Saturday 27 July 2013

Postscripts from The Peak District (11) - Consall Forge

Saturday 29th June

We should, really, have been walking yesterday (Friday 28/6) - Kirstie had a day off & had driven over to Ipstones specially for the occasion &, specially for the occasion, it rained for most of the day.... quite heavily!

Much better this morning & in a warm & drying breeze we set off over the fields & through the woods to our 'local' at Consall Forge (see Postscript 1)

On a positive note, this was the last rain we had before the current warm & dry spell began!


Now we wouldn't have seen this yesterday - the Churnet Valley Heritage Railway, under full steam & approaching Consall station
 
Song of the Day : 'The Locomotion' by Little Eva - not quite a locomotive but read that today would have been her 70th birthday.... a good enough excuse! 

Not a huge number of customers today, though we were quite early - just after midday
 
 
'The Black Lion', Consall Forge
Probably destined to become the most featured pub on the Blog!
 
 Beer of the Day : 'A Fist Full of Hops' from Derby's Falstaff Brewery, the pump clip featuring Clint Eastwood!
A very good golden beer with a strong hoppy aftertaste - one to look out for

The Caldon Canal at Consall Forge
The two bridges allow pedestrian-only access to 'The Black Lion' which is just above & behind the building on the left

Back to a bit of industrial heritage!
These lime kilns were built by John Leigh of Consall New Hall, their produce contributing to the huge profits made by the Churnet Valley's iron industry
 
 
The kilns are now owned by the RSPB; they sit in a Nature Reserve & a SSSI & they are a Scheduled Ancient Monument!
Should be here for a few years yet....
Sponsored by JCB & the Nationwide; supported by Lottery Funding, The Countryside Agency & Leek & Moorlands Historic Buildings Trust - I was really impressed that this mosaic, created in 2002, is still in a pretty healthy condition
 
 
Philip Hardaker is a Yorkshireman who has spent much of his artistic career in the Potteries
The children are from the village school just down the road from us - amazing to think that they'll be in Higher Education or working by now!

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