A wander around Shottle

Apologies for missing last week, i was busy attending a photo exhibition of my local camera club over the whole week end. Only 3 of us this week so we decided a local walk would be good so we set off on foot from Plains Lane just after 07:30 it was still quite dark walking up the lane. We were heading towards the hamlet of Shottle and by the time we got further up the track the sky was glowing before the sun came up. We stuck to the farm tracks and country lanes and it was a steady incline until we reached the highest point in Shottle, a climb of 450 feet. We had some nice views on our journey and met several people which is unusual. The first person we talked to was a young lady called Isabel on a horse and it turns out she used to live in our road when she was a child. The next person we met was a lady taking her dog for a walk who turned out to be a friend of Geoff's wife, Elizabeth told us she walks up to 10 miles a day.  the next time we chatted was to 3 young guys on mountain bikes and they were all from Belper. I know one of their dad's a fellow photographer and they used to live in the next road down from me. Talk about a small world. Well we ended up on Longwalls Lane and that's where we stopped for our breakfast. From there it was only about 3/4 mile back to Plains Lane. We chatted to a chap out walking his dog then straight back to base.

This weeks route around Shottle

Pre dawn

Geoff zapping the  sunrise

The sun just above the horizon

Couldn't resist this reflection

Lovely old stone trough

Beautiful sunrise

St. Lawrence Church Shottle

Shottle

Former Baptist Church 1882

Old School House

Geoff & Ike at Shottle crossroads

Isabel 

Pheasant on a wall 

Elizabeth

Brilliant nameplate

Ike

Geoff chatting to one of the Belper bikers

Looking towards Handly Woods from Long Walls Lane

Geoff

This chap just came wizzing down the track

Looks like Geoff is doing some divining 

Ike heading down Longwalls Lane

Whats left of the farm where Samuel Slater is said to have worked and lived, in the grounds of Hollywood House

 This was another nice little walk, just short of 5 miles and a bit of an ascent just 450 feet from the lowest point on Plains Lane to just above Shottle. Nice to get out and stretch my legs after missing last week trip.
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.