A walk in Derbyshire

Decent weather predicted for Derbyshire (White) Peak District area yesterday so packed the camera, rucksack with beef/tomato sarnies, flask of tea, cake and obligatory packet of Pom Bears  lol    and headed off for the start of our walk (5+ miles) parking up at the beautiful village of Hartington.  

Quick pic taken on old iPhone showing Hartington church

  From the village we headed across pasture where we watched a Hare scurry across the grass before we ventured on passing through a short track of woodland along a path that joined the River Dove and Beresford Dale,  a picturesque area which meanders slightly through wooded habitat and opens into steep limestone hills either side of the River;   this was an area back in time that mined for Lead and Iron and quarried for Limestone.   

a photo of the Hare which was a scurrying across the pasture -  didn't realise their legs were so long   !    ......

then for some reason it stopped  !      paused a while so I took another photo

an iPhone pic of the area of woodland just as we reach the River Dove

No sooner had we entered the banks of the Dove when we spotted our first Dipper, a favourite bird of ours to see although as is usually the case they tend to opt for the far dark shady banks and lurk at the edges blending into the rocks so you have to wait for them to start dipping in the river !   

It has to be one of the most difficult birds to photograph when it comes to camera settings with high ISO and trying to get enough speed;  sorry, these are the best I could muster.   Was much darker than you could imagine in the heavily shrubby/ wooded river area.

Two Mandarin ducks where in the same area but on the near bank !     Not sure if its male in eclipse, juvenile or female    lol

iPhone quick shot as the 300mm x 2 reach was too close - as you will see in 2nd pic   !

too close but cute !

On to Wolfcote Dale

a group of juvenile Mallards were huddled together like a load of stuffed toys on a bed   lol 

A female Grey Wagtail hunted for insects .....

a sheep baa'd for its Momma who was up on the limestone crag and then clambered up to join her after I took this photo

a very tatty looking butterfly sunned itself

a juvenile Blue Tit foraged from the Alder ?

another dipper, possibly juvenile,  flew along the river landing typically in an obscurred area close to its parent  !

I could hardly pick out the bird between the thicket of ferns, grasses and shrubs  

this was the adult nearby and a little easier to see albeit still in a heavy shaded area requiring high ISO  !

close view ............

I will put these photos up in stages as there are a few more to come yet and don't want to overload you in one go  !!        I have Kestrels to come, more Dipper shots and a few too many photos of a very endearing young Spotted Flycatcher fledgling who stole my heart     lol   

Will upload a few more later.    

  • Unknown said:
    the road is impassable sometimes in winter if they get snow on the high peaks

    Excuses, excuses! Go on, I'll let you off, then :)

  • Unknown said:

    Decent weather predicted for Derbyshire (White) Peak District area yesterday so packed the camera, rucksack with beef/tomato sarnies, flask of tea, cake and obligatory packet of Pom Bears  lol    and headed off for the start of our walk (5+ miles) parking up at the beautiful village of Hartington.  

    Superb photos and a lovely area to walk.

    The Peaks host a plethora of fabulous walks of varying challenges, but always rewarding to those who take the time to observe nature.

    It's been too long since I last walked around there, and unlikely that'll walk there again for some considerable time, so it was a pleasure to see those photos.

  • Thanks Mike,  I do hope one day you can relive those wonderful Derbyshire walks;  it's ok along the River Dove in some parts but it is getting down to the Dove that might prove problematical.   I don't know all the access routes to River Dove but most of the pathways we walked on were pretty even ground or grassed tracks although there are a few stoney areas.     Fingers crossed you will find a suitable section to explore when you feel fit and able enough.    Glad you enjoyed the photos.

  • Unknown said:

    Thanks Mike,  I do hope one day you can relive those wonderful Derbyshire walks;  it's ok along the River Dove in some parts but it is getting down to the Dove that might prove problematical.   I don't know all the access routes to River Dove but most of the pathways we walked on were pretty even ground or grassed tracks although there are a few stoney areas.     Fingers crossed you will find a suitable section to explore when you feel fit and able enough.    Glad you enjoyed the photos.

    Our wonderful NHS is still working hard at helping me back to some form of reasonable distance walking, and a couple of weeks ago I struggled to do 4km, with lots of recuperation stops to allow my bad leg to recover before carrying on, using crutches. It was slow, and painful and I suffered for the next few days.

    I have lots of wonderful memories and photos, which I treasure, many still on my Flickr pages.

    The R Dove is a long river, with good disabled access at Ilam, near Ashbourne, and a further upstream at Milldale, just to name a couple of access points.

    Many of the dales now have good access, Lathkill Dale now has hard core track alongside, and one worth walking if you get the chance.

    R Lathkill until the 70's was the water source for the nearby village of Haddon, so bathing was prohibited....

  • That's good to hear Mike,   I have walked the Dove from Milldale and also Alsop-en-le-dale and Dovedale but have yet to visit Lathkill Dale which sounds excellent so another area for our visit list !    Good luck with the recuperation, sorry it is such a long and painful process for you :(

  • Unknown said:

    That's good to hear Mike,   I have walked the Dove from Milldale and also Alsop-en-le-dale and Dovedale but have yet to visit Lathkill Dale which sounds excellent so another area for our visit list !    Good luck with the recuperation, sorry it is such a long and painful process for you :(

    Lathkill Dale, Monsal Dale, Cressbrook Dale, Bradford Dale,are among a few to walk, and often plentifully blessed with dippers.

    However, Water-***-Jolly is one to avoid after a wet spell, the path as you can see in the photos below.

  • Not sure what Water-***- means Mike can you put *** down like this *.*.* so i can make it out its done this on one of my post and it was not a word I would have hidden ?

  • Thanks for the info Mike,   it certainly looked almost impassable at Water-C-Jolly so will avoid that during the rainy weather !    Lovely photos btw.

    @ Jim,  it's weird how it won't allow the middle word as it only means "dual nature or function"

  • James G said:

    Not sure what Water-***- means Mike can you put *** down like this *.*.* so i can make it out its done this on one of my post and it was not a word I would have hidden ?

    James,

    May I humbly apologise if I've offended anyone, that was never my intention, nor to appear to be swearing.

    It appears the forum may automatically edit/hide words considered swearing etc.

    It is actually a proper place name, not a nickname or pet name, and is referred to by the very name I used by the Peak District National Park, and it is also shown on OS maps.

    Perhaps in hindsight, I should have made the above clear in my initial reply.

    So please accept my apologies, I had never intended to offend anyone nor swear.

    I'll catch up with the rest of yesterdays posts later today.

    Breakie first, then exercises, the opticians and take Mrs PR Shopping later....

    Have a good day folks