Biggin Dale & Wolfscote Dale

2 more dales we haven't been too were Biggin Dale & Wolfscote Dale, so it was off at 6:30 as usual and up to Dale End where we parked.

Room with a view, on the way back to the car

It was a nice cool morning and we parked at the roadside just near the hamlet of Dale End. The first scene was a delightful typical English view of a pond, a couple of horses, some sheep, what more do you want.

This is a Severn Trent water treatment plant.

Biggin Dale is a dry steep sided dale with wild flowers.

The thistles in this field were about 5 feet tall.

More like a jungle than a meadow.

From the  meadows there was a short section of wood land.

Geoff trying to keep out of the water.

Its Batman & Robin coming out of the bat cave.

Ike on a style

After walking through Biggin Dale we came to the entrance to Wolfscote Dale which runs along the upper reaches of the river Dove. We stopped for breakfast at a lovely spot sheltered from the wind.
The footpaths through Wolfscote Dale were level and wandered through some spectacular scenery.

The river Dove has lots of weirs along its path and these create deep pools  for the fish.

A heron waiting to go fishing for its breakfast.

Breakfast stop in Wolfscote Dale

Easy going along these footpaths in Wolfscote Dale

Lovely wooden bridge in Wolfsote Dale over the river Dove.

 From the bridge the footpath started to climb and i started to warm up, it was an old pack horse track walled either side with loads of wild flowers and grasses.

By the time we got to the top of this track, we had climbed over 400 feet.

He's just saving his energy and wondering where all the girls are!!

Union flag in the middle of a field

Lovely little B & B

Back to the car.

This walk was a touch over 5 miles with great varied scenery, through dales, woods, along the river bank and up through one of these ancient green lanes, doesn't get much better!!!
Cheers
Jim

Solomon's Temple

Today we went straight up the A6 to Buxton with the purpose of visiting Grin low Tower, otherwise known as Solomon's Temple. We parked near to a gateway with a footpath sign and it was all uphill.

Solomon's Tower is a Victorian folly apparently built by Solomon  Mycock in the 1890s, paid for by public subscription to provide work for the locally unemployed with assistance of the seventh Duke of Devonshire. The tower was restored in 1998.

We walked past an old farm building which looked like it was made up from all different windows from the local scrap yard. Very ingenious these farmers.
The footpath led us straight to the tower. When we got there the sky was a bit miserable and the light was bad for getting any decent photo's. The tower is quite impressive The structure is a 20-foot-high, two-storey tower built on top of a Bronze Age barrow, sitting on top of a ridge at a height of 1,440 ft above sea level. From the open top of the tower there are good views over the town and the surrounding countryside.

They should all be locked in the tower!!

View from the tower

View of Buxton Dome from the tower

Ike trying his pick pocket technique 

Mooove along now.

After we had a look around and in the tower we walked down through the woods towards Buxton. We got to the bottom of the woods and came out on some playing fields with a community hall so we sat there and had our breakfast.
I checked my GPS and we had descended over 400 feet which of course meant we had to go back up 400 feet.

Grin Low Wood planted in 1820 by the 6th Duke of Devonshire to hide the industrial scars  of all the  lime kiln spoil heaps. The site is 100 acres and designated SSSI  due to the rich woodland and  wild flowers.

After having breakfast we set off heading up through the woods towards the tower but on a completely different route.

This building had a turnstile and we think it may have been the original  access to Poole's Cavern.

This is a memorial seat to 21 year old Royal Marine Scotty Taylor who was a local lad and unfortunately was killed in Afghanistan. He was the 289th  member of the UK services to have been killed in Afghanistan. 

This is the site of one of the mid 17^th century lime kilns which litter this area. The raw materials to make the lime powder would have been sourced locally from the surrounding hills and Axe Edge .It took 10 tons of limestone and 10 tons of coal to produce 3 tons of lime powder. All incoming and outgoing material would have been transported using pack horses.

The "Gateway" to Solomons Temple

You can see Axe Edge in the distance.

When we had got through the woods the clouds had gone and the sun was red hot.we decided to have another look at the tower and get some decent snaps.

Me locked in the tower waiting for a damsel to rescue me

The 3 rebels in the tower 

Geoff looking for trains

Spiral staircase leading to the platform on top of the tower.

Through the arches today you can see ________

Axe Edge through the Arched window

Geoff catching the view with Axe Edge centre.

 On the way back to the car there were some interesting rock outcrops.

The tower just visible on the right.

 A nice walk today in the summer sunshine (at last).

See you next week

Cheers

Jim