Walk: 9:45am to 1pm - 9 miles
Well today I should have put my trust in the BBC weather forecast, then I would have taken my camera with me and got some great shots in the late morning/mid-day sun. The BBC had said that it would rain during the night, then stop in the morning, and then the sun would break through. However, when I was laid in bed listening to the Australian Grand Prix, all I could hear through the window was the rain hammering down - in fact the bottom of our garden had puddles on it!
So, as I'd done half of this walk before with my wife and taken plenty of photos, and much of the second half of the planned walk was over the moor, I decided to leave both cameras at home and take to the Peak District feeling like I'd lost an arm. I must admit though that there was a slight feeling of being 'free' as the self-generated pressure of taking photos had been removed.
I met Darrell just outside Fox House at about 9:20am, he popped his gear into the back of my car and left his car on the verge by the road to be picked up later. We then took the short drive to 'The Haywood' car-park just off the A625 just above Nether Padley, yes we could have parked on verges nearby, but for the sake of £4 going to a good cause, we were happy to park there.
The short walk through the woods and onto the start of Froggatt Edge was taken, where the views opened up over the valley ahead, looking across to villages such as Eyam and Stoney Middleton, with Baslow a little further down the River Derwent. The walk down the edge is relatively flat with great rock formations along the edge - a great place for climbing I would imagine. The weather had now started to break up with some sunny breaks - and this really brought out the colour of the fields and villages, glowing in the mid-morning sun.
We continued the walk down over Curbar Edge and then Baslow Edge, then took the path left at Wellington's monument. We weren't alone in the area, as there were large numbers of highland cows - most walking along the same paths as we were using. Now I'm not the best around cows - normally letting my 'brave' wife lead the way, but I put on a brave face and 'protected' Darrell from them, chatting to them as we walked amongst them. Hopefully that's another step in damping down my phobia.
We followed the path for about 1/2 mile where we crossed a small road and then north around the eastern edge of 'Big Moor' towards White Edge. For the first 15 minutes or so it was a case of crossing boggy moorland, with mud splashing up the back of my bare legs - it certainly had rained. Not long though before we found a couple of small rocks that we could use as as dining chairs whilst we took a lunch break. We only stopped for about 20 minutes, not really letting our food settle and then set off towards White Edge.
After about 45 minutes we reached the top of Longshawe Estate, the most exciting part of this section was seeing some Stags over in the distance, bobbing their heads up and down as they had clearly seen us also. As we got back to the A625 we headed down the road towards the car-park and ended up mingling with a large group of people out rambling. Now I know a lot of people love going out walking in groups, but it made me realise how much I enjoy just walking with either my wife or a small number of friends - group walking is not for me.
We arrived back at the car-park about 12:50 - we had been the first to park there, but now it was packed with cars. By about 1pm Darrell was on his way back home for his Mothers Day carvery, and I had a couple of hours to kill waiting to pick up my wife. A steady walk at a decent pace, now only 6 days until me and Donna go to Snowdonia for a week.
Well today I should have put my trust in the BBC weather forecast, then I would have taken my camera with me and got some great shots in the late morning/mid-day sun. The BBC had said that it would rain during the night, then stop in the morning, and then the sun would break through. However, when I was laid in bed listening to the Australian Grand Prix, all I could hear through the window was the rain hammering down - in fact the bottom of our garden had puddles on it!
So, as I'd done half of this walk before with my wife and taken plenty of photos, and much of the second half of the planned walk was over the moor, I decided to leave both cameras at home and take to the Peak District feeling like I'd lost an arm. I must admit though that there was a slight feeling of being 'free' as the self-generated pressure of taking photos had been removed.
I met Darrell just outside Fox House at about 9:20am, he popped his gear into the back of my car and left his car on the verge by the road to be picked up later. We then took the short drive to 'The Haywood' car-park just off the A625 just above Nether Padley, yes we could have parked on verges nearby, but for the sake of £4 going to a good cause, we were happy to park there.
The short walk through the woods and onto the start of Froggatt Edge was taken, where the views opened up over the valley ahead, looking across to villages such as Eyam and Stoney Middleton, with Baslow a little further down the River Derwent. The walk down the edge is relatively flat with great rock formations along the edge - a great place for climbing I would imagine. The weather had now started to break up with some sunny breaks - and this really brought out the colour of the fields and villages, glowing in the mid-morning sun.
We continued the walk down over Curbar Edge and then Baslow Edge, then took the path left at Wellington's monument. We weren't alone in the area, as there were large numbers of highland cows - most walking along the same paths as we were using. Now I'm not the best around cows - normally letting my 'brave' wife lead the way, but I put on a brave face and 'protected' Darrell from them, chatting to them as we walked amongst them. Hopefully that's another step in damping down my phobia.
We followed the path for about 1/2 mile where we crossed a small road and then north around the eastern edge of 'Big Moor' towards White Edge. For the first 15 minutes or so it was a case of crossing boggy moorland, with mud splashing up the back of my bare legs - it certainly had rained. Not long though before we found a couple of small rocks that we could use as as dining chairs whilst we took a lunch break. We only stopped for about 20 minutes, not really letting our food settle and then set off towards White Edge.
After about 45 minutes we reached the top of Longshawe Estate, the most exciting part of this section was seeing some Stags over in the distance, bobbing their heads up and down as they had clearly seen us also. As we got back to the A625 we headed down the road towards the car-park and ended up mingling with a large group of people out rambling. Now I know a lot of people love going out walking in groups, but it made me realise how much I enjoy just walking with either my wife or a small number of friends - group walking is not for me.
We arrived back at the car-park about 12:50 - we had been the first to park there, but now it was packed with cars. By about 1pm Darrell was on his way back home for his Mothers Day carvery, and I had a couple of hours to kill waiting to pick up my wife. A steady walk at a decent pace, now only 6 days until me and Donna go to Snowdonia for a week.
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