Another Day in Derbyshire

Hello Lovelies,
if you have been reading my blog for a while you may recall THIS post about a day mum and I enjoyed in Derbyshire back in 2014.
Once again the impending short days and bad weather had us wanting to squeeze in a day's adventure to see the autumn colour.
So we zipped up the M1 ....I'm quiet brave at motorway driving these days...after the epic journey to Cornwall this summer an hour seems a doddle :0)

I chose the destination this time, somewhere I'd been wanting to walk for a while..Padley Gorge.

Our trip was a bit of a last minute decision  and I didn't get chance to print out a walk. So when we arrived at Grindleford station I wasn't sure which way to go. Luckily there was a walking group there enjoying their morning coffee...so I asked them for directions. Get me, more bravery :0)

A kind chap pointed me in the right direction and I soon came across signs...yay.......

I wandered up a lane and noticed a bird in the road

A lovely Grey Wagtail ....

I also noticed these leaf strewn steps and cheerful pots.......

More signs led me up a short but steep hill and the entrance to Padley Gorge it's self......

I climbed up a little further......

and into the Oak trees...oh my. How stunning they were. Just look at those colours. Both in the branches and under my feet........

There were leaves drifting slowly to earth as I walked along. It was quiet mesmerising. And then there was the occasional "plop" as an acorn dropped. This one landed at my feet........

I'd seem many lovely photos of the stream that runs through the gorge and wanted a closer look. Here the path was high above the stream and I couldn't see any way down.

I zoomed in on the water as it tumbled past large rocks and hoped to find a way to get nearer.......

I loved this unusual moss, glinting in the sunshine.......

And the light and shadow in the Autumn woodland. It felt very special.......

Here the main path can be seen on the left, but I spotted another path, heading down hill, on the right........

I headed downhill. Oh, look...a bridge.
I was thrilled to see the path did indeed lead down to the stream.......

I squelched through some muddy sections of the path.......

And then stopped to take in this lovely view for a few minutes........

It was so lovely that, after a little exploration upstream, I decided to stay a while longer.

And to simply sit quietly and enjoy this magical spot.....

The peaty waters of Burbage Brook had a reddish tinge that fitted perfectly with the Autumn colours......

And the only sounds were the rushing of the water ......

I felt so happy and took a little selfie. Sigh. I'm not so keen on photos of myself these days. But I guess it's nice to have a record...and in the future ( god willing) I will wish that I still looked like this :0)

Anyway, lets get back to the Gorgeous Gorge......

I did sit and ponder if that's where the origin of the word Gorgeous came from...A Gorge. If so I think it may have been this one ... especially on a sunny day in early November.....

Looking at my watch I knew it was time to leave as I had arranged to meet up with mum again at 1pm.  I crossed the bridge, stopping a while to chat with a friendly couple, then made my way back down the opposite bank.

Here the Oak trees changed to Beech.....

And the colours were even more intense.......

All my photos are unedited. These are the true colours...stunning......

The path was rocky and precipitous in places. But oh, it was certainly worth the effort. Isn't this a fairy-tale scene. So special......

Looking back at those BEAUTIFUL Beech trees.......

Big boulders of Gritstone ( or Millstone Grit as we always called it when I was a child) are everywhere in the gorge. They have tiny bits of silica that glint in the sunlight and touching the rough surface reminds me of my childhood in the south Pennines.......

Here there was another bridge and I took one last lingering look at the gorge in all her Autumn glory, every surface strewn with freshly fallen leaves.......

I emerged at the Railway bridge.....

And looked down onto the tracks that would take you to Manchester or Sheffield.  How lovely to be able to leave the city, hop off here and be on the doorstep of such a magical place as Padley Gorge...

Within a few minutes mum reappeared in her little red car. She had been sketching in Eyam and I'm looking forward to seeing what she paints.

We left Grindleford behind and mum suggested we stop here to take in the view.
Oh wow, what a view.

 The trees, so many colours between bare branched and still green. The stone walls and barn. The sheep making their way across the little fields in a neat line. And the rocky edge just visible on the horizon. Wonderful.

This was the view in the other direction.......

A little further on we found a place to stop for a  picnic. Again there were pretty views....

and stunning Autumn colour.......

Feeling refreshed we continued heading south, until we came to a market town with more than it's fair share of pretty stone buildings..........

A place that's famous for a certain pudding.......

A place with several bridges over the beautiful River Wye.......

And LOTS of tempting individual shops......

often set in charming courtyards........

This sign made me smile......

But I did not go in any shops. Preferring instead to explore the back streets. Love the pumpkin on the garden wall.......

the strange looking tower in this picture is the church spire which is having work done on it.

I walked uphill, because I love to turn around and see the view

This sign for the museum looked tempting, but as I had told mum I would be 10 minutes I thought it best not to go and look :0)........

It turns out it was for THIS highly recommended museum. I must try and return sometime and visit.

Everywhere there were gorgeous stone cottages....

You could holiday in THIS one......

This one made me smile.......

As far as I could tell it was a private house...not a teapot shop........

Back in the town I came across this little park......

Most of the bedding plants had already been removed. And the first frost of the year, the  previous night, looked like it had finished off the Begonias too...

But roses remained.....

We left Bakewell and were going to drive straight home.

 Then we realised we would be passing close to Scarthin Books ....Ooooh too tempting to miss. I put lots of pictures of this unique shop in my 2014 POST

It's the sort of place you could spend hours.........

and the views out of the windows are special too......

Every book on this table tempted me....books on crochet, knitting, paper craft, getting closer to nature and seasonal crafts.......

This little book I found on the shelves behind made me smile......

Boring Postcards...well boring maybe but also nostalgic. A40 traffic circa 1970's I would guess. Looks like hardly any traffic to me and the lorries are so small........

Oh, the library at Denman College. I have never been here but I new mum had. Back in the 1970's...with the WI........

I see it is still going strong. Very nice it looks too.

There is also a rather lovely cafe on the first floor, and Mum treated us to tea and cake......

The perfect end to a very special day. Thank you Mum ♥

Jacquie x

P.S.
Thank you all so much for the lovely comments on my London post. It's brilliant to get such kind feedback and hear your stories xxx