Walk Around Calver & Bubnel

Just 3 of us this week, Ike was on Christening duty. We went up the A6 and parked outside the school in the lay by at Calver. This was a route none of us had been on so we were looking forward to it. We diverted slightly to have a look at these lovely little cottages just off the main road. Back on track we just followed the footpaths on the map. Unfortunately there was a lot of muddy tracks about just like last week. There was an initial climb up a muddy track and i managed to slip in the mud and skidded about 6 feet back down the hill. After we got to the top it was a lovely level track with some good views. Rob was in front and he heard a bird of prey sound and when he looked over the wall there was a pheasant amongst a load of feathers still twitching. Looks like something had just attacked it. We met an interesting chap out with his dog who had moved into the area and had a good natter with him. We stopped for breakfast in an area sheltered from the wind then carried on until we hit a road. WE spotted an odd looking stone structure in a field and still not sure what it is for. From there we just followed the track which was muddy again past Bubnell Hall then onto Calver. When we got to a small bridge Rob and myself gave our strong walking sticks (Rob had cut them from a hazel) to a young Chinese couple and he insisted on taking our picture. Back to the car and off home.

lovely old cottages in Calver

A shed with En Suite

Snowdrops

Rob

Some nice houses

Rob & Geoff

Calver Mill (AKA Colditz)

Geoff & Rob

Geoff in a tunnel 

Dead pheasant

This pipe through the wall Rob thinks its to let badgers through.

Fabulous gate covered in moss

More mud

We're not sure what this stone structure is for.

Old barn

Bubnell Hall with Baslow behind

This looks like the remains of a dwelling of some sort.

Mandarins

A well

Geoff negotiating even more mud

Calver bridge

The Bridge Inn at Calver.

 A cracking walk just over 5 miles along a new route for us and we might revisit in the summer.
See you next week.

Calver Mill and Weir

This week we went to the village of Calver to have a look at the famous Mill. We went in Geoff's new car and  parked just opposite the school in a lay by. Geoff has had another Ford Focus and its the same colour as his old one.
It was a pleasant start to the day with a lie in due to the clocks changing. We walked past the school, the church and the Bridge pub before taking the footpath just before the bridge.
The footpath took us behind the Mill and then across fields to Stocking Farm which  has an unusual building with a bell tower on top, it looks like an old church. In the early 19th century, an upper room in the barn was used for religious services and later, it was also utilised as a school. When All Saints Church was consecrated in 1868, services were transferred and a few years later, the barn lost its school and bell.

Geoff's new car

A very picturesque Bridge Inn

Hungry calf getting its breakfast

Stocking Farm with its unusual bell tower.

Stocking Farm. In the early 19th century, an upper room in the barn was used for religious services and later, it was also utilised as a school. When All Saints Church was consecrated in 1868, services were transferred and a few years later, the barn lost its school and bell.

Rob & Ike with Curbar Edge above the tree's.

This is part of the mill race to provide water for Calver mill

Overlooking the weir from New Bridge with Curbar Edge in the background.

Reflections in the River Derwent.

Turmoil on the slope of the weir.

Calver Marshes is a part of the Calver Weir restoration project.

The 3 wise men?

Ike found a nice seat in the sun.

Lovely footpath alongside the river Derwent

This is the bridge leading into the village of Froggatt where we stated last week.

Another shot of  the bridge at Froggatt.

I think these two have had an argument and they re not speaking to each other.

This was in a private garden

This house was on Under the Hammer TV program not long ago.

Reflections on top of the weir

Calver Weir

Calver Weir

Breakfast time overlooking the weir.

More turmoil on the water.

River Derwent

Ike

Rob

Siddalls Well next to the road. SIDDALL has long been a common name in Curbar and surrounds. Several children of an Antonious (Anthony) Siddall were recorded as being baptised in Baslow in the 1600s. One Siddall family farmed for several generations in Curbar, and their fields apparently played an important role in Derbyshire history. In 2003 Kenneth Siddall of Fence Farm, Sheffield (a great-grandson of John Siddall), located and restored the old overgrown well still referred to by locals as "Siddall's Well", and placed a carved stone plaque in commemoration.

Rapids near to the Calver Mill

It was only after the first bridge had been built across the Derwent and lead mining became popular, that the village began to take shape from an isolated community of scattered dwellings. In 1778, a small mill was built close to the new bridge and this was soon followed by the building of a much larger water-powered cotton mill. The second building was destroyed and replaced by the impressive seven-storey granite building that still remains today. No longer used for industry, it has been converted into luxury apartments. The Mill achieved national recognition shortly after the Second World War, when it was featured as ‘Colditz,’ the notorious German POW camp, in a popular television series. During the series the swastika flew high above the mill, but no one was fooled. This was not the case during the war itself, when lights were lit on the moors nearby, fooling the German bomber pilots into thinking that Sheffield lay below and releasing their loads harmlessly onto the moors.  

All Saints Church

This was another cracking little walk through glorious Derbyshire scenery alongside the River Derwent. Once again very lucky with the weather, the rain started when we were on our way back home. The Calver Mill is a fantastic building complex but is very difficult to get a decent image because of all the tree's blocking the view.
That's it for this week
Cheers