Hay Meadows - Not Many Left To Enjoy

Another trip on the 272 to Hathersage and we dragged our aged bones up to the Hay Meadows on Ridgeway Side. What so interesting about these meadows? First the mixture of plant life is vast compared to "modern" pastures. Second the reason they still exist in this particular place, is probably mainly the result of about 30 years of dedicated stewardship. One man, who is a estate warden (not to be confused with a "Ranger") working for the Peak National Park Authority, typifies such dedication. Sad to say that there are so few such individuals who have that wide level of hands-on experience in todays world where "Authorities" are awash with middle-class theorists and Knowledge-College environmentalist and managers who are dedicated to their careers, company policies, goverment targets and politically correct performance aims. Oops, that's not very PC old chap!

Sadder is the state of the atmosphere in the Hope Valley. The day was hot and an inversion kept the crap down so that a blue haze dominated the view. Why so much crap? Mainly from car exhaust. Rave about industry and power stations all you like; it's cars that are the problem. The sheer numbers of them - they've got to go ... What's wrong with public transport and walking. Er, you have to mix with the common folk and can't show off how posh you are ... waiting for a bus is sooo common ... you don't see pop-stars, TV personalities and top sportsmen standing at the bus stop; it just isn't what the A-List do ...


The most spectacular of the flowers? The native ochids.

Well, Well and There Was More Cake ...

A beautifully sunny day and the best of English countryside - what more could a soul want?

We spent the day in Youlgrave looking at the well dressings and ... drinking Rosie and eating cake. The sun shone, the gardens were filled with flowers and rampant greenery and the birds sang. We sat in a picture-postcard setting; relaxed and well suppied with munchies. The location? Greystone Cottage. The reason they were providing such delights? Raising aid to both the Youlgrave-Bangbutt Village and The Tearfund Water Project.

What better way is there of helping the poor, than slothfully sitting in the English sunshine and gorging on Victoria sponge, chocolate cake and scones with strawberries and cream, all washed down with a pot or two of English tea? None I can think of ...

Well Filled with Cake

Well dressing was underway at Tideswell so we had to sample the tea, cakes and mouth watering icecream on sale. The well dressing themselves are really well done so that's good enough reason to visit the village.












On to Litton village. Complete with brass band the whole of the village was out to celebrate the blessing of water. We sampled the tea and cakes and then went to the pub for a pint of the most English of summer drinks - a shandy. A lovely sunny day, good company and a bust of local culture ... excellent!

Not So Exciting as Tehran

Off we go on the Iron Horse to sleepy Sleaford for a couple of days. This is a typical market own in Lincolnshire so, as you may expect, it's full of historic buildings. The Roman's had a garrison here a few generations ago which sort of give you some idea of the depth of that history.

St Deny's is the parish curch and it's a gem!

The current curate (Jeremy Cullimore) is a delight to talk to and has a personal history which shows that some clerics are a bit more than God Bothering wind bags. Anyone who has been a soldier in the Boznian War somehow has a bit more than theoretical idea about the importance spirituality in a person's life. Back to the kirk ...

It dates from round 1080 so you can guess it's well worth a visit even by the most hardened heathen.

The old Bass Maltings is a huge series of buildings; now disused. This really impressive industrial structure is the subject of heated debate - someone wants to "develope" the site. I gather Cousin Charles of the Ears has waded into the fight which could bring some interest to the debate.

No Consolation to Fred

The village of Skelton-cum-Newby (no I'm not making it up) is where the second Martian church was built. The church of Christ the Consoler was build as an extravagant memorial to Frederick Vyner who had been murdered in Greece. A really beautiful church if a bit OTT. Sadly not used for it's intended purpose these days.

We found it full of primary school kids doing projects on 'Patterns and Sets' - the principal said the church was a great teaching resource. Let's hope Fred thinks the same!


The only reason these sort of places are kept in good condition is the work of the Churches Conservation Trust. Some may think it's all a waste of money - it's called culture.

Fountains Abbey - Extraordinary

Fountains Abbey is just down the road from Ripon so off we jogged in the fine rain ... by car you'll appreciate at our time of life ...

An amazing place and the size of the site has to be walked to appreciate how big the abbey was before Uncle Henry decided to have a spak-attack. The majesty of the place must have been mind blowing and it's all gone because an over sexed fat man couldn't get a divorce ...

Next to the abbey is St Mary's church - no longer used as such. I thought: Italian, pseuo-Ravenna, pre-reformation, Roman Catholic and definitely over done by someone with too much lucre to spare - but that means it's stunning inside. The Martians - joke - who built it even have a pseuo-Elizabethan tomb. You would wouldn't you when you're one of the Landed Hipocracy - sorry that should be Aristocracy (a simple mistake anyone could make ...) Oh yes, this is one of a pair of such Martian churches, but more of that another time.

The Studley Royal Water Gardens are worth a look even in the rain. The cafe even does a nice soup d'jour, toasted teacake and Yorkshire tea - what more could you want? On the humourous side: John Aislabie inherited the Studley Royal estate in 1693. He was chucked out of parliament in 1720 for the same sort of things our current MPs are up to - nothing really changes ...

Ripping Time in Ripon

After a 90 min drive up the M something we got to Ripon just as the rain started.

First stop was the cathedral which is really beautifully restored and used frequently for God bothering.

The cathedral is a 5 min walk from the village square where we dropped into a the Wakeman's House Cafe which is your typical English tea and scones cafe. Great apple pie! The owner was really chatty so we spent too long talking about Oztrailier and pointing out that she'd probably be better off staying in The Old Country 'cos there are just as many thugs, drunks, unemployed, lousy schools etc etc as anywhere else in the "West". Funny how people fall for the beach n sun sales pitch ... that's folks Freddy boy ...

On to the camp site: Woodhouse Farm. Very nice and quiet the only sounds being birds and sheep. The Birds commence their concert at 4 in the morning!! Well that's what you go camping for - plus the enevitable rain ...

What poor souls we are - camping. Sooo down maket! It was really a great hardship to suffer noodle and black bean sauce stir fry followed by fresh coffee and cake while watching the sunset and listening to the birds. Brilliant!

Life and Art

Saw the end of year show of the Hallam Uni Contemporary Fine Art BAs. I'm sure they tried but honestly ... Some of the pieces were shown in basement studios which even the administration staff found it hard to tell us where they were and how to get to them - lifts were out so that made things even more confusing.

Talking to some of the students was a disheartening. Not one had anything good to say about the course or the lecturers. The students even went to the extreme of mounting a protest complete with placards so they must have been more than a bit annoyed with the way they were treated. One student said that during the three years there had been no attempt at teaching techniques - discovery is all! She said that she had organized life drawing classes because it was too hard for the faculty staff! Makes my blood boil to think the snotty lectures can't get over their importance to actually teach and mentor their students - no wonder students find solace in booze and drugs - wouldn't you if there isn't anyone to inspire and learn from? I suppose it's just a question of paying bums on seats and academic ego satisfaction. Moving along ...

The life class at the Millenium on Friday was good. Nothing drawn of value but the chance to practice "looking" dicipline was enough.

Chesterfield - 12 mins by Train

Catching the London train we sped to Chesterfield for a day of exploration.



The parish church of Our Lady and All Saints is world famours because of the twisted spire. The present building is the third on the site and there is evidence that a Saxon church existed before these.



The church is beautiful inside; well kept and very much alive with activity. The glass is relatively "new" but very impressive. There is only one small remnant of the pre-Reformation glass and the plaster on the walls was later removed due to poor condition - any paintings and decoration were lost in the process.



The spire's wooden structure is twisted due to drying out - it looks weired but we are told its quite safe.



Filled with amazement we went on to the markets. More amazement! They were big and you could find just about anything. The markets here have been on the site since medieval times. More to the point the stalls had so much by way of usable "found objects" I have no excuse for not making more of my strange sculptures.


The remaining Tudor buildings look good and the Royal Oak pub in the shambles has been serving booze since the 12th century. The beer? Fantastic! Flavour, head and temperature - none of your freezing cold, tasteless "lager" you'd get in places like Oztrailier. As a bonus, Roger the publican, was a great host. We'll definitely be visiting again.

Back to the station ... 12 mins and we're back in Sheffied.

Moor Sunshine and Tired Feet

Saturday brought another of those English spring-summer days. Clear milky blue sky, cooling wind and the feel of 20 degrees of perfection. The 272 took us to Fox House Inn where we set out for a few hours of walking.

Passing by Longshaw Lodge we went over the moor to White Edge Lodge and, after ignoring some very large horned beasts which sat chewing what we assumed was their last victim, we strode down to the Grouse Inn for a quick half of amber.

Suitably refreshed, we went through the woods to Grindleford Station and on to Grindleford to pick up the Derwent Valley Heritage Way footpath which took us to Hathersage.

Time for a Rosey before catching the 272 back to Sheffield.

Fantastic weather. Beautiful views. Sun bronzed and knackered. What else would a sane person need? A hot soak and large glass of red!