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!

Geocaching for beginners!

It's one thing knowing where north is by looking at trees, but these days many serious and sophisticated walkers use a GPS device to guide the way.* Although neither serious nor sophisticated, I'd been considering getting myself one of these for a while, ever since I'd heard about geocaching.

Basically geocaching is a treasure hunting game which involves the internet and a GPS device (though as we proved, having a GPS isn't actually needed). A geocache is normally a waterproof container of some description, hidden somewhere in the countryside. Information on its location will be posted on the internet and can be downloaded onto a GPS device so that others can then search for it whilst out for a walk.

The basic geocaching etiquette is that once found, the finder records their details on the log and returns it in the same place for the next person to find. Some geocaches contain 'treasure' too, in which case it's expected that the finder will take one away but also put something in its place.

So, armed with a fairly basic second-hand GPS device I'd acquired through Amazon, we set off on a familiar and flat walk around Catterall and Churchtown. The idea was that I'd get to grips with the GPS and on the way we'd find our first geocache, just along the A6 near the River Wyre. Working out how to use a GPS is more complicated than you'd think (or is it just that I'm getting older?), but with the help of a clue from the website (which we read but then inadvertently left behind), we nevertheless quickly found the geocache, hidden low down in a gap in the wall. Although there was a log inside, unfortunately water had got inside and it was a little too wet to write on (which didn't matter anyway as we'd forgotten to bring a pen too - amnesia is another sign of getting older!).

Looking at the geocaching website, it's amazing just how many geocaches there are out there, but without checking out the website you'd never know. Despite this abundance, there was only the one geocache on our route today, but now I've a little more knowledge about how to use the GPS, I'm sure we'll be finding others soon!

* Don't rely on a GPS device in place of a map and compass - it doesn't tell you what the terrain is like and when the batteries run out, it's useless.

Navigating by Nature

Which way's north? It's a simple question but isn't always easy to answer, yet if lost in an unfamiliar landscape your life could depend on knowing.

The basic rule of thumb of course in such situations is to always carry a map and compass, and to know how to use them properly, but nature can be surprisingly helpful too if you know what to look for.










There are many ways to work out directions using the sun to help, such as knowing that the sun is due south at midday (1pm in summer), but when it's cloudy this is no good. Instead it's worth looking at trees for clues. Many trees, especially conifers, will bush out more towards the south, as this side gets more light and warmth during the day. Another clue is to look for moss, which tends to grow on the north side of the tree trunk, which is damper, creating better conditions for moss to grow.

Whilst walking in Sale the other day, we saw plenty of evidence of this with the trees along the paths all leaning towards the south, and plenty of moss on the northern side of the trees. Kevan was intrigued by this and was caught having a closer look!

From snow to water and mud

Weather, jobs, people to visit, illness or simple laziness has meant we've not got out for a walk for several weeks now, so we decided we needed to put this right today and get out into the fresh air.

We'd committed to this big effort by enlisting Carole's Mum and Dad for some extra encouragement, so even though we woke up to a blanket of snow, we couldn't let them down.


Our destination was Sale Water Park, where a network of paths wind their way around a large lake and through surrounding woods, returning along the banks of a young and fast flowing River Mersey. The leaflet suggested there's plenty of wildlife around here, but on a cold February afternoon there was little evidence to be seen, even though the snow had by now gone.

The paths here are well trodden - a number are marked as the Trans-Pennine Trail, but this means that at this time of year they are muddy - very muddy! Fortunately we had our boots on but there were plenty of others out for a stroll who didn't have suitable footwear for the conditions.

On the way back to the visitor centre, we passed this colourful murel illustrating how pleasant the park will be in summertime. Perhaps we'll come back then for another look.

Making an exhibition of myself...

The monthly competition at Camera Club comes round very quickly, and as the club is also preparing for their annual exhibition at Darwen Library, there's an extra dimension to the competition this time. The club are trialling a change in rules for their competitions at the moment, with a maximum of three entries accepted on either digital or print format, but as the forthcoming exhibition is for prints only (and so are all the other competitions open to me through the club), then I needed to give the printed format a try for the first time

Running off some prints is easy enough, what was more difficult was cutting the mounts to the right size and then finding a way to stick the photos down without the glue soaking through and spoiling the prints. Eventually it all thankfully seemed to work after several mistakes and the final result was worth the effort:

I've hopefully four pictures in the exhibition (depends on the numbers submitted by the others and the available space we have), and although there's no themes or styles to work to I've tried to show some variety by submitting one people shot, one landscape, one nature shot and one monochrome.

The flower photo was also entered in the monthly competition and got plenty of positive comments but fell short in the judging because the petals in the foreground are out of focus (deliberately). Looking at several pro pictures in this month's photo magazines, then I'm not convinced my choice is wrong, but it just shows that photography is subjective and everyone has their own opinion. Hopefully my flower will be more popular in the exhibition.

The exhibition starts on Saturday March 6th in Darwen Library - please come along to see all the pictures and din't forget to leave your vote for your favourite (one of mine!).

Painting is easy

A weekend painting, Carole said. Sounds nice - get the watercolours out, find a nice scene to paint and away we go. But unfortunately no, it's not that sort of painting. This time it's the kitchen: ceiling on Saturday, and on Sunday, the walls.

I don't mind painting, but it's the other stuff I'm not keen on - emptying the room, preparing, filling, dust sheets, sanding, opening the tin (why are they so fiddly?), stirring (spilling), pouring (more spilling - and now there's paint on my shoe too), roller, ladders, balancing, wobbling and finally: I can start.

Then move ladders, stretch, can't quite reach, more wobbles (nearly fell that time), how do I reach that bit?, climbing, made it (now, how do I get down?), have I enough paint?

A bit later and next door's cat, who sneaked in earlier, comes to inspect and of course gets paint on her tail. When I've almost finished, the paint finally runs out. So off to B&Q for some more. At least white emulsion will get used again, but that means there will be a next time!


Painting the kitchen also means that the thing that keeps me going, tea or coffee, is in itself a challenge as the kettle's hiding in a corner somewhere, the teabags are buried somewhere else and who knows where the mugs are?

Throughout all this Carole had better plans and as I fought bravely against the DIY monster she was at the beauty salon followed by hairdressers and then the shops, only coming back once I'd finished! To be fair, she did her fair share on Sunday as we finished the walls, fixed up the new lights (that's another story!), and gradually put everything back in its place. Relief - well, until it's time to do the next room!