading up to the top.

 I passed Stockwell Pond before the final ascent started.

 Looking back again north along the ridge towards Palterton...

 .. and south east towards Glapwell.

 I followed the main road up to the top of the escarpment and on towards Pleasley. It was getting dark rapidly, so I felt I ought to get a move on. There was a short, red sunset.

 This was the view south west along Dale Lane from the main road.

 I had the choice of playing it safe and following the main road through Pleasley and round to Kings Mill - or taking a chance in the dark and heading back down Longhedge Lane and the Skegby Trail. It was a beautiful, clear night so I decided to be adventurous! I turned right along Longhedge Lane. I avoided the worst of the mud by walking along one of the paths in the Pleasley Pit Country Park. I managed to get this slightly shaky shot of the pit chimney, the moon and the lake.

It was light enough, even in the dark, to make out where I was. I could clearly see the path ahead. Indeed, the walk was very pleasant. I could hear owls hooting in the distance. To may surprise, I even met someone walking their dog along the trail near Skegby.


Once I reached the main road at Skegby, I decided to follow the street lights home. The next section of the Skegby Trail towards Sutton is in a deep cutting, so I expected it to be very dark.

I do carry a torch with me, by the way - just in case I ever need one. I also have a high-visibility vest to wear if ever I have to walk along roads in the dark.

By the time i got home, my shoes and my jeans below the knees were caked in mud. This is all part of the fun - something to remember from yet another thoroughly enjoyable walk!

W/C 4th January 2014 - Longnor Circular

This week I walked with the Sutton Rambling Club in a small corner of Staffordshire around Longnor. We strayed into adjacent parts of Derbyshire too, including Earl Sterndale. The day started well with cold, but fine weather. By mid-afternoon it was wet and windy. Nevertheless, we enjoyed some excellent walking, with fine views, a very traditional English village pub; there was  even a small bit of "mountaineering"!

The walk began in Longnor (the one in Staffordshire) This village is well off the beaten track, to the south of Buxton.

 Although little more than a small village, Longnor has a sizeable market place.

 Above this doorway is displayed a list of tolls payable at Longnor markets and fairs, dated 1903. Buyers had to pay four pence for each horse they purchased, for example.

 We started the walk by heading north past the church.

 After a short climb along a footpath, we crossed from the Manifold Valley into the Dove Valley. We continued along a very muddy path towards Glutton Bridge.Across the valley we could see some of the landmarks we would meet later in our trek on the far side of the valley, including Chrome Hill and Hollins Hill.

 We were walking parallel to, but slightly below the route of the main road, which we eventually crossed to take the minor road to Hollinsclough. This is a view looking south from the road, towards the Manifold Valley.

 Ahead of us, we could see the hills above Hollinsclough. Hollins Hill is on the left, Chrome Hill on the right and High Edge in the far distance.

 Looking back, Parkhouse Hill looked like a mini-volcano from this angle.

 We soon arrived at Hollinsclough, a very small settlement. Nevertheless, it had a few interesting buildings, including this former school.

 This is the centre of the village, including the Methodist Church, on the left.

 A relic from the Victorian era was this postbox, embedded in a stone wall and still in daily use.

 Beyond Hollinsclough, we followed a footpath along the ridge just below the road towards Tenterhill. The hillside was very steep, but offers fine views across the Dove. From left to right, we see Hollins Hill, Tor Rock (in the background), Chrome Hill, Parkhouse Hill and Hitter Hill.

 This was the view north, showing the short, narrow valley between Hollins Hill and Chrome Hill. Eventually, we would be walking along the top, between the two.

 We noticed several springs, including this one right next to the footpath.

 The site of our lunch stop soon came into view - the stone building in the middle of the picture.

 Looking back, the steep sides of the Dove Valley at this point are obvious.

The site of our lunch stop was now much closer - the stone building in the middle of the picture. Just to the left of it, you can see the small stone bridge we would soon cross ad above it, the steep lane we would climb later.

 Here is the bridge, which crosses the River Dove. At this point, the river marks the boundary between Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

 The river valley is wooded here. The bare, moss-covered trees looked very atmospheric - even more so, as light drizzle was coming down.

 This branch looked a bit like some fantastic creature from a horror movie.

 Into Derbyshire now, and the steep lane wound up the hillside beyond the river, as we climbed towards Leycote and Booth Farm

 Looking back, near the top of the climb, we could see over to Hollinsclough Moor in the distance.

 At the top of the climb, we saw a sign, like the one at the bottom of the hill, limiting the width of vehicles to a maximum of 1.3 metres.

 We passed the head of the short valley I mentioned earlier, on the way. This view is looking down the valley and across the Dove towards Hollinsclough and Longnor.

 We then turned south east, off the narrow lane and along a path past Tor Rock

 The fun then began, just as the drizzle really set in. Before us was the jagged, undulating, wind-swept edge of Chrome Hill.

 Despite the slippery conditions and moderately strong winds, we climbed up onto the hill, which is long and very narrow. This is a view looking north from one of several high points.....

 ....and a view south west into the Dove Valley, far below.

 Beyond the high point, the ridge gradually falls to the south east, with lots of undulations along the way.

 Towards the bottom, a second, smaller ridge - Parkhouse Hill - comes into view.

 The northern extreme of Parkhouse Hill looks a bit like some ancient temple, but it is a natural feature.

 This is a view looking north towards Parkhouse Hill from Hitter Hill. By now, my camera lens was wet and the battery was playing up, so I was having great difficulty taking pictures at all.

 Over Hitter Hill, we approached the village of Earl Sterndale.

 Here is a view of the church

 and a view of the quaintly-named village pub. We spent a while here warming ourselves and drying out a little.

By now the light was fading badly. It was a race to cross the fields towards our finishing point back in  Longnor.

Despite the slightly wet afternoon, this was another great day out with the Sutton Rambling Club. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, which included some really spectacular scenery and exciting climbs. Many thanks again to the organisers.