Lack of walks :-(

What with Xmas and all, we've not had a walk now for almost a month, so REALLY hoping the weather isn't too bad next week when we next get a chance. I DID get a chance to shoot up into the fields above Haddon hall to get some nice shots of it in the sun (which I failed to do on our last walk as the weather wasn't very good).

 As you can see, looking over Bakewell, it was a LOT better today.

 ....and over towards Chatsworth.

 One of our favourite pubs, the Three Stags, is trimmed up for Christmas now. The landlord makes almost all of the decorations himself from natural things, and even collects his own mistletoe.

This is the fireplace and centre beam of the bar.

 The back room. You can see the bower above the fireplace. Those are real apples in the middle of it.

 Plus a big bunch of mistletoe......just in case - should get plenty of use on New Years Eve. :-)

 Another unusual thing about the stags is this - when you walk in, you wonder why there's a fox's tail above the door and 'into' the wall??

.....then, when you look on the other side.......

A HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my readers, may you have health and happiness in 2012.

Wreckless on Bleaklow

It's two for the price of one this week - the first walk was cut short (picture-wise) by heavy, prolonged rain - the second was a great walk, but.....ummmmm SOMEONE accidentally deleted all the pictures.......DOH!

Anyway, the first walk was from home, through Bakewell, over the footbridge to the Agricultural centre, and on towards the Haddon estate. My aim was to try and get some good shots of Haddon hall, but the sun didn't shine all day. This was the view of the very full river and weir.

Recent storms had caused noticeable damage. This thick branch had been completely rent by the wind. It takes some force to do this kind of damage! 

However, if you want PROPER damage, a lightning bolt does the trick nicely. This tree was split in half a few years ago by such a bolt, but to this day it hangs on to life! 

The power of nature. This is (was) a very sturdy fence, but the falling tree paid it no heed on it's way to earth. The tough steel fence might as well have been made of rubber. 

The 'best' views today of Haddon Hall. It's a hall I only went into for the first time recently, but we're planning to visit it and do the full tour soon.

We made our way to the quiet little hamlet of Alport, near to Youlgrave. This really is a quiet backwater. It felt soothing just to BE here. 

The old mill. All this land, and these buildings, are on the Haddon estate, and belong to it. 

 There was some REALLY good fungi around today, sadly none of it good eating. It made for super pictures, though.

 Shortly after the fungi pics, the rain came, with a vengeance, and the camera was quickly consigned to the rucksack until we got home. Now then, these next pictures explain the title of this posting. I had seen a story about aircraft wrecks on Bleaklow, a moor that you cross on the second day of the Pennine way. I decided we hadn't been up there for while, so off we went to try and find the wreck of the 'over-exposed' B29 that crashed up here in 1946;

http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/peakdistrict/peakdistrict44-61999.htm

When we got out of the car at Bleaklow, it was BITTERLY cold. We quickly added a couple of warm layers, and set off across the moor.

There was still plenty of snow about as we followed the Pennine Way over the moor. 

 People wonder how you can get lost (or not find aircraft wreckage) up here, but believe me - it's not hard when it's so featureless, as these moors are. It's also disconcerting when any little feature, like a set of stones, or a wooden post, quickly disappear as you walk.

This is Bleaklow head (and yours truly). It was from here that we took a compass bearing and walked off into the pathless moor, but didn't manage to find any wreckage. We intend to go back on a better day, with more light and time, to see how far off we were.