EYAM, FOOLOW AND BRETTON

We meet up in Eyam's central car park across from the museum and are surprised to find it empty despite there being plenty of people about. Then we see the sign for the free car park (honesty box for donations) so we swiftly move.

We have both dogs today, Mollie and Scamp, and they both seem eager to be off. It is rather dull, and the forecast isn't brilliant, so we make sure we're prepared although we aren't likely to be doing much offroad walking.


 We drop down to the village and turn right. We've never been to this part of the village before but it is rather pretty. We spy on path on the opposite side of the road, Tideswell Lane, though it is -these days at least- merely a rough track.

We have soon left the few houses behind us and walk along the rough track between the limestone walls. There are fields at either side and some rather good views too. The path undulates and curves around a little, but it is fairly easy walking.

When the lane ends we take a sharp right onto Foolow lane, avoiding the busy A623. Almost immediately, on our right, the grass verge is covered with low growing white flowers. They take a bit of tracking down to identify them, but they turn out to be Creeping Comfrey, or Symphytum grandiflorum.
 

We continue down the lane towards Foolow. We have never actually been here before and find it to be a really pretty village.

There is a rather good looking pub that is just opening up for the lunchtime trade.

And a really quaint old chapel....

...which sits across the road from the green and duck pond.

We take the right hand lane, Bradshaw Lane, immediately after the small chapel, which gives us a long but steady road walk. But we see our first spring lambs in the fields.

It is quite a long road, and the last part of it is pretty steep, but we crest the top and clamber over a stile to sit with our backs to a wall and a view ahead while we eat lunch. It's quite chilly though, so we don't exactly linger.

The road continues along and comes to the familiar Sir William Hill Road.

At the end of this road, or rather, track, we turn right. We still have tarmac underfoot but the road isn't a busy one. This is Edge Road, and we pass Mompesson's Well, pausing briefly to reflect on the events of the plague for which Eyam is famous.

As the road bends we decide to take the path through the woods on our left. And since the sun has decided to come out it turns out to be a good choice. We cross Hollow Brook at the bottom of the woods and climb up again past an inquisitive horse in an adjacent field.

We have some good views over the village as we walk along the rutted tractor track, and soon we are on a tiny side road that drops down to the village centre.

From here it is a short stroll through the village and back to the car park. We have done a fair amount of road walking today but it has actually been quite pleasant and we have enjoyed visiting places we have somehow missed in the past.

SUNSHINE ON EYAM MOOR

Yes, the title of the post gives away our destination this week, but also our surprise. I don't think we have ever walked on or near Eyam Moor without a hint of rain; and to be honest, it is usually torrential! So sunshine is a bonus.

As is the heavy frost that lies like a thin covering of snow all around here. So yes, it is chilly, time for plenty of layers.

We park on the rough track on Sir William Hill Road and by the time we are out of the cars the only other vehicle, a huge lorry almost blocking the entrance to the track, has moved on.

Already the views are splendid and we are so looking forward to the walk. We climb over the stile - they never seem to get any smaller! - and take the path straight ahead that skirts the drystone wall. Looking over the wall we can see for miles.

It is a good job that it is so frost as the boggy patches on the path, of which there are many, have a crispy surface which prevents us being mired in mud. We still have to employ some nifty footwork in places though as there are deeper puddles that are ready to embrace the unwary.

We continue along the wall-line even though in places the path is a deep hollow where rainfall has eroded the soil and rock, but at least the potential for mud is behind us. There are a few more walkers about today, but that is hardly surprising given what a glorious day it is.

At the end of the path we turn right and clamber over another very high stile. We have views straight ahead of Bretton Clough with Abney on our right. We turn right along the wide path with a steep drop down to Bretton Clough on our left.

This is an easy, fairly linear path that has yet another stile before taking us down by easy steps towards Highlow Brook. The last stretch, on a steep muddy path that has frozen over, is a bit tricky but we manage it without mishaps.

At the bottom we reach the wider path that runs alongside Bretton Brook/Highlow Brook but rather than taking the right hand turn towards Stoke Ford we turn left instead in the general direction of Bretton.

We are under the trees here, but the sunlight is filtering through and it is lovely. The path is rising slowly and the stream is getting lower and further away from us. Soon we are out in the open again, brown scrub and lingering frost.

Once we turn a descending corner though we know we have found the right spot for lunch. We are in Bretton Clough, the sun is shining, there is Bretton Brook, there are trees, and there is also a very conveniently placed drystone wall to sit on.

We have a drop out of the secret flask first, the remains of the vanilla vodka, then out comes coffee, sandwiches and bun. PC's buns - chocolate muffins with fresh cream - are greeted with great anticipation. Until she says they have cherry in them. I hate cherry, so we follow the pantomime of dissecting the muffins to remove the cherry conserve (which Mollie devours with relish - are dogs supposed to like fruit jams?) because I am determined to enjoy the chocolate and cream bit. I won't give up on the buns without a fight!

It is tempting to linger in this spot, we have the sun on us and it is lovely, but the odd cloud keeps passing over and with it a chill, so we pack up our things. As we are about to head off we see some hang-gliders floating silently in the sky above us, and then a buzzard soaring with much less effort and more grace. We watch the bird until it spirals higher and out of sight. 

From here the path is pretty straight forward but clearly not that well used. On the map there are a number of side paths with only a hint of them on the ground. We continue ahead until we cross a small bridge then turn left through a gate and up through the woods.

It is a bit steep but soon we are out above the trees and over another stile onto a path that runs behind a farm and fields. Pretty soon we are out onto a lane and we are at Nether Bretton. We are briefly tempted by the eggs for sale at the house but instead, after a quick consultation of the map, turn left onto the rutted byway skirting Bretton Moor and leading back towards Sir William Hill Road.

There is still ice on the puddles here, and in places it is deeply rutted where it has been used by 4x4 vehicles. Also there is more cloud cover passing over so the temperature has dropped.

When we reach the 'crossroads' we debate briefly whether to go on the path past Stanage House which leads back onto Eyam Moor, but decide against it. We'll stick to this track which runs onto the Sir William Hill Road with only a few steps on the tarmac road to negotiate.

The stroll along the last part of the track is easy and pleasant. We're still getting bursts of sunshine which has taken most of the frost from the surrounding fields and moors although a little still lingers under the shady wall bases.

 

A great walk, possibly more so because we haven't been subjected to the weather Eyam Moor usually throws at us. It is a surprise to get back to the cars dry!

STEADILY AROUND EYAM MOOR

We're back. The prolonged (wet) summer break is over and we have emerged at the other end of it blinking mole-like in the unaccustomed sunshine.

Before we start the blog, though, a quick CONGRATULATIONS to our daughters. This exam season saw PC's youngest taking her A levels and mine taking her GCSEs. After all the stress, tension and angst (and that was just us) their hard work has paid off with both girls getting the results they needed. PC's daughter is off to her top-choice university to follow her chosen course, and mine has secured her place at a first rate 6th form to study for A levels. Well done girls - and maybe we can relax a bit now!

Back to the walk. Our enthusiasm to return is high, but we're a bit stumped as PC is still having trouble with her foot. Turns out it is tendinitis (painful) so we need to tailor our walk towards softer ground (shouldn't be too problematical given the amount of rain we've had) and something relatively short. She hasn't been walking at all over the summer whereas I did a little hiking in Scotland earlier on, but nothing more recent. So, after some careful thought we decided on a circuit of Eyam Moor.

We meet up on Sir William Hill Road where the tarmac gives way to rubble. It's a steep drive up from Grindleford but the views are worth it, and I have plenty of time to enjoy the views as PC is uncharacteristically late. She's had trouble locking the door at Mollie's house so ends up having to leave Mollie at home on guard after taking her for a brief consolation walk. Which means that today we're dogless.

Naturally we spend a while catching up with news and gossip as we put on our walking boots and shoulder our rucksacks. Mine's new. Or rather, it was new over a year ago but I have only just got around to swapping all the stuff from my old rucksack to this one. It's a little larger so there's more room for all my 'essentials', but unfortunately it has fewer pockets. Not sure if it will be an entirely suitable replacement, time will tell (but I haven't thrown away the old one, just in case).

The first obstacle is the stone stile over the wall (signed for Abney and Stoke Ford). It needs longer legs than ours, and an agility that we seem to have misplaced, but fortunately there's no audience so we can huff, puff and grunt as we hoist ourselves over. The next part of the route is steady, level and grassy underfoot. PC isn't having any problems so far, which is encouraging.

There's plenty of evidence of the wet summer, even up here. Boggy areas cross the track and new ways around them have been trodden down by earlier walkers. No doubt these will soon become favoured way.

The sunshine is glorious even though there is a brisk breeze, and we're spending so much time talking that PC almost forgets to take photos of the wide ranging views.

To our left is the more prominent point of the moor (marked only on the map as Rock Basin) where there are large boulders of grit stone, so we detour along a narrow track at the side of what appears to be a small quarry and push through the heather to the  boulders. We find a suitable flattish rock and remove the rucksacks. No, we haven't walked far yet but we have plenty of time, PCs foot to consider and we haven't exactly got miles to travel. I have a quick look higher up on the moor as PC makes herself comfortable, but the lure of elevenses is too much so I return at a jog.


As I pour out the coffee PC brings out a couple of chocolate chip cookies. Wow! They are huge, the chocolate chips are more like chunks and the cookie dough is obviously only there to hold as many chunks together as possible. Needless to say, they are wonderful and go down extremely well.

We linger rather a long time before repacking our belongings and retracing our steps to the small quarry where we rejoin the path. We're going downhill now and the path is heavily eroded in places, we can imagine a small river running down here during heavy rainfall. Eventually, though, it swings left, levels off and becomes easy underfoot again.

At the stile ahead there are a multitude of paths to choose from, but we have our route planned and turn left, slightly uphill and skirting the wall. The sun is hot now and we have some shelter from the breeze, and soon we are walking on the cushioned ground beneath the canopy of trees that make up Gotherage Plantation.

The path keeps to the edge of the trees then dog-legs through Big Moor Plantation to come out (over yet another stile) on the track beneath Stanage House. The sheep in the field are blissfully unaware of us as we meander up the middle of the track (softer underfoot for PC) and continue to yet another stile which, this time, brings us onto a very rough crossroads. Here we turn left with PC having to walk on the verge as the track is rubbly and uneven.

It isn't long before we reach the Bretton-Eyam road and within a few paces were on the western end of the Sir William Hill drovers road again - and we haven't even stopped for lunch (although we haven't walked off the cookies yet).

The track is very rough and the verges aren't exactly even, so we take it steady. We can see the huge phone mast ahead on our right (excellent mobile coverage should we need it) and as we reach the summit of the track we can pinpoint the trig point on our right. The verges are covered in late summer flowers (scabious and harebells) which are proving to be a magnet for the bees.


Down the track and we turn left to go over the wall (yes, another stile) and back onto the moor where we eventually find some comfortable tussocky grass to sit on. We're aren't particularly hungry (did I mention that they were HUGE cookies?) but undaunted we eat our sandwiches after a fortifying nip from PC's secret flask of cointreau - mine having gone AWOL sometime during the holidays. Then out come the buns - extra chocolaty chocolate chip muffins - and we finish off with coffee. Certainly a Death By Chocolate day today.

It would be good to sit here for longer but we have a timetable to stick to, so we set off back just as another couple of walker, plus dogs, pass us on the path. We hang back to let them get over the stile first (no point us humiliating ourselves in front of strangers, much better to let them provide us with the amusement) then we amble down Sir William Hill road towards the cars.

Our timing is perfect. We have just enough time to plan our next walk (another 2 week break first, though) before we have to leave. PC declares that her foot is feeling fine so we are keeping our fingers crossed that she may be on the mend.

We've been really lucky with the weather today; is it too much to hope that our next walk will be equally bright?