Ballidon and All Saints Church

My turn today and there was only 3 of us because Brother Rob was off on a medal hunt to add to his collection. It was -2 when I set off from my house and my first pic of the day was from the Ashbourne road looking towards Dalley Lane where the warm sun was creeping down the valley, this was before I got to Geoff’s house.  Last week we passed an old church in Ballidon, Geoff looked it up on google and so we set off to investigate. We parked outside one of the farms and it was a short walk to the church. The footpath from the road went across the fields and it was frosty so the ground was solid underfoot.  The church was unlocked so we went in and had a look around; it was just like the Mary Celeste, deserted and looked like no one had been in for years. Such a shame a beautiful building just wasted. From the church we retraced our steps across the fields only the ground had softened and we were up to our ankles in lovely mud!!!. We got onto the road and decided to have a look around the village; it’s a lovely quiet hamlet with some stunning farm houses. We met a farmer and his dog when coming back down the track. I must explain at this point we were on the track and separated from the farmer with a stone wall about 4 feet high. He was standing next to an old shed of some sort and a tree. We had a really good chat. While Ike was talking to him I had spotted something odd on the tree he was stood beside so I had to ask him why there was some string attached to a washer which was hooked onto a nail in the tree. The string disappeared into a length of plastic tube. Well the explanation was very simple, about 30 years previously his father had done this little arrangement to save him climbing over the wall. The string went via this plastic tube to the top of the shed where it was routed to the top of a small door. When he moved the washer from one nail nearest the shed to the other nail around the tree what he was doing was opening the door to let the chickens out. So he could wander up the track let his chickens out without having to climb over the wall, ingenious. After chatting to the farmer we wandered past the entrance to Ballidon quarry and followed the track towards Royson Grange. We had our breakfast on some rocks then went a bit further up the track to where we had been into an old lead mine a few years ago. The entrance to the mine at the time just had some boards across it like you see in the old cowboy movies but now it has a metal grill over it. Just as we set off back to the car and it started to snow, lovely.

Route around Ballidon

Dalley Lane

Doorway to the hayloft

Really old Victorian post box

Frosty morning

Ice puddles

All Saints Church Ballidon is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. The church dates originally from the 12th century. Over the centuries the building has been partly rebuilt or restored, including in 1822 and in 1882. The last service in the church took place on 18 April 2003.

Beautiful stained glass window

Ike with his magic lantern

Other side of the church

Pigeons eggshell, so they must be twitterpating already

Entrance to the village

Farmers dog and note the washer and string on the tree.

Ballidon Quarry

Track to Royston Grange

Ike & Geoff

You can just see the metal grill over the entrance to the old lead mine.

Starting to snow

Getting muddy boots off and shoes back on

Back at Geoff's and his heather is looking great

Cat hiding in the heather

When we got back to Geoff's a cat was hiding in the heather next to his bird feeder. Today's walk was under 3 1/2 miles and the highlight was the old church, i was desperate for a tripod to get some good inside shots but had to settle for balancing the camera on the font. 

Cheers