Thursday 22 September 2016

A Walk Around Ladybower Reservoir

Hello Lovelies,
here's the final instalment from my weekend away with hubby.

On Sunday morning we woke to sunshine and wanted to make the most of our last few hours in the Peak District. We headed for Ladybower Reservoir.
It was rather tricky finding anywhere to park...a sunny Sunday meant the place was very busy. But eventually we found a spot and began our walk.

How I loved the glimpses of the water through the trees........


And the view across the water, fading willow-herb making an interesting foreground.......


We called in at the visitor centre and the headed towards the damn of the higher Derwent Reservoir......


It's an impressive structure (you can see how tiny the people look) , but it did make me feel uneasy...all that water, pushing on that wall....time to move on.....


We wandered down a quiet lane.....


and I smiled at the cute old post box.......


and more views across the water.....



 Hubby had struggled with some of the gradients on our previous walks. His knees trouble him, and if I'm very honest my own knees were protesting slightly too.
 My little walk book had only one level walk...the promise of good paths looked appealing too........


The sun was quiet hot and any shade was very welcome.......


Two villages were flooded when Ladybower was created to supply water to the big cities. Here you could just see some remains of Derwent village at the waters edge.......


The sheep sheltering from the sun had a pretty garden gate in their field. I wondered if it was from a house which is no more......


Ladybower is surrounded by impressive hills, and I was tempted to take the high path here........


No Jacquie, today is for waterside walking, and very nice it was too.......











Ladybower is pretty huge, but happily it has a bridge you can cross to make a walk-able circuit......


I stopped to take a photo as we crossed the bridge


We were on the return stretch now and I loved the Hawthorn bushes covered in berries here......


another view of the bridge......


A bee busy visiting a lone Foxglove........


There was a great variety of trees around the waters edge. I especially loved the pines......


and the cute way-markers made me smile. I need a walking outfit like this :0)


What an stylish hat :0).......


Here we knew there could not be far to go and we wanted to eat our picnic before returning to the car, we nearly stopped here, but I hoped to find a clearing.........







and after a little while longer, there it was........


Oh my, what a view.......


The moors had interesting rock formations on the horizon.........






We ate a sandwich and then...as the hot cross buns had all run out...Danish pastries "saved" from the breakfast buffet :0).......

Gosh they were yummy!

How I loved this view, back towards the site of the flooded Derwent village. The colours of the moorland above it were just beautiful......


This was my favourite view on the whole walk. With the blue sky and the blue water framing the beautiful hills.......


As we reluctantly got up to leave I commented to hubby about the lack of reflections despite the calm day......


then, as we turned to look back, some had appeared........


Just little "puddles" of reflections, but still so pretty.......


one last look.........


and back to the car.........


It was a lovely end to our Peak District break, and I had managed to squeeze this in our ruck sack.......

A calendar of beautiful views I had bought in the visitor centre. 

We were home by 3pm and youngest had a big hug for me. It was lovely to get away, and it's always lovely to come home.
Jacquie x

9 comments:

  1. Wow, what a beautiful area! You got some amazing and wonderful photos, my friend. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  2. So enjoyed of your wonderful photo's ,what a beautiful area ,nice blog have a great weekend :)
    Rita

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  3. Such a beautiful walk & so lovely to make the most of the lovely September weather!

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  4. THere is so much to like about this post. Beautiful walk. MY favorite photos were the sheep, the way markers and the post box but the walk itself looked beautiful, beautiful.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  5. There is something so soothing about water, any kind really I love walking around a lake or by a stream and especially in the surf. A beauty end to your trip!

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  6. Beautiful as always! I think my last visit there was the first Hen Harrier Day, held at the dam in August 2014! It's been so long since I had a walk around Ladybower, your post has made me want to do so again.

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  7. Stunning,Stunning,Stunning.Thank you so much for sharing.x

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