BASLOW EDGE AND HIGHLAND CATTLE

PC is off sailing the seven seas with her husband, so for now it is just me and my camera.


Motivation has been hard to come by since my last outing. Daughter is in the throes of her AS level exams - cue high stress and panic - and Mother is in hospital which means endless visits and concerns. Added to these is that my walking partner isn't here to keep me company, and sane, and the weather has been on the wrong side of awful. Still, I decided last night that I had to get out, albeit for only a short walk (time constraints due to above mentioned exams and hospital visits!)

So here I am, very early (for me) parking my car beside the Curbar road beneath Curbar Edge. And for a change the sun is out despite the heavy downpour last night.

It doesn't take me long to get ready then I'm off up the road then through the gate leading onto Baslow Edge. The track is a wide, well used bridleway more like the paths in Country Parks, but within a few yards I turn right onto a narrower, but still well used, path. This leads to a viewpoint complete with map for those who don't know the area too well. And it is a brilliant view from here, reaching well over 180 degrees. The sun is out, there isn't another person in sight, and I feel my tension slip away. I just wish PC was here to share it.

I continue onwards, keeping to the edge rather than returning to the broad track, and I am constantly rewarded by excellent views down to Curbar, behind to Curbar and Froggatt Edges, and beyond. There are boulders and rocks as well as slight dips up and down.

After cresting a slight rise and starting to drop again I see, for the first time and to my horror, a small herd of Highland Cattle. I stare at them warily for a few moments before striding purposefully past them. PC would be proud although, to be honest, I don't think the cattle even notice me.

They were all in possession of extremely impressive horns, though.

Emboldened by my bravery I go up the next rise - it could hardly be called scrambling or climbing despite there being a number of boulders - and pause again to enjoy the views. This walk is turning into more of a stroll with plenty of stops as I don't want it to be over too quickly.

I watch a bird on a stone, possibly a thrush although I am too far away to be certain, with a beak-full of worms for its young then I decide to take out the secret flask. It's too early for a drink, but I need to take the photo for PC!

As I pause for a while I can hear curlews on the moor, their call very distinctive and carrying. It's a pity I've never been able to see one in Derbyshire.

Here and there the ground is a little wet and muddy, but it does drain quite well so close to the edge. That's lucky since the rain of the last few days could have made walking quite unpleasant. At least the sun is still shining, and when the soft breeze drops it is almost warm. I'm not wearing a jacket - a first for this year!

The sun is casting interesting shadows on the boulders that litter the edge, and knowing PCs fondness for boulders I take a photo for her.

There is also a single boulder, perched seemingly very precariously, on the edge of the Edge. Poised on its point it appears on the verge of toppling, but in fact it is very firmly secured!

 

A little way further on and I have a good view of the Eagle Stone, a popular place for a little easy climbing, and in the past youths from Baslow who wanted to prove their fitness for marriage had to climb the Eagle Stone!

 

 

I'm almost at the end of the Edge now and the narrow path I'm following drops down toward Wellington's Monument. There is a bench beneath it should I need a rest (I don't) and for the first time ever there are no other walkers here. I take the opportunity to snap a picture then wait a while as a horse rider approaches then passes. We exchange a 'Good Morning', and she will be the only person I speak to on the whole walk. I do miss PC!

 

 

 

I continue along the long track towards the road. There is woodland to the right, known as Jack Flat, and a drystone wall to the left. And I hear my first cuckoo of the year! Worryingly, there is evidence of cattle too!

 

Nearing the end of the track can see another herd of highland cattle, and some of these have young. For now they are far enough away, and I pause to study one of the many Companion Stones (see www.artsinthepeak.co.uk ) we have found on our walks. This one, on Eaglestone Flat, seems very appropriate for PC - being sail shaped!

 

 Now I'm approaching the gate onto the road and have to admit to being very apprehensive. One of the cows has moved onto the track and two others are approaching. I decide I have to go for it; after all, Highland cattle are supposed to be very placid, and I make it past them with a huge sigh of relief.

 

 

 

 From now on it's the long haul up the road. I decide not to cross over and take the track across the moor given how wet the ground is and how soggy that part of the moor is. I've kept dry so far and want to keep it that way. I am rewarded, though, by the sight of Sweet Cicely growing under one of the drystone walls, and a wonderfully bright yellow clump of celandines.

 

 

The road is quite busy, and being fairly straight some of the cars and vans travel far too fast. On my own it isn't too bad, but I'm glad Mollie isn't here as she really doesn't like traffic.

 

I push the pace on the road, and glancing up I can see that there are some darker clouds in the sky. It doesn't seem likely to rain, not yet anyway, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't rain later.

 

Cresting the ridge I see that there are a lot of cars in the car park, many of the walkers emerging to walk along Curbar or Froggatt Edges. It's certainly a good day for it.

 

Down the road now and I'm soon back at the car. Looking up at the edge the dark clouds are beginning to look more ominous.

 

 

 

It's been a fairly short walk, and not at all strenuous. However, the absence of coffee and buns has taken its toll and since I still have plenty of time to spare before collecting daughter from her morning revision session I drive down through Curbar village in search of refreshment.

 

I stop at the Derbyshire Craft Centre and spend a little while browsing in the shop intending to have a quiet coffee when I've finished. However, a hoard (there really is no other description) of walkers - all ladies of a certain age - descend on the shop like a gaggle of angry geese, and making twice as much noise. They head straight into the cafe, their strident tones making me (and others) decide to go elsewhere.

 

I finally end up in The Cafe on the Green in Baslow. It's busy, but not noisy, and I enjoy a coffee with a piece of Lemon Bakewell. A good way to end the day!

SPRING AT LAST- AND BON VOYAGE

It's windy, there are still pockets of snow on the hills, but the sun is out and we intend to make the most of it. We've had a long absence due to Easter and family demands, and this will be our last walk together for quite some time, so we want it to be a good one.

We park in the Hurst Clough car park, the first one at the side of Ladybower, and layer up in preparation for the onslaught from the wind. Mollie is eager, she has obviously missed coming out with us. First, though, PC has to chase a carrier bag down the slope that has been whipped out of her car by the wind. Fortunately it snags on something so she can retrieve it. 

Once we're finally ready - it does seem to take us some time - we go down the grassy slope to the reservoir-side path and head south towards the A57. Everything is turning lush and green as though Spring is hurrying to make up for time lost to the overlong Winter

The sun makes everything very enticing, but we notice that the water is iron grey and extremely choppy.

We walk along the grassy area towards the bridge, angle up to the road then cross over and take the footpath that climbs steeply up towards Crookhill Farm. As we round the first hump in the field we see a flock of ewes and their newborn lambs spread out in front of us. A definite photo opportunity! Keeping Mollie close PC snaps away and we try to avoid disturbing them too much, although there is some half-hearted bleating going on.

Into the next field we come across more sheep, and once we're through the next gate there are even more, with barely enough
grass to keep them all. Then we see the farmer hovering, clearly unhappy that we are there although we are on the footpath and keeping Mollie under very close control. The sheep don't actually seem too concerned about us.

PC struggles with the gate out of the field, she'd obviously not eaten her Weetabix this morning, so we have to swap dog duties for gate duties. Once through, and the gate secured behind us, the farmer waits at the next gate, opening it for us. He's clearly not very happy and replies to our 'Good Mornings' and 'Thank Yous' with a taciturn 'You should have gone the other way'.

Whenever we have walked this way before we have been coming from the other direction and 'the other way' is very clearly marked. Coming uphill, however, we saw no indication whatsoever of 'the other way' (a white-arrowed alternative route) and could only follow the obvious (and legal) footpath. Maybe we just missed it, or maybe it wasn't signed very well (or at all), as ideally we would have preferred 'the other way' to avoid the sheep and farm yard. But we certainly didn't do anything wrong, and I half wonder if that displeased the farmer, robbing him of any opportunity or justification to have a go at us!

We returned to our route though the fields across the lane from Crookhill Farm, then out onto the access land beneath Crook Hill and our next encounter. Highland Cattle. As you may know, I have a severe aversion to cattle in any shape or form, but PC promised to put herself between them and us. Fortunately, only one relatively small beastie was near us, scratching on a route marker, and giving us only scant attention. I gave him a wide berth as we set off up the bridleway that took us past Crook Hill.

By now the wind was getting very strong and we know that we'll soon be on the highest part of the path, near Bridge-end Pasture, where we'll be totally exposed. With this in mind we decide to find somewhere to sit for a drink and a natter.

The slopes of Crook Hill provide a sheltered spot with enough boulders to find a comfortable seat. I fetch out the new secret flask (a birthday present from PC) and we christen it - enjoying a nip of the Ramblers Restorative - and help ourselves to some Turkish Delight chocolate thins too. Well, we need to keep our energy levels up!

We stay for quite a long time enjoying the sunshine, the chocolate, the mellowing effects of the Ramblers and catching up on all the news, but we must move on so gather our things and set off again into the teeth of the wind. By the time we're walking up the broad grassy slope to the top of Bridge-end pasture we're finding it hard to keep on our feet, and not because of the alcohol. It's gale force up here and we have to hold on tight to our hats.

Fortunately as soon as we begin to drop a little the wind eases and we're able to pause to enjoy the views again. The gateway as we approach Hagg Side is waterlogged and muddy, the only real evidence of last night's rain, but we manage to shimmy around it by clinging onto a gate post. From here the path is very dry.

At Open Hagg we can look down to the A57, then follow its course as it bends along the valley heading for Manchester. We continue along our path then turn right on the Lockerbrook path.

It's wide, easy walking and we're soon passing Lockerbrook Farm. A little way beyond the farm is a path leading downhill towards Fairholmes, and we decide that this is as good as any. There are sheep and cows in the field but they are at the other side of the small stream, so I feel safe.

We walk to the bottom of the field and up onto a small mound where we drop our rucksacks and sit down next to the wall. It's still windy, but we're out of the worst of it, and we can enjoy the sun.

We're in need of coffee, so we have a cup first before eating our sandwiches. Then we have a mini-orange (healthy) and a chocolate chip & banana cookies (not so healthy) each before having our official buns. One of our favourites today, though we can't get them often enough. Fresh cream strawberry tarts; sweet pastry, creme anglaise, strawberries and cream. Yum! It is almost a shame to have another coffee after them, although the coffee is very good today, too.

Whilst we're eating we are joined by an uninvited guest. No, not an adder this week, but a duck. A female mallard waddles over to us and waits patiently, hopefully, but in vain. Mollie, observant as she is, never even notices the new arrival who eventually waddles away in disgust.

With our late lunch over we go back to the path and through a gate into the woods at Lockerbrook Coppice. The path is very clear, and is probably waymarked from Fairholmes, although you have to look carefully for the signs going downhill. To be fair, it must be quite a pull if you're approaching it from the bottom.

We have a fair few photo opportunities, the reservoir looks very inviting through the trees, but we're travelling downhill quite rapidly and we're soon by the road across from Fairholmes. We cross over to visit the facilities and aren't too surprised to see how many cars are in the car park. It is a lovely day, after all.

Once we've finished at Fairholmes we head back to the road, follow it a little way then veer off to pick up the reservoir-side path. It's quite a long walk back to the cars, but a very pleasant one. PC stops to photograph a clump of miniature daffodils growing at the side of one of the fences, probably planted deliberately as a memorial, and at one point we have to side-step a frog in the middle of the path.

When we reach our cars we have enough time to sit on a bench and enjoy a late-birthday celebration drink along with the last of the Turkish Delight.

It has been an absolutely fantastic day and we have both thoroughly enjoyed it. But we're a bit sad too. PC is off to sail the seven seas (well, maybe not all seven!) and will be away for some time which means our walking, for now, is over. I'll try to keep going out, though it will feel very strange being on my own and until I get used to it I'll feel quite vulnerable too. But I'll continue to post - just to let her know what she's missing!

Bon Voyage, Cate, and have a great time.