Not really good enough: we'd been here a week & this was only our second walk. Whatever happened to our aim to walk every other day? Time for a serious summit conference with the former manager...
All's well! Apparently we'd been waiting for the weather to improve.... & for a break in the cricket!
Just a little clarification at this point, having already suffered severe geographical criticism from the ex-manager. I'm taking The Peak District to mean the whole of The Peak District & not just those bits allowed into the National Park.... I suspect that, in time, I'll also 'adopt' outlying areas of Staffordshire & Cheshire. That's the beauty of being unplugged!
Had been here last year with Jamie, Andy & Kirstie but in slightly damper weather....
A view up the Manifold valley from just below Wetton - now that is a walk we'll be tackling soon!
I'd love Thor's Cave to have something to do with Norse gods but, sadly, the name is probably just a local corruption of 'tors'.... maybe introduced by some wandering west-country Druid on his way to the islands....
Last time I was here I had one new knee & the other one in a sling - I'd struggled to even reach the ledge below the cave!
Quite proud to be able to climb inside today!
And this is just how far inside I managed to climb
If you look closely you can see a loop of chain hanging in a very sinister fashion from above the mouth....
A near-painless descent down what seemed like thousands of steps & we were in the valley
A year ago that would have written me off for the rest of the day!
There was once a narrow gauge light railway running along the Manifold valley which, according to one of the railway workers, was a line that started in the middle of nowhere & ended up in the same place!
Built with the alleged intent of moving milk & dairy produce out of the area more quickly & shifting copper from the mine at Ecton to The Potteries, it's also worth noting the late-Victorian enthusiasm for tourism in the area!
Needless to say, the line closed in 1937 & has been a surfaced footpath & cycleway ever since.... inspiration for Sustrans?!
Les asked me about the river & why there was just a dry, stony bed. I guessed that it had disappeared underground, a characteristic of limestone country
Barely 5 minutes later a cyclist stopped & asked me the same question. I repeated my story, as a fact now rather than a guess, & was relieved to discover later that it really does flow down a swallow hole only to reappear at Ilam!
Song of the Day: 'Bottomless Hole' by The Handsome Family!
Here we are again! What goes down must come back up.... & it would help if there was a footpath to follow!
Finally escaped from all the Sunday-afternoon visitors to Thor's Cave & the Manifold Way when we chose this route to return to Wetton
Ironically, the climbs were not as steep while the dry grass & buttercups were easy to walk through &, though the footpaths could not be seen on the ground, visibility was clear enough to see stiles several fields away! A good choice!
And so to 'Ye Olde Royal Oak' in Wetton. We'd been to this excellent pub before & they didn't disappoint today
Beer of the Day: 'Wincle Waller' from the local Wincle brewery - pale golden, hoppy & very good!
However magnificent the beer, the pub's main claim to fame is as the original creator & home of the World toe-wrestling championship.... you only need to look at the pictures on the pub wall!!!
Of course I'm not kidding!
Some of your walking looks more like hard work to me. Have put your blog on an app type thing on my I pad so I can check in easily and keep up with your walks. Pictures are good. Beautiful countryside.
ReplyDeleteJula