Deep Dale South & The Black Marble Mine

Deep Dale South

We looked at the map last week and discovered there are not one but two dales both called Deep Dale. The first Deep Dale we went to last week i will refer to as Deep Dale North. This week its Deep Dale South.
We had a late start this week because one of our gang slept in, he claims to have gotten up early but then fell asleep on the settee!!!!
We parked on the A6 just past the turn off for Sheldon and just crossed the road to the footpath. There was a herd of buffalo in the field and we took the bridge over the river Wye. There are the remains of an old water mill on the right just over the bridge.
This mill was formerly a bone crushing mill and apparently bones from as far away as London were crushed here to make fertiliser. It was then a saw mill before closing. I found some interesting facts about bone crushing on the web:-
Animal bones have been used for land improvement for hundreds of years and demand grew alongside the agricultural revolution. Bones, and the bony cores of ox-horns, were crushed at water-powered grinding mills between iron wheels or rollers. Sometimes the bones were first boiled in cauldrons to extract the grease, otherwise bone manure attracted vermin, birds and insects. Farey refers to bones also being pounded under forge hammers. 
Tanyards were a good source of bones and horns. More unusually, Sheffield knife-handle makers sold their horn trimmings direct to local farmers, as did horn and bone button manufacturers. Strutts of Belper asked their workpeople and their children to save bones for which they were paid 1s.6d. (7.5p) per hundredweight, taking wheelbarrows full at a time. Strutts had the bones broken up at Makeney forge for spreading on their own pasture land. Farey noted that 'several Ship Loads of the Bones, collected in London (some from the churchyards as I have heard) find their way to the interior of Derbyshire annually and are there ground by mills.

Buffalo in Derbyshire

Shacklow Wood Bone Mill

The tranquil River Wye

Footpath to Little Shacklow Woods

Ike & Rob on the trail.

We had a nice steady walk alongside the river then we went up into Little Shacklow Woods. From here it was a steady climb right up into the village of Sheldon.

On the way up through the woods we found an old mine entrance which apparently was The Nettler Dale Black Marble Mine.

Ike at the entrance to the Marble mine

After a look around the mine it was back on the trail and further up the wood we found a strange memorial
in front of what looks like another mine entrance.

Wild Garlic Plant 

Fantastic smell of garlic

Memorial to whom or what?

Breaking out of the woods 

Ahhh int it cute.

Sheldon is a sleepy little village with a few cottages and several farms. There's also an ancient looking stone set into the village green.

Sheldon

The Cock & Pullet Pub

Young house martin waiting for its breakfast

Lassie waiting for his master

Sheldon Village Green

After we left the village of Sheldon it was across fields towards Deep Dale (South). The grass was long and full of wild flowers. skylarks were singing and it was just an English meadow at its best.

Rob & Ike trekking through the meadow

What at Moooving pic.

This is the track leading into Deep Dale (South)

Down this green lane into Deep Dale (South), it was lush green with lots of wild flowers including the Purple Orchid and Cowslip with others i cant name. We found another mine but this one looked capped and it still had some metalwork on top. We stopped here for our breakfast and we were rewarded with some fine views of swallows and a redstart.

Swallows having a rest.

Redstart

Purple Orchid

A grand clump of Orchids in Deep Dale (South).

This is Bugle

Rob getting Ike to move out of the pic.

Lovely water trickling sound coming from this little stream 

Back to the car.

This was an outstanding walk, along the riverbank, through the woods, into a village, across open meadows and down the dale. It was only about 5.5 miles and offered such great diversity. Who needs to go abroad.
See you next week.