Shifting sands, squirrels and hidden treasure

Our short break ended with a trip to Formby on a beautiful clear day, to hopefully see the squirrels and take a walk around the dunes.

As we regularly visit Southport, just up the road from Formby, we tried to get one over on Tim the sat-nav on the way there, ignoring his instructions all the way right through the village of Croston, until we reached the A59 at Rufford, when we decided he'd better take over. Although you couldn't tell from his voice, Tim was clearly seething and proceeded to take us along all the narrowest lanes he could find over the marshes and dunes, far from any civilization, to eventually arrive into Formby through the back door about half an hour than we'd arranged.

Jean & Kevan were there already, though they'd had their own travel problems on a more conventional route on the M58.

After some lunch, we set off through the pine trees, planed in the dunes less than a century ago in an attempt to stop the sand from retreating further inland. The trees became the perfect haven for red squirrels, who thrived here until very recently, when a virus carried by grey squirrels decimated their numbers. Because of this we weren't expecting to see any reds, however the signs, literally, were good on the way in, where by the National Trust kiosk at the entrance a sign informed us that the squirrels are making a comeback!

Despite our doubts, we turned a corner and there was a red squirrel in a clearing in the trees. It didn't hang about though, so by the time I could point my camera it had already gone.




Carrying on, the path leads on through the pine woodland, but under foot it's clearly sandy rather than mud, so you know the dunes can't be that far away. Eventually after a few wrong turns, we reached an obvious clearing where a clear path headed off to the right towards the sea. We were now close to a geaocache that I'd programmed in to the GPS before we set off - Dead Man's Chest, the Lost Treasure.

Geocaches are hidden, never buried, however their hiding places are carefully chosen to ensure they aren't found by passers by. The GPS took us right to the spot, but it took a few minutes to work out where the "treasure" was as it was very well concealed. When we found it though we were genuinely impressed - it was a true treasure chest wrapped in a camouflage bag with plenty of 'treasure' inside. Obviously I can't explain exactly where it was - that's for you to find yourself, but I've provided the link above as a guide.

Geocaching etiquette requires the finder to sign the log, take a piece of treasure away and leave behind something of equal or greater value in its place, so I left behind an RSPB pin badge in exchange for a toy soldier, who will be left in the next geocache we find.

We now headed over the dunes, perhaps 20 feet high in places, for the return walk up the beach back to the start. We expected sand - but Christmas trees?? The trees are 'planted' in the sand following an appeal by the local council, as they help stabilise the dunes and stop the sea's advance. Most of the trees are dying, but this adds to the strangeness of the place as they gradually change colour from the usual green to a rusty brown. Judging by the vast number of trees planted in just this small area of the dunes indicates that the scheme is certainly valued by the locals.

The walk back up the beach is much easier and we were soon back up near the start of the walk and back to the cars, ending an exhilerating and interesting afternoon out. Our travel problems continued on the way home though, an accident on the motorway delaed us for over an hour, meaning we were very hungry by the time we arrived at the pub for our planned meal.

Around the Hope Valley

After a relaxing day yesterday, it was time to head back home, but on the way we'd planned to visit another part of the Peak District, the higher Dark Peak area further north. We parked in the village of Hope, surrounded by hills on all sides, and had our boots with us for another walk.

Two of the more prominent hills around the Hope valley are known as Win Hill and Lose Hill. Their names supposedly stuck when an army from Northumbria camped on one hill, whereas an opposing army from Mercia and Wessex camped on the other. The Northumbrians won the ensuing battle and the two hills gained their names afterwards.

It's a good story but sadly there's no historical evidence to say that it could be true (nor is it true that the Geordies have never since had a better away win - though I can't think of one).

Our walk today took us past the remains of an old Roman camp, then over the railway and up the side of Win Hill almost to the top. Just before the way back down we had a good view of Lose Hill too, so gained an impression of how the battle might have been fought.

On the way down, we passed a farm with some friendly farm cats which makes a change from the usual ferocious barking dogs, and after making a fuss of them, we carried on back to the village where a mug of tea and cake were on the menu at the nearby cafe.

Up the Heights of Abraham

We're very lucky - we're staying in a really nice hotel in the countryside just to the north of Derby, on the outskirts of the Peak District. Breadsall Priory is a modern hotel but parts of the original building date back to the 15th century.

What wasn't around in those days are the two high quality 18 hole golf courses which now surround the hotel and the extensive grounds. Although I won't be playing golf this weekend, we are planning to use the leisure facilities including pool and sauna, and are booked in for a relaxing massage tomorrow.

The plan for today was to head for Matlock, in the southern White Peaks, and nearby Matlock Bath. Matlock Bath sits in a dramatic gorge carved by the river Derwent and the cliffs overlooking the town are known as the Heights of Abraham.

We had a walk in mind up to the top, starting in Matlock where the gradient would be less steep, but looking at the tower at the top, the climb seemed to be a challenge from whichever starting point. Instead we decided to walk down the flat A6 road alongside the river into Matlock Bath and then ride up to the top in the cable car. Despite Carole's doubts, this seemed a better bet than an exhausting climb, but after seeing the price of the cable car ride we started to have second thoughts!

It was too late to change our minds, though Carole wished we had when the car stopped halfway up, just at the point where the drop was the biggest and the breeze was the strongest. Fortunately we were soon on the move and before long we were at the top.

The cable car ticket gives you entry into several other attractions including exhibitions, caverns, and the Victorian prospect tower, a prominent landark on the very top of the hill. We of course headed for the cafe, and after taking in the views, we headed away to start our walk proper.



I'm starting to understand my GPS a little more now, and had programmed a handful of waypoints in before we set off, the first of which was just outside of the Heights facilities so I could identify the right path for us to take. The path led to the village of Bonsall, a proper Derbyshire Dales village and a sharp contrast to the amusement arcades of Matlock Bath.

After lunch, we followed directions to a couple more waypoints over another hillside after which we could see Matlock in the valley below, and the last couple of miles were mainly downhill back to the car.

Off to Derbyshire for a break

After calling at the exhibition in Darwen, we began our journey to Derbyshire for a weekend break where hopefully we can combine plenty of fresh air and exercise with some relaxation in the hotel's spa and pool.

On the way, we'd planned a stop in Buxton, where we planned a short walk, and then Bakewell, where Carole was determined to try a genuine authentic Bakewell tart. But more of this later.




Buxton is a grand and historic spa town nestled in the hills of the Peak District, occupied by the Romans throughout their stay in England. The town's natural spring bubbles up continuously at St Anne's Well, just across the road from Buxton's most celebrated building, The Crescent. Sadly the banners proclaiming some kind of European festival which adorned each archway spoiled a good photo, but there were countless parked cars there too which didn't help.

The planned walk would have taken us up into the countryside for a view across the town, but apart from a brief spell of blue skies, the rain was never far away and we soon abandoned the idea. Instead we strolled into the Pavilion Gardens, laid out in 1871, one of the first planed and landscaped parks in the country. On a cold early March day it was much too early to see it at its best, but it wasn't difficult to imagine how it might be in the middle of summer.

So with our planned walk shelved, we headed back to the car and continued on our way to the hotel, with one more stop scheduled further along the way, at Bakewell. Our interest was partly culinary; after a look around the village we were keen to try an authentic Bakewell tart, but whilst there we discovered that the true taste of Bakewell lies in its pudding instead - of course we had to try both!

The annual photographic exhibition

With the day off today we just had time this morning to visit the Camera Club exhibition at Darwen Library before we travel down to Derbyshire for our weekend away. Seeing all the photos on display was fantastic and the variety and quality of the prints was a very impressive sight.

All four of the prints I'd put forward have made it into the exhibition, and it was great to see them up on the wall, holding up against the best that the other club members have produced over the last year.

The exhibition is open until early April, and all visitors are encouraged to vote for their favourite. Is it cheating to vote for one of your own? Maybe. But seeing as Carole voted for someone else's photo (a bizarre photo of a group of muscle-bound chaps in tight shorts on a fun run), then it felt a justifiable thing to do.

Mothers Day comes early

It's an early Spring Sunday in March, so it must be near that time of year we make an extra effort for our mums and celebrate Mothers Day. Except this year plans have gone awry a little as we'd already booked ourselves a weekend away on the very weekend we should be treating them - oops. So to make up for it we've brought Mothers Day forward for a week to today so that we can show our appreciation as we should.

Carole's orchid

Finally it feels like spring is on its way and although there's still not much happening in the garden yet, indoors is a different story as Carole's orchid has started flowering again. The orchid was a present for Carole's birthday last summer and has been little more than a stick over the winter, but it now has several large buds and one very large and very pretty flower.

Apparently the secret is not to cut them back too much over the winter once they've finished flowering as the new shoots start from a little knuckle in the stem - if you prune it more severely past this point then it will stay a stick for good.


The photo was taken using light from the kitchen window with Carole holding a sheet of green paper behind it to emphasise the flower - spring is on its way!