Sunday 27 March 2016

Good Friday

Hello Lovelies,
I hope you are having a good Easter weekend. I've been at work this morning and I'm working all day tomorrow....but I was off on Good Friday. And golly it was a good Friday.
With the forecast promising a sunny, calm day I couldn't resit a trip to the Peak district. We love Dovedale, I've posted about it before HERE and HERE . And most recently HERE

A little further along the river Dove is a pretty village called Milldale. It's easily walk-able from where we usually park, but for various reasons we have never reached it. 
After seeing some gorgeous photos of Milldale on instagram last week....Sarah, I'm looking at you...I decided we must finally visit.

I dragged the family out of bed at 7am, not easy with teenagers and we were on the road just after 8am. It's over an hours journey from where we live but the roads were quiet and the views that greeted us when we arrived were adorable.........


In my hurry to get on the road I'd forgotten our O.S. map of the area. This was a worry, but thankfully there was an information board in the car park with suggested walks....here we go boys, 3 miles...easy ( don't mention the hills ;0)  )


So we set off in search of the bridge, passing pretty stone cottages.........


Oh look the old Temperance hotel from the info board....now a luxurious holiday let by the river...called appropriately   Duck Cottage........

I loved the mini Daffs in the window boxes.

Dovedale  belongs to the national trust and they have an information barn here........


Inside there are helpful maps for visitors......


And reminders of just how popular an area this is..........


But at 10am all was quiet. Youngest was busy on the bridge taking photos when I rejoined the family......


Isn't it wonderful. How I love the old stone bridge and the jumble of rooftops behind. You can just about make out an old red phone box too.........


This is the well walked path away from the bridge, looking back towards Milldale........


It was such a perfect morning to stroll by the river, as sunlight flooded in through the still bare branches of the trees........



We couldn't resist leaving the path and walking by the river, it's such a magical sight as the crystal clear water tumbles over rocks.........


and it's setting in the deep valley is stunning.....


The sunlight bounced back as it sped over mini waterfalls,  swirling  and bubbling delightfully before continuing it's journey.......


It's just the right size of river here, don't you think. Not a stream and not a big deep body of water. Just a playful little river.......


the sounds it made were so soothing as it bounced over the shallow rocks.......





Sheep on a steep bank make me smile. A friend at work told me that on a school trip to Derbyshire the teacher told her class that the sheep here have two legs longer than the other two, so they can stand up straight on the hillside. She believed that for years....bless her.......


We were making quiet slow progress as there was just so much to see ( and in the case of youngest and myself...photograph)



Oh look, three men sized people...hubby and our eldest two........


The dramatic rock formations above us were getting more and more striking as we progressed........



and the sight of Catkins made me smile.........


In this log by the stream pennies were pressed into the cracks......


I think most had been there a long time........


The light was perfect and I felt so lucky to be here as a family group to enjoy this special place together.........


Youngest made me smile by offering to take a "blog photo" for me. He was in full on Photographer mode. "Walk that way, keep walking, stop now" he instructed me :0).....


Honestly I'm happier behind the camera than in front of it these days. Snapping away, trying to capture the beauty of it all.......



Here we were suddenly in the shade and it felt chilly compared to our sunlit stroll......


The high cliff to our left contained lots of caves and peculiar holes........


we stood inside one and gazed at the beautifully framed view of the towering rocky hill opposite......


A little further along we were back in the sunlight and youngest was getting photography help from middle son.....


I do love to see brotherly co-operation.

They were trying to get a good shot of this sweet fellow........


I've never seen this beautiful bird, with it's flashes of yellow and it's bobbing tail before......


It's a grey wagtail and at this moment I wished my camera had a better zoom and could capture such fast movement clearly........


My third ( yes third!) canon IXUS is limping along with multiple problems at the moment. I toy with the idea of getting a "proper camera" , a DSLR, but I know I just love a little  " point and shoot" despite it's limitations.

It's always easily to hand and sometimes it captures lovely effects like this...


We had arrived at Ilam rock and I stood on the bridge for a while gazing at the weird and wonderful rock formations......



Youngest was still snapping away too. The light was simply perfect for photographers like us :0)......


Soon we were climbing steeply up, away from the river .........


Climbing stiles and passing mossy walls.........


Some of the moss was amazing...like miniature ferns........


More hill sheep.......


and still we climbed..........


The route said "turn right just before Stanshope", but how far that was we just did not know.......



Here we passed an interesting looking, but super steep path that looked like it would have amazing views from the top. Why did I not go and see? I wish I had now, but we had not had a drink yet and I was keen to reassure myself were on the right footpath before stopping..........

Why did I forget that map!

After a long climb out of dovedale we finally arrived at Stanshope ( well I supposed it was Stanshope)....


time to turn right and keep climbing........


Nearly at the top, phew.........


And yes, a reassuring sign........


aaahh, the perfect spot for coffee.......


and a home made snack........


They taste even better sat on the grass, leaning your back against a warm stone wall......


Feeling revived we set off on the last leg of our walk....it was all downhill now.........



Running races happened........


untill it got very steep and there were slippery rocks.........


Ahhhh, nearly back. Oh how I love being up amongst the rooftops. It's a feeling you just don't get were we live and it reminds me of my childhood........


The final part of our decent was between more mossy drystone walls......


and it led to pretty Daffodils........


Back in Milldale we could see it had got busy while we were away.......

 Well it was a sunny bank holiday in our most visited national park.

It's no wonder it's so popular. How I loved all the houses and the utterly charming touches like these pots of ferns......


not to mention the bridge.......



We joined the queue at Polly's cottage where they sell food through the stable doorway.........



It was lunchtime and the boys had earned a hot sausage roll.........


Soon it was time to leave. Bye bye lovely Milldale........


I got a postcard from Polly's too. I know I took loads of my own photos, but it's always nice to have a printed version to stick on my noticeboard as well.........


When we got back to the car park it was, unsurprisingly, packed. I was glad we got up early and  avoided the busiest travelling time.

It was a very good, Good Friday and I'm so happy I can record and share these special times here.
Jacquie x

28 comments:

  1. What beautiful pictures. Thank you for taking us on your hike with you. I always enjoy your posts as I get to see places I would never otherwise be able to see. Happy Easter!
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  2. Great post. We saw our first grey wagtails on our walk last weekend. They are brilliant aren't they!
    L.x.

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  3. Great post. We saw our first grey wagtails on our walk last weekend. They are brilliant aren't they!
    L.x.

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  4. I dream your magic green land with your photoes!!Nice to read you had a good trip!!Happy Easter time!!

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  5. What a wonderful trek into some beautiful countryside! I loved it all.

    ❀.•❤•.✿.•❤ Happy Easter! ❀.•❤•.✿.•❤

    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  6. A beautiful walk - I've walked those paths many times but I never go to Dovedale at weekends or bank holidays as it is just so busy! I do love walking in the area though :)

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  7. Thank you for the lovely walk in Milldale. I live in Derby but don't drive so wouldn't be able to get to the places that you go. Also neither I nor my husband could manage those steep hills...so it was really nice to see "our bit of countryside" through the eye of your camera. Thanks again.

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  8. Thank you for the lovely walk in Milldale. I live in Derby but don't drive so wouldn't be able to get to the places that you go. Also neither I nor my husband could manage those steep hills...so it was really nice to see "our bit of countryside" through the eye of your camera. Thanks again.

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  9. You have just transported me back to my young days in Derbyshire - I used to catch what was known as the hikers train which would drop you off at various locations in the Peak, you could then walk all day and catch another train home from a different station feeling absolutely wacked. Sadly Beecham put paid to those little trains in about 1965.

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  10. Beautiful Derbyshire, wonderful pics as usual, xxx

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  11. Thanks so much for taking us along on your beautiful walk: green grass, blue sky, water, sheep, stone structures, birds, and bridges and you and your boys together enjoying it all :) Happy Easter, Jacquie. xx

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  12. Thanks a lot .I' enjoyed every moment of your walk .a lot of climbing to .
    Y feel nostalgic about these english country views.y.s

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  13. What a beautiful walk in such a glorious place. The Good Friday weather was gorgeous wasn't it. You've reminded me how lovely the Peak District is, I had a good holiday there a number of years back, I really enjoyed it. CJ xx

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  14. What a beautiful walk you all enjoyed. I'm glad you had a day off to enjoy the lovely sunshine it's cold and very wet today, what a contrast.
    Jackie x

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  15. What a perfect day. Love all your photos. Felt like I was walking with you.

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  16. A Good Friday indeed! I know if I ever make a trip your way I will definitely stop at Milldale! Loved the mini daffodils, one for the sketch book that one. Is that a bee hive in that last photo or composter? Thanks so much for sharing, loved it!

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  17. Beautiful pics! What a lovely day! (I got sidetracked looking at the flapjack photo) :) xxx

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  18. What a fantastic family day out - Milldale looks such a lovely scenic place and I would love to do that walk, so much opportunity for picture taking. Sorry to hear your camera is giving you problems, I do have a DSLR but still mainly use my Canon Powershot SX240HS when I am out and about as it is just so portable and easy to tuck into a pocket. It gets lots of use and so far, touch wood, it has given me no problems. xx

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  19. We discovered Doverdale thanks to one of your posts. The first walk we did was from Doverdale to Milldale. We too started early, we were the first ones in the car park. By the time we walked to Milldale and back (with a stop at Polly's for a pasty), the car park was jammed full! Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.

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  20. We discovered Doverdale thanks to one of your posts. The first walk we did was from Doverdale to Milldale. We too started early, we were the first ones in the car park. By the time we walked to Milldale and back (with a stop at Polly's for a pasty), the car park was jammed full! Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.

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  21. What a wonderful walk!! I would love to explore 'up north' but it is not to be, so thank you for taking me on your jaunts, and for your beautiful photos!! X

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  22. Simply stunning! Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed it :)

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  23. I'm in awe... so much beauty in your pics, those are really wonderful places! Thanks for taking us along on your walk! xx

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  24. Beautiful,beautiful!!! ValƩria.

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  25. Thank you for taking me along on your walk - what a beautiful experience!

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  26. Lovely photos, we planned to meet my parents and brother at Dovedale car park on friday but they took so much longer than us that the queue was all the way to Thorpe by the time they arrived. We stayed in a gorgoeus B&B just outside Biggin so on Sunday we walked down the Tissington trail to Alsop station then up the river to Hartington, we saw sun, wind, hail and rain in the one day walk (and i'm now paying for it with a day off work sick!) but it is a gorgeous part of the world, we usually head further north to Castleton and the surrounding area but it was a lovely change and its probably 12 years or so since we last visited Hartington (other than a Handfasting in Dovedale a couple of years ago)

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  27. I love the Peak District. My mum's family are from round those parts and she remembers fondly going to Dovedale with her mum when she was little and swimming in the river. Last year we were at a family wedding there and did some lovely walks, including Ilam, Dovedale and the walk up to Thor's cave. Just beautiful! Thanks for the lovely pics of such a breath taking area, Lucy xx

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  28. Just takes your breath away ( pardon the pun ).I mean it's so Stunningly Beautiful,we are so lucky to have such a Beautiful country.Thank you so much for sharing your amazing trek,I love your photo's.Your walks are always so interesting.Hugs xx

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