Coombs Dale & Longstone Moor - 28th Oct ‘23

The best walk of the week and possibly the best weather too. Another 6 miler and another one (like yesterday) that had about 1/3 familiar and 2/3 new.

Again, the forecast was telling me we were due for a very wet morning but a dryer afternoon. Any excuse for a lazy morning. When you’re at home there are so many things to do. Unlike when I’ve got a spare morning in Brunnehilda - the only thing to do is to do nothing.

I did look back at a blog from a trip to Worcestershire with Kim and Brunnehilda 3 years ago. I waxed lyrically about the 5 things to do to survive a rainy day (it’s August 19th 2020 if interested!). The first of the 5 was “don’t get up early”. In homage to this I didn’t get out of Brunnehilda’s big German bed until gone 11! I have to say though, lying in bed for most of the morning with the rain pouring down outside is not as much fun on your own as it is with a mate.

Breakfast and a Tudor binge meant I wasn’t leaving the site until gone 1pm. It took me ages to select a route but went for one that had some familiarity but with a new Dale to walk up and a new bit of moor to walk on top of!

I headed out to Calver - a 12 mile, 35 minute journey through the drizzle! The route I found started from the village but there was no where close to park. I ended up parking in a play area car park and had to walk down another footpath to join the route.

At this stage the weather was grey, foggy and drizzly! As day 1, a lot of the footpaths were turned into streams. It was hard to not get wet feet as I trudged up Coombs Dale - a pretty little wooded dale with a very modest stream that was now turned into something much more impressive. I met a couple of dog walkers, joggers and cyclists.

It was about 2 miles to the top of the Dale to get to Black Harry Gate. Here I struck off southwards to climb up onto Longstone Moor. I did go wrong for about 10 mins. Thank goodness for my App or I would have been completely lost! The weather was improving by this time so we got some nice views as we got on the top of the Moor.

Then I was on familiar territory from last year - Longstone Edge, the southern edge of Longstone Moor. I had done this part of the walk before in the heat / sunshine. It was very different today - cold, no people and very few sheep! The weather was still trying to improve though so there were some great views.

I walked over the Moor stopping for a snack / drink break with only a mile to go. At this stage I was joined by about half a dozen motor x bikers. There are a lot of dirt tracks and bridleways up on the moor and they were enjoying using them. I wanted to be disgusted by the noise and imposition but they all seemed very friendly so we exchanged nods and got on our own separate ways.  

I also met a couple of other interesting locals - I remembered these highland cattle from my last visit to Longstone Edge.

The final mile was a gradual descent on a Bridleway taking me off the Moor and back to the village of Calver.

Then it was a final footpath through a wood at the top of the village to the car. As the previous 2 days, the walk was about 6 miles. The variation made it the best walk of the week and for about 20 minutes I even saw some sun!

By the time I got back to the car it was getting dark - about 5pm. I went home via Buxton to get some cash (to pay for the site), dog food and petrol.

Helen’s “takeaway” Game Pie for tea and then large quantities of Cadburys chocolate to celebrate the last evening of the trip. More Tudors (to be honest I think I’m Tudored out now!?!) and blogging in bed. The clocks go back tonight so I get an extra hour in bed which makes an early pack up and drive home that bit easier!

It’s been a strange week. The weather and the conditions haven’t been great - although I didn’t actually get wet!  The 3 walks were all different but all great in their own way.

It was good to spend some time with The Davis’ but it was a shame to miss Mandy this time - her positive attitude to life is very infectious and she’s such fun company.

I was definitely on a bit of a downer on the first evening and the first full day. The times I mostly miss Kim are fairly selfish. Not that I give myself a hard time for that - we all do things our way and I can’t do anything about it! By selfish I mean that I obviously get sad thinking the good family times that Kim is missing out on. I don’t miss her as much when I’m busy and feeling positive but when I’m feeling under the weather (physically and/or mentally) the feeling of loss is still very strong and I miss her hugely. Being in Brunnehilda seems to amplify things as well. 

Well, wouldn’t you know - Woke up this morning (29th) to a beautiful glorious sunny morning. Goodbye Derbyshire .. see you soon!

Haversage Moor and Dinner at Roston - 27th Oct ‘23

A splendid day. The weather was slightly better - no rain at all but also no clouds / clear sky. Just a very low cloud / mist / fog.

A lie in until 9.30 this morning. As my rising time was quite decadent, I decided it would be too much to have a big cooked breakfast (like yesterday) - so I just had cereal and toast. After a quick ablute I was on the road to Haversage by 11pm.  

I have to say I put a lot of thought into today’s walking route. I was going to go on another dales walk - 6 miles again but lots of climbs and descents. Given the poor conditions I thought that might be too ambitious. My logic was to get high up on the moors where there would be less running water. Also, once you’re on the moor the gradients tend to be more modest. I also wanted somewhere I hadn’t been before. 

I have to say, this logic worked for most of the walk and then it went badly wrong. Although, I did plot a route with a familiar first couple of miles. I parked at Upper Burbage Bridge - about 5 miles NE of the pretty village of Haversage. 

I walked Haversage Moor last year. That time I followed The Sheffield Country Walk running below Burbage Rocks before climbing up onto the ridge and doing the east side of the moor. Today I was planning to head off to the west side of the moor.

So the first 2 miles was familiar territory- although the fog was so thick it was a very disappointing view compared to last time. It’s a really good path so I did the first 2.5 miles in about 50 mins. I consulted the OS App to find an extension I could do to add another 45 mins in the walk before turning for home. 

I didn’t read the map particularly well so was surprised when I walked through a very pretty wood and then came out at a National Trust Park / Garden - Longshaw Lodge.

There were lots of walks around the grounds - some allowing dogs off the lead! Before picking one, I treated myself to a NT cuppa and a Victoria Sponge - yummy! I had to tie the dogs up outside while I went in to order. They were very well behaved which was even more surprising given the amount of other dogs! Maybe after 11.5 years, Tilly has finally calmed down?!

After the stop for a snack (the dogs had sausage rolls and a Twirl bar - yes my dogs eat and like Cadburys chocolate and with no discernible consequences!) we walked down to a pretty lake and then on to the bottom entrance of the property .

We crossed the road and dropped down to a very fast flowing stream. We walked by the stream for about 20 minutes or so and then crossed the busy A road to Sheffield. Once crossed, we were back on Haversage Moor and the steady flow of walkers around the NT property stopped and we were on our own - on the moor in a thick fog!

I tried to follow the footpath the best I could but it wasn’t easy because the moor us so open and there were other confusing non mapped paths. After a bit I realised I was way off the path I wanted. There was nothing to see other than fog / clouds but luckily I had my App so I headed for the path I thought I wanted. The problem is, I only checked where the path was going - not how it got there. I thought it was going straight to the car park - indeed it was but it went there via the 1,500 feet Higger Tor. Right to the top and back down again!

The Tor loomed out of the mist as I got closer. The path was good until about 200 yards from the top and then it just disappeared into a large rock / boulder field. Gee it was hard walking. On a couple of occasions I had to lift the dogs up over particularly difficult boulders. By the time I got to the top (although I’m not actually sure I reached the top!) I was sweating buckets and starting to panic a little as I hadn’t seen a soul for 45 minutes. 

It was nice to finally see some folks and then soon after that I found a big path heading down towards the car park. The path wasn’t easy (lots of irregular sized stones and mud) as it passed over somewhere called “Fiddlers Elbow”. I think we were fairly high up with a nasty drop to the east side (thankfully, or not, the fog meant I couldn’t confirm any of this until towards the end of the walk!).

We got back to the car just short of 6 miles - although rather than avoid a big climb/descent walk, I managed to climb one of the higher peaks in the whole National Park!? 1 out of 10 for my map reading skills!

We headed back to Brunnehilda arriving at about 3.45. A Hartington cheese fest watching an episode of The Tudors before getting washed and brushed up ready for an evening trip to Roston (the other side of Ashbourne).

As always, it was fantastic to see Helen and Karl . Also managed to say hi to Pip before she headed out for a Friday night out in Derby. The company was fab with lots of reminiscing. Karl has never lost his ability to tell a great story. And with Helen’s wonderful homemade Game Pie, it was a smashing evening. Karl had just come back from a weeks shooting in Scotland although I think the contents of the pie came from an earlier expedition.

I left at about 10.15 and back to Brunnehilda by 11. Quite tired tonight so I was straight to bed and a bit of blogging.

Back to The Dales - 26th Oct ‘23

THIS IS THE 200th TRAVELS WITH BRUNNEHILDA BLOG! Charting the highs and the lows of travelling with a caravan. Thankfully lots of fun and happy memories contained in that time.

I was due to leave on the morning of the 25th but there was a Canons Ashby talk at Morton Pinkney scheduled for the afternoon so I decided to go to that first. It wasn’t a difficult decision to put the trip back 1/2 day - as usual, I wasn’t looking forward to it much!

Anyway, the man from MOLA finished his talk at about 4.30 and I was hitching up Brunnehilda at 5.30 for a 6pm getaway. There had been a lot of floods this week in Chesterfield so I went the lower route via Ashbourne. All went well and I arrived at Topley Head Farm (my usual site) at about 8 pm. 

There was no one there and the grass was even longer than usual - and of course soaking wet after the days of torrential rain. My first thought was what a great opportunity to practice my backing - pitch black and no one watching / judging but … it was very wet / squelchy ground and I was tired so I went straight to the motor mover. I gotta say it was a pretty miserable job setting up in the dark, cold and wet. I usually feel a bit sorry for my self when I set up on my own but this one was off the scale!

By the time I was finished it was 9 pm and time for a Tesco ready meal, a cuppa, Cadburys chocolate and 2 episodes of The Tudors. It all felt very usual / predictable. If it felt familiar for me, I can only imagine how boring it is for you to read about it again! I need to mix it up a bit - at least get a different brand of chocolate to eat!!

Up this morning by 9 and cooked myself a big breakfast. The forecast is rain showers this morning and just dull this afternoon. By happy coincidence England were playing in the Cricket ODI World Cup at 9.30. A perfect opportunity to waste 2 or 3 hours while the weather sorted itself out! It would have been except England let me down! It was no fun watching them get thrashed (again) so I turned it off at about 10.30 and headed out to Hartington.

My old Volvo buddy, Andy Johnson, who happens to be a native of these parts, told me about a nice circular walk he did from the village of Hartington - about 10 miles from the campsite. And it turned out - he wasn’t wrong!

We parked up at the picturesque little village. The large “pay and display” car park was completely empty. I found a “free” space on the Village green / square. The rain had still been coming down on the drive over but it had stopped now and we were just left with very low cloud and that horrible damp / wet air. 

I quickly found the correct footpath (God bless the OS map on my phone) and soon realised I was in for a very different kind of walk - the ground was sodden, slippery under foot and loads of mud and standing water everywhere. Thank goodness I had my walking stick and the rain had stopped so it was only my boots and the bottom 3 inches of my trousers getting wet and muddy!

The route involved walking 4 different Dales. For 3/4s of the walk I’d be walking by the streams / rivers. I started walking down the small but very pretty Berresford Dale.

This joined Wolfscote Dale where the river seemed to have widened and there was a much better path to follow - National Trust land. The views would have been magnificent if the low clouds had allowed. At the end of Wolfscote Dale we had a food / drink stop. Unlike every other walk where the dogs have been desperate for water, they just ignored the bowl I put out for them. They had been drinking from so many puddles that they had had their fill!

I did consider doing the longer walk down Mill Dale but I didn’t want to push my luck with the conditions. So we turned for home and headed up Biggin Dale. This was quite hard walking as the path had turned into a steam so we had to pick our way up the Dale to the side of the main path. 

During the entire walk I met about 4 couples and 3 young families - all met with a jolly hello and a bit of chatter about the conditions. I also met a bloke with a very impressive beard walking on his own. He blanked my greeting and just stared ahead. I muttered something under my breath and wondered if that was what the future had in store for me - being a grumpy old solo walker with a big bushy beard.

The final bit of the walk was a steep climb out of Biggin Dale to pick up a farm track and then a tiny road (with no traffic) that took me back to my starting place - the village of Hartington.

And what a lovely village. A few interesting shops and several pubs and coffee shops. I decided on a coffee shop and immediately wished I’d chosen the pub! This was just the sort of place Kim would have loved. The cuppa and ham sandwich on my own (with the dogs!) was something I tried hard not to dwell on and compare with times past but … I failed! 

Before I left, I visited The Old Cheese Shop to get a couple of local cheeses - well it seemed rude not to. I tied up the dogs to a bench and when I returned they were being terrorised by 2 big geese. They seemed quite pleased to see me!

The walk had only been 6 miles long but because of the conditions it had felt longer. There were however good points about walking at this time of year - not many sheep and no flippin threatening signs about keeping dogs on leads to save the birds - by late October they had all obviously fled their nests!

I headed straight back to Brunnehilda getting back at about 4pm. I was due to see Mandy this afternoon / evening but she has a poorly dog to look after so we’ve put it on hold. That meant I had a long night in with the dogs. I did check for a cinema in Buxton but the next film isn’t due to be shown until Monday!! I even considered going to Buxton Theatre to see a Travelling Wilburys tribute band. I persuaded myself it would be rubbish but I think the real reason was a boring lack of motivation to do anything different on my own! I need to work on that!

So more Ready Meals and Cadburys chocolate - my bloody diet is appalling. I did mix it up with my viewing though - after a couple of Tudors I watched The Wolf on Wall Street. Believe it or not, I hadn’t seen it before. It was very entertaining and who doesn’t love a bit of Leo?!

Blogging in bed and a quick chat with Thom on WhatsApp. Oh, and I have a new neighbour - a caravan arrived at about 7pm tonight. He backed his van beautifully onto the pitch in the dark without the need for a motor mover- bastard!