Postscripts from The Peak District (17) - Dore, Hathersage, Peak Forest & Eldon Hill

A well-dressing day, really, though Les was intent on a bit of shopping & I was sure we could fit in an afternoon's walk

Plenty of wells & an interesting climb to one of 'The Seven Wonders of the Peak' but Les was foiled again in her on-going quest to secure a Paramo jacket. Made it a cheap day out!

Started off with a drive out to Dore which, on the outskirts of Sheffield, sounds a long way away but is only just beyond the great eastern 'Edges' of Stanage, Burbage & Froggatt

Part of Derbyshire until 1934, the village school nails its colours firmly to the mast as a suburb of Sheffield!

This old water trough was in use until the 1950s & is situated on Watering Trough Green, one of 6 ancient 'greens' in Dore

 

Surprised to learn that former England football & cricket captains have homes here: Bryan Robson & Michael Vaughan!

Emlyn Hughes also lived in the village.... a prosperous & fashionable spot!

Its MP?...... Nick Clegg!

 

A short drive back to Hathersage & Les' hopes were high - a lady in one of Bakewell's walking shops felt sure they would have the jacket here

 

No jacket.... but lots of penguins - we couldn't find out why!

Had fun with this, trying to identify different food adverts of the last 50 years or so

Still lots to do so whizzed off up the Hope Valley, pausing just long enough for a quick beer in the lovely sunny garden of 'The Travellers Rest'!

Proved to be a good decision as the pub at the curiously-named village of Peak Forest wasn't open!

Beer of the Day : an old favourite, Thwaites' 'Wainwright'.... though, I have to say, I've had better pints

 

 

The well-dressing was tucked away in Old Dam, the hamlet from which the village grew & the point at which our trek into the hills began

 

 

Just below my feet is a gash in the limestone 110' long, 20' wide & 245' deep which opens into a huge cavern - Eldon Hole

I was happy standing on the outside!

 

 

In 1636 Thomas Hobbes declared it to be one of 'The Seven Wonders of the Peak'.... though I think he stood on the outside as well!

 

 

More on these 'Seven Wonders'  & Thomas Hobbes later

Safely on top of Eldon Hill

 

Steeped in folklore & legend, just as the similarly-named Eildon Hills near Melrose (see LeJog Day 68)

Elves lived here, of course, while Bronze Age Man used the hill as a burial ground....

 

 

....but its quarry is infamous as the Peak District's best-known eyesore! That's on the far side of the hill & not on today's agenda but quarrying ended in 1999 & you know what I'm like for industrial archaeology! I'll be back!

 

And there's another wonder! Mam Tor!

Charles Cotton, fisherman friend of 'compleat angler' Izaak Walton, got in on the act with the first Tourist Guide to the Peak District (1681) in which he listed his 'Seven Wonders' & Daniel Defoe (where didn't he get to?) was a bit of a latecomer, turning up here about 40 years later

But Mam Tor, 'the shivering mountain', is on all their lists!

Another ancient burial ground &, though it's been cheerfully moving, crumbling & slipping throughout its history ('shivering'), it is said that its shadow has never changed! Now that is a wonder!

OK! Song of the Day : 'Seven Wonders' by Fleetwood Mac!

Unusual sight on our descent back to Old Dam - man, woman & youth operating an ancient baler, one of those that churns out small rectangular bales, then collecting & stacking them by hand

 

 

 

Learned later in one of our locals, 'The Old Red Lion', that those huge rolls of dustbin-bagged hay that dot the fields are useless for smallholders - unmanageable & nowhere to store them

 

Today's final port of call

I'd failed to manage a beer here when I walked the Tissington Trail in pouring rain a couple of years ago - it was shut!

 

 

 

 

'The Duke of York' at Pomeroy

A 15th century farmhouse that became an alehouse in the early 1600s

It's believed that Dick Turpin once stayed here, probably on one of his day trips from Essex!

 

 

Sat in the garden in lovely sunshine.... the only customers!

Fine end to what had turned out to be quite a busy day

Postscripts from The Peak District (16) - Consall Forge

See Postscripts 1 & 11!

Glorious Sunday morning & loads to do.... but still enough time to head over the fields & down through the woods to 'The Black Lion'!

 

 

Lots of other people seem to have had the same idea & were arriving in a variety of different ways... trains & boats but, thankfully, no 'planes!

 

 

 

 

Beer of the Day : 'Chatsworth Gold', a good pale golden ale made from honey, but you wouldn't guess

4.6% & you wouldn't guess that either!

 

 

 

Enjoyed the beer & the walk but the real reason for the excursion was to visit 'the cheese boat' which moors here at 'The Black Lion' a couple of times a year

 

 

 

 

 

The Borders Cheese Carrying Company cruises the cuts selling a fine selection of cheeses & pickles.... we just had to stock-up!

 

Song of the Day : 'Hard Cheese of Old England' - I have a version by Martin Carthy but I don't think he mentions any of the cheeses we bought today!

 

Postscripts from The Peak District (15) - Oakamoor & Alton

Now is probably a good time to stop publishing the actual date of the walk seeing as I appear to have become so far out of touch with reality! I blame the weather.... which, according to the locals, continues to be unseasonably warm & dry!

 

 

 

 

Also delayed a little by the arrival of Abner Joseph who seems to have been 'on the way' for a long time!

 

Congratulations to Jamie & Andy.... & to Abner, too!

 

I'm sure that he'll feature in several postscripts in the future, particularly as he gets a little older & joins in the explorations!

Didn't have a lot of time to spare today so this was a bit of a tentative exploration of the 'next' villages down the Churnet Valley from Ipstones & Froghall (See Postscript 3). Loads more industrial relics to come back & trace in more detail but I'd discovered the intriguingly-named Dimmings Dale on the OS map, leading to a place called Old Furnace.... had to be target No.1!

Discovered later that our nearest local brewery is at Alton. I've met 'the man' & he tells me they produce an ale called Dimmingsdale - haven't come across that yet but their beers are very good!

 

 

Parked at 'The Ramblers Retreat', an attractive & popular-looking café, about half-way between the villages, & headed for the woods!

Heading into Dimmings Dale (2 words on the OS map, 1 word everywhere else!)

A woodcutter's paradise! Thousands of tons of charcoal were produced here in the 15th & 16th centuries to support lead & iron smelting while many of these tracks linked old mills & still lead to dammed pools & intricate waterways

 

 

Sandy path beside one of the pools - easy to see why the area was a major centre for sand & gravel extraction

The sand was straight on to the trains & off to Pilkington's in St. Helens!

So many paths to choose from!

Aimed for Oldfurnace (1 word almost everywhere!) but found no more than a few cottages & old water channels

Needs a bit of research before we come back

 

 

 

 

 

Not quite sure why I'm looking so glum.... possibly because the glass is empty?!

'The Admiral Jervis Inn' (CAMRA Pub of the Month in June 2013) is in Oakamoor, not far from the site of the original 'Admiral Jervis' pub which was part of the industrial complex that dominated the village

The first 'Admiral Jervis' closed about 1871

More about the good Admiral next time!

 

Beer of the Day : 'Black Gold', a dark bitter/mild from Castle Rock Brewery in Nottingham

Quite light & very drinkable at 3.8% - enjoyed this!

 

 

Took to the disused railway for the second part of today's walk, a continuation of the line used by the Heritage Railway mentioned in previous Postscripts

 

 

 

Entrance to the Oakamoor Tunnel (462 yards long!) can be seen through the trees just to the left of the old crossing-keeper's cottage

 

Originally Alton railway station; after 105 years, in 1954, it was renamed Alton Towers!

Now holiday cottages (yes, you can book them!), the 3-storey building was once the Earl of Shrewsbury's waiting 'suite'!

 

 

And he had a special luggage-lift installed to hoist his baggage directly up to his 'Towers' which overlook the cutting!

Pity his influence didn't stretch to saving either the railway or the pubs beneath his walls!

'The Talbot' had been a pub since 1784 & is a listed building.... but it appears terminally closed to me

 

Long hot walk back to 'The Ramblers Retreat' without refreshment &, by the time we got there, we reckoned we might just as well return to the pubs of Oakamoor!

 

Here I am, perched between the River Churnet & the sluice gates of the old canal.... & wasn't there a railway somewhere around here as well?!

The Caldon Canal, which runs below Ipstones & has featured in several Postscripts, ends at Froghall Basin but once continued all the way to Uttoxeter

These are the old sluice gates beside the weir & road-bridge at Oakamoor

 

'The Cricketers Arms' was built as a canal-worker's house at the same time as the canal was being extended

 

 

 

 

It was opened all the way to Uttoxeter in 1811

 

 

 

The canal company was bought by North Staffordshire Railways in 1847 & they kept the canal open just long enough to transport their railway construction materials to Oakamoor & promptly built their new railway on the canal-bed!

We'd just walked to Alton along what was once a canal!

 

Sat in the garden & was intrigued to see the bricked-up outline of what was once a canal bridge!

 

 

 

Very warm so opted for a cider - Somersby, made by Carlsberg

I'd never had one of these before but had seen the adverts

Don't like their lager & I don't think I'll be opting for their cider again!

 

Song of the Day : 'Walking on Water' - an old Melissa Etheridge track. I remember the song but not the album!