Circular walk around Burbage Rocks

Just 3 of us today myself, Rob and Ike and we thought a trip around Burbage Rocks to see if we could spot a cuckoo. We set off at 06:00 and parked up not far from the Toads Mouth at 06:50.
We set off up the track and the first thing we found was an old circular water trough with a crack through it, i wonder if the mason got the sack or even worse. Thirty seconds later back on the track Ike says "Ive left my rucksack in the car" After a few choice words he headed back to the car to get  it while Rob and myself wandered slowly a bit further on to the newt pond. Ike caught up with us at the pond, last time we were here it had lots of newts in but Rob recons it was to cold for them and they are hiding at the bottom somewhere. From there we walked through the remains of what used to be a pine forest that has been managed by the Forestry Commission. I know they have to do this but the area just looks a mess. The footpath through this area petered out and then we were faced with a fence. Rob and myself got over OK but Ike couldn't manage it and in the end our Rob had to give him a fireman's lift over the fence. Walking over this rough land was really tough and sapped the strength from your legs. We got back onto the main track and we saw a Ring Ousel and i managed to get a snap of it, although it was quite a long way off and the quality not very good. From there we got to the Upper Burbage area where we had our breakfast.
After breakfast we started back towards the car but we took the high track along the top of Burbage Rocks. We came across a nice big cairn and then found a spot to have our pic taken by a couple of lads that were walking behind us. Further down the track we found another cracked stone trough, this one was huge and only part finished, and you could see the method used to make them by cutting out around the inside of the perimeter. We passed a quite large quarry and one of the slabs you could see where they had been drilling the rock. Just after this we heard the cuckoo only for a couple of minutes but a great spring sound. It was just a short distance back to the car
.

This weeks route

Rob & Ike booting up

Carl Wark & Higger Tor in the background

Rob & Ike checking out the cracking trough

Ike heading back to the car for his rucksack

Rob at the newt pond

Desolate land after all the trees have been felled

Ike & Rob

Ike

Ike & Rob

Rob & Ike

Ring Ousel

Breakfast time

Bridge at the top of Burbage Brook

Ike crossing a stream

One of the cairns

Ike, Rob & me

Looking down into the quarry

Drill holes on that big slab

The rectangular cracked trough

Good view of Carl Wark and Higger Tor

This was another cracking walk just over 4 miles (4 1/2 for Ike lol) we saw a couple of Ring Ousels, a swallow and a couple of other unidentified small birds. We heard a cuckoo, grouse and a curlew, all in all a pretty good morning. 

See you next week

Rivelin Valley Walk

Our Robs turn to drive today and we set off at 06:50 just because i was 5 minutes late. A friend of mine had told me about the Rivelin Valley and it was close to where we had been last week at Wyming Brook, so we decided to have a look. It took just over an hour to get there and we parked up in the Rivelin Mill car park. We checked the map and saw we could do a small almost circular route for part of the trip. The first encounter was a lovely old packhorse bridge which we crossed and just followed the path. The path then went away from the river uphill but parallel with the river. The track was up and down a bit and eventually came back down to the river level to a footbridge where we crossed over. There are numerous old mill remains, especially the holding ponds and weirs and water ways. This valley must have been a hive of activity in its day with hundreds of people working here. There have been 20 mills on this stretch of river dating from the 1600's.
The valley walk stretches 3 1/2 miles and the river drops over 80 meters in that length. A bit further along the track i stopped to take some pics and when i looked up they had disappeared, so i had to ring Ike to find out which way they had gone.
We got about 2 miles in had our breakfast then headed back. Where we had our breakfast a pair of Mandarin ducks were very close to us and fascinating to watch. We had a really nice chat with some local folks before heading back. When we got to the footbridge we stayed on this side of the river to complete the walk back to the car. This section had more interesting waterfalls and again wished i had brought a tripod with me.

This weeks route

Rob, Ike and Geoff

Rob helping Geoff over a stream

Geoff

Mandarin duck

Ike looking at an odd ruin, looks like some sort of tanks

Geoff

Geoff with a group of talkative locals lol

Geoff

Rob

Ike & Geoff

Another cracking area to visit and a walk just under 4 miles. Nice footpaths apart from a section when Geoff and myself went off piste and had to find our way back to the main track. Heard and saw some nice birds and a couple of dogs having fun in the river. 

See you next week.