Foolow, The Hidden Waterfall and Silly Dale

Just 3 of us as Geoff was off to his sisters down south.We would have set off at 06:00 am as usual but brother Rob decided to sleep in so we set set of a bit late. Not sure where to go so we just went north and decided on a visit to Foolow and the waterfall then onto Silly Dale.Foolow is a beautiful little village with a pond, a village cross and a pub. We parked a short walk up the road from Waterfall Farm which is opposite the entrance to the waterfall. The waterfall is actually in a large hole in the ground which is surrounded by trees. The whole area has its own Eco climate and is almost surreal. The water tumbles about 25 feet from the surface and ends up going below ground into a swallet. It was a bit tricky negotiating our way down to the floor of the waterfall with route being covered with loose rocks and mud.

This weeks route around Foolow

Ike 

Rob and Ike

Derbyshires hidden waterfall

Rob & Ike

Part of the route down to the floor of the waterfall. You can just see Rob & Ike at the top of the pic.

This is the way in to the waterfall

St. Hugh's Church was originally a smithy and had its first service in 1888.

The Bulls Head, a lovely English country inn

Must be a cyclist that lives here.

This is Peters Stone taken from quite a distance over the valley.

A lovely old bridal way going through the bottom of Silly Dale

Silly Dale

We had our breakfast here at the junction of 3 bridal ways.

Lovely old barn

An old barn on the horizon

I just liked the look of this in black and white.

A house sign in the guise of a Stoop

Back to the village of Foolow

We used the cross steps to de-boot

Rob at his car

Foolow village cross, C15 is a grade 11 listed monument and was restored in 1868.

This was another really nice walk, although we've been to the waterfall and Foolow before we've not been on some of these footpaths and not been through Silly Dale. What is it with this area, got Fool in the village name and Silly in the dale.
See you next week

Foolow, Big Skies and That Sinkhole

Having seen the appearance of the Foolow sinkhole on the national news we thought we should go and have a look.
It was brother Robs turn to drive so after scraping the frost of the car with temperatures down to -1 we headed north and parked up on the green at Foolow.

The Foolow Sinkhole

We booted up and had a quick look around the village and started to walk along the road back towards Eyam. We could see the hole from the road and Ike realised we were going the long way around to get to it so we went back past the green and there was an A4 sheet pinned to a telegraph pole pointing the way to the sinkhole.

The fabulous sky looking down the cottages in Foolow

Head of the Medieval village cross

The Village Cross

Great sunrise over Foolow

First sight of the sinkhole in the warm early morning light 

A flock of rooks in the morning sun

The boys looking up towards the sinkhole

Rob, Geoff & Ike 

The bell tower of St. Hugh's Church

Sign for the sinkhole

One of the old village wells

Ike, Rob & Geoff with the sinkhole visible on the hillside.

After  the brilliant sunrise we were treated to this magnificent sky.

Closer view of the sinkhole from the road.

The main route through was gated so we had to venture a bit further up the road.

 The area around is limestone and the village stands on the 'Foolow Beds'. Huge, deep slabs of Carboniferous limestones that mark the transition from the Dark Peak in the north to the White Peak in the south. There is much evidence of lead-mining locally. There are also some interesting geological features, such as Waterfall Swallet, where one of the local streams disappears underground. The sinkhole measures about 150 feet wide and 60 feet deep just appeared sometime before Christmas day when a local walker found it. The sinkhole lies over old mine workings which date back to 1705 and the area has been worked for lead and fluorspar since then. 

The sinkhole just appeared sometime before Christmas day when a local walker found it. 

This sign was at the end of our trek

A brilliantly made seat with an engraving "Friends Rest Awhile and Dream"

Looking at the information board for The Silence & Old Grove Lead Mines

This gaggle of walkers headed off towards the sinkhole.

 Foolow is a picturesque village clustered around a village green with an ancient cross and duckpond. It was formerly a lead-mining village and many of the houses are from the 17th century. The mere, or pond, is fed by natural springs and the shaft of the village cross is medieval, though the base is more recent and has a bull-baiting ring attached to it

We had our breakfast at the duckpond in Foolow

Another of the Foolow Wells

Foolow Village Cross

 On the way back from Foolow we called in to see the wind turbines that have now been installed at Carsington Pastures. The fog came down and we could only see the one.

One of the Carsington Wind Turbines in the fog

We had done part of this walk a couple of years ago although that time we went right on to Barrel Edge. It was a lovely crisp morning with some of the walk along roadways. Another cracker.
See you next week.