Cromford and beyond.

Hello, now where was I? I'm back at Tightwad Towers after my outdoor adventures in the beautiful county of Derbyshire. I put these photo's on last night but I was too whacked to add the words, so I'll get on with it now. I'm going to make two posts of yesterdays walk because there are too many photo's to put them all into one post. 

As you can see by this one, it doesn't look like I am going to get any nice views again. 

Willersley Castle is very close to the River Derwent and not far from the Main A6 trunk road, in Cromford. I crossed over the road and took a track which joined up with The High Peak Trail, a disused railway line which has been turned into a path for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders. I came under the bridge.

I did a sharp right turn following the horses up there.

And the track you can see on the top of the bridge is the one I am going to join to Middleton Top.

It climbs up a steep incline. It must have been a very long job to cut a path through the rocks, all those years ago. A few dog walkers about, I stopped to chat to a very nice man. 

At the top is Sheep Pasture Engine House. This housed the winch which pulled the wagons up the incline.

As you can see the fog is still hanging around.

Just past Black Rocks the track crosses a road near Bolehill. .

I stood and watched these workmen laying the hedge, it looks like hard work. The older chap was teaching the younger one how to do it. The trunks are almost severed near the ground, he said it would take around ten years for it to be fully recovered. New shoots would emerge from the bottom to fill all the gaps. The National Hedge Laying Society has a web site if you want to read more about it.

I thought this was worth a look, might as well, I am passing anyway. 

This looks like a practice area for dry stone walling.

These steps show the different colours of the rocks.

The indoor exhibition area was closed for refurbishment. It's almost the end of the season and only the shop and cafe were open. I saw the magical Walls Ice Cream sign outside, oooh, I just fancy a Magnum. It was my lucky day All ice cream was half price. Just got to have one. I ended up chattering to the woman in the shop for ages, she must have been a bit bored, can't see that she would have many customers, not many people about.

I'm going to end this first part here, and post the second part of the walk tomorrow. Thank you for joining me, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip