NOW HEAR THIS, NOW HEAR THIS!!!

DUE TO SIZE AND LOADING TIMES, I HAVE STARTED A NEW BLOG.
PLEASE GO TO;

WWW.WALKPEAKS.BLOGSPOT.COM

(and, if you want to, become a follower.)

THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER POSTS ON THIS BLOG.

THANKS TO ALL MY READERS - I HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO ENJOY MY PHOTOS ON THE NEW BLOG,
AND IT WILL LOAD UP A LOT FASTER.
CHEERS,
LES

Flood pics

I dare say there are LOADS of flood pictures on the net by now, but here are a few I took during the day after the rain stopped.

These are the meadows Buckland hollow on the A610 below Ripley.

I had to turn back when I got to Ambergate, it was just too deep!

Cricket, anyone? Maybe we could have a beer afterwards (it's in the barrels there).

Well up the walls of the Hurt Arms pub.

Yes - that's a car and caravan submerged in the back yard!

Rain well and truly stopped play!

The digger was pushing water off the road, it didn't slow down for anyone attempting to get through though.

My fifteen minutes of fame.

www.lunasa.ie

If you haven't heard of them, you have no interest at all in Irish folk music. Lunasa are a world famous band, selling out most of their venues. They travel extensively, but when they are within 150 miles of me, I get a ticket to see them. Last Wednesday they appeared at Nottingham University (a sell out), and I was in the second row.

Anyway, after the last time I'd seen them, at Litchfield, I was my usual gushing self about the performance. Mind you, it is always perfection. I jokingly sent a; 'Jim'll fix it' email to their site for me to play with them on stage (one of my hobbies is playing the bodhran, or Irish drum). It was very tongue in cheek, and I just forgot about it.

I checked my emails just before going on Wednesday, and there was one from Tracy Crawford (the lead of the band's other half, I guess), saying my email had only just been seen, then going on to apologise that there was NO WAY Lunasa could invite an unknown onto the stage without practice, knowing ability, etc etc. She was very nice about it, and I was a bit embarrassed, as I hadn't really expected them to agree to it.

Anyway, off I went to Nottingham University's Djanogly theatre. First half, fantastic, second half, just as good, then they came back for the encore, and Kevin suddenly announced they were going to dedicate this last song to Les Singleton (yours truly). I was stunned, to say the least, but what happened next was he got me up, took me to the stage, (for some bizarre reason made me put on one of those Day-Glo vests), and then the band struck up. I was given the drum, and off we went!

It was a dream come true, and I think I 'held my own'. I even got a smile & a wink from the usually dour Cillean Vallely - praise INDEED! Sean Smith looked over and winked too, and that really put me at ease. Well, after our little number, the auditorium erupted, and I was SO proud! Here I was, in such fantastic company, me - and I had actually played along with Lunasa.

Does it get any better?

Thanks lads.

Summer greens, Summer rains, and FUNGI!

Today I went to the edges, Froggatt and Curbar to be precise. I'm glad it was the usual early start, as by lunchtime, the rain set in and stayed the rest of the day. Luckily, we had an early lunch, so got my picnic in, sitting by the river Derwent, JUST before the deluge came. I went into the plough at Hathersage, just to see if it would blow over, but a couple of pints of Bombardier bitter later, and I had no choice but to suit up and face the precipitation!
Hope you like the pics, don't forget, you can click on any of them to see a larger version.

Oh, the day had one great highlight, I found a sizeable clump of 'chicken of the wood' fungus, ( Laetiporus sulphureus) one I love to eat. I haven't found any for a couple of years, so this one went straight into the bag for dinner tomorrow!


One of the many joys of this time of year is the blossom, and one of my favourites is the horse chestnut, or 'conker', as it's colloquially called. This was a small part of a HUGE tree in full bloom.

This week, I began the walk at Calver mill. The old mill, where 'Colditz' was filmed, has now been cleaned and turned into very pricey apartments.

The old mill stream is still there though, and makes a pretty picture



Who wouldn't want to walk along this inviting path? If ONLY I could convey the way it smelt this morning. Sweet, heavy with the scent of bluebells, wild garlic, hawthorn blossom, etc etc.

Some of the local 'air fresheners'.

Still waters - the river Derwent, at a deep point. Again, if you could hear the birdsong here, wow!

New Calver bridge, with an almost perfect reflection.

I couldn't resist this!

Everywhere I looked today, it was flower central!

A nice clump of marsh marigolds tucked below the riverbank.

Like lambs to the water!

Time for reflection..........

I wish I had a pound for every pair of feet that passed over this stile.

Sorry the foreground isn't JUST right, but the ones at the back are good.
Don't you just LOVE the blue eyes looking at you?

A really good wisteria, on a really nice cottage.
(Look at the knotty, twisty trunk!)

This is Spooner lane, and old packhorse route. You'll see more of the flag stones later.

'Ere guv', got any food?

The path through Hay wood.

A lovely place to take five, listen and take in the woodland sounds and smells.

A nicely framed section of the packhorse path.

" Wot YOU lookin' at, eh? You WANT some?"

These pretty cottages are ten a penny!
(Or so I thought, then I looked in an estate agents window, and saw they were almost 1/2 million EACH!!!!)

No wonder the old ram was looking knackered - obviously, he'd been busy!

I went fly fishing once - never again - I got a two pound bluebottle!

Ahhhh - LOVELY!
When I went off to France two weeks ago, I feared I'd miss my beloved bluebells, but here they are, in all their glory!
I think they must be my favourite English wildflower.

Oh LOOK! A lovely great clump of chicken of the wood fungi - MMMMMMMMM!
(In the pot tomorrow)

And after that - the rain set in. The camera was consigned to the rucksack, but I HAD to get a picture of this - whatever was a red London bus (with 'Trafalgar square' on the destination banner) doing in the middle of Derbyshire?

The end! As you can see behind the bus, the day finished in murk and very wet.
Ah well, they can't take the morning off me!
Les

On my JOLLIES!

Hi all, I am now on holiday in France. More pics when I get back.

Les

Monsal, Cressbrook, Wardlow mires, Longstone moor.

Here we go then, pictures from last Sunday. We walked from Monsal head to Wardlow Mires via the very top of the dales. These paths have only been opened up recently, so it's good to have a new slant on an old walk. We then walked over Longstone moors, through Great and Little Longstone, and back to the car.

Don't forget, you can click on any of the pictures to see a bigger version.

This first picture is the Viaduct in Monsal dale, plus Monsal head.

This is Cressbrook. It's only a small hamlet, but has a very nicely restored mill which is in the dip
(so can't be seen in the pic - sorry!).


Looking down to Ravenstor cottages. This view is usually only seen by climbers.

One week there's nothing, except for the odd flower, then all of a sudden - cowslips, celandine, wood sorrel, etc etc.
Here's a really nice cowslip.

The sun made for good shadows, which we took advantage of!

A view across to Litton village.

A zoomed view of Litton, with the wall patterns.

Mum and baby resting by a wall.

Looking back up Cressbrook dale. We walked alongside that wall on the top left.

Last time we came along here, we dropped into the dale bottom. This time we stayed on top.

Nice light and shadow on the walls.

Looking back across the buttresses we walked over.

This is Peter Stone. I've never seen it from this angle.

Our goal, Wardlow mires and the pub for lunch.

The usual tree.

A pretty green lane on Longstone moor.

We could see Mam Tor too, I've never noticed it before, but the face is unmistakable.

The black sheep of the family.

And that was it, apart from a coffee in Little Longstone to finish off the day.

Good Friday, good weather, GREAT walk.

Good Friday, good weather, GREAT walk! And with the prospect of the whole weekend settled, I decided to walk Friday AND Sunday (so there will be another set of pictures along soon, unless you email me and say you don't want them.
With a lovely, blue sky to start the day, I decided to walk from Warslow. I know this area is very up & down, and has superb long distance views from the moors. It's a very 'border' area, as there's a mix of rough grazing, and moorland. There are some pretty villages too, as you'll see. I also got a glimpse of the Easter bunny.

First stop though, was to take a picture of the lovely church in Hartington. I passed through on my way to Warslow and noticed the sun was in JUST the right position for the picture. Here's what I got;

There was also a nice daff' lined walk that took my eye as well.


Then it was on to Warslow to park up and start the walk. Sadly, today I'd see one of my favourite 'watering holes', the Cavalier inn at Grindon, closed and for sale. A sad sight indeed, however, it was softened by the fact that the Greyhound in Warslow is being re-furbished, and will open again soon. This excellent set of village troughs are opposite the pub.

Wild flower-wise, things are really beginning to get going now. I saw a LOT of different species, but I'm not really up on the names, so forgive me if I'm wrong on any. These are one of my favourites, the Primula, or Primrose.

Plenty of Celandine too, this was just a lonely one, but very photogenic, I thought.

This is the chapel at Upper Elkstone, a very small hamlet about three Kilometres west of Warslow.
Churchyards are always 'nice' this time of year. I mean, I KNOW they are full of gravestones etc, but it's what you make of it really! I love these places in the sunshine, with a smattering of daff's. Looks like a LOT of people have died here, as the graveyard is PACKED. I wonder if they bus them in from surrounding villages?

Here he is then, caught on camera - the Easter bunny.
(This one is black, which leads me to think he's an escapee from some child's hutch)

A wall full of feeders.

This was like McDonalds to the birds. Plenty came to partake as I stood there.
If you look carefully, you can see a little tit on that pump.

As I said, big, rolling views, this one from just beyond Elkstone.

Sad to see a lot of dilapidated barns too, in this part of the world. I HAD heard there was a programme to re-instate them and fix them up. I really hope they do, as they are such a lovely feature of the countryside, like the walls.

Of course, there was the usual 'crop' of my favourite - LAMB! These will be ready for the BBQ come July.

It was soon lunch time, and time for a swift pint. This is the Jervis arms pub, in Onecote.
They had a beer festival in full swing, and it looked like they were VERY busy in the evenings. They had BBQ's, outside bar, LOTS of seating, music, lights, etc etc. I wish I lived nearer! It was a delight to sit in the warm sunshine in the garden, with the sound of the stream babbling nearby.

What can I say - just LOVELY!

A little robin posed just long enough for me to capture him.

Sun, shorts, tee shirt, views = heaven!

This farmer had taken the time to line his drive with daff's.

I was actually in Staffordshire, and they are notorious for not looking after the footpath network as well as they should. Apart from many broken stiles etc, there were little 'gems' like this almost invisible stile - under a tree!

Here's the ubiquitous tree - can't resist them, sorry!

Caps off, lower heads - the poor Cavalier, closed!

The pretty church at Grindon.

After leaving Grindon, there are fine views all around, not least to the Manifold valley.
This huge limestone buttress hides Thors cave on the other side of it.

The undulating hills of the Manifold valley.
I love to walk here, and it's probably one of my favourite places in the peak district.

For the older ones among you;
"Once upon a time there was, a little white bull......"
Somehow I don't think THIS one will be going to the bullfight!

Last, but not least, another well-kept garden in a chocolate-box cottage in Warslow.
Then it was back to the car (sigh) and home from the walk.
Oh well, at least it's a holiday, and I've Sunday to look forward to.

(see next entry)