Exploring :: Youlgreave & Bradford Dale

Hi there everyone 😀

A week or so ago we were more than ready for another excursion. We spent ages trying to find a garden or a park that we thought would fit the bill but couldn't find anywhere that either of us really fancied. We wanted to be outside, somewhere pretty, where we could have a bit of a walk without encountering lots of people ... ooh and a spot for a picnic was an absolute necessity too.

We ended up agreeing on a trip to The Peak District, our closest national park, which was something a bit different for us for just a day trip ... though back in the day, before we met, was something that used to be a regular occurrence for us both.

Growing up in Doncaster Martin was more of a Dark Peak explorer ... whereas I fell in love with the more southerly White Peak when completing my Duke of Edinburgh expeditions many moons ago. For me this was followed by a fair few family caravan trips ... as it was just over an hour away from home and ideal for a weekend break with plenty of walking in the open countryside.

With our less than perfect physiques, creaking joints and aching bones there were a fair few requirements that needed to be met for a walk to fit the bill for us. Not least the availability of toilet facilities. Ideally we wanted something about 2 miles long and reasonably flat and we didn’t really want to drive for more than an hour and a half. We also needed somewhere with proper parking ... there would be no blocking of narrow country lanes for us.

We ended up managing to meet all of our requirements and found a nice walk in Youlgreave, taking in Bradford Dale. The weather forecast looked spot on ... not too hot but no rain and we both thought a walk by the river sounded perfect.

We parked up in the car park just past the allotments and before we hit the village, made use of the facilities, which had just been cleaned and headed out ...

We had opted to extend our original route and headed back along the road a short way to take the footpath opposite the allotments which would take us down to the river at Bradford Bridge ...

It was lovely to be back out on a ‘proper’ walk. The path was narrow but well trodden with plenty of undergrowth either side. I was certainly glad that we'd opted for long trousers ...

It was a bit rocky and uneven underfoot but we soon got our first glimpse of the river ...

Though it seemed a little odd the footpath took us up and away from the river for a little while ... we had to dodge out of the way of a huge dragonfly heading our way ...

... before we made our way through the kissing gate ...

Then it was up a few steps ...

...and through the distinctive Peak District squeeze stone ...

... which took us out onto the track which lead us down to the Bradford bridge ...

It really is a beautiful spot. So green, so tranquil and so quiet. All we could here was the gurgling of the river and the singing of the birds.

Whilst this was Martin's first visit to Bradford Dale, I'd been before and it was every bit as lovely as I'd remembered it. It was about 25 years ago and this picture is of my mum, sister and eldest nephew on what looks like a bright but somewhat cooler day ...

We stayed a while just taking in the tranquility and watching my very first dipper chilling in the sunshine ...

We couldn't resist a selfie to prove we'd been there ...

... and the regulation rucksack and walking pole shot to make it look like we are proper walkers ...

Ready to carry on we headed left on the other side of the river ...

There is a really well maintained and easy path along the river back to Youlgreave ...

This part of the River Bradford is really interesting with little stone bridges ...

... and a series of sluice gates ...

There were wild flowers everywhere and the river was teeming with wildlife ...

There was certainly plenty of interest along the way ...

It wasn't long before we crossed the river again ...

... and found the perfect spot for a bit of a pitstop ...

We sat for a while watching children ... of all ages ... paddling in the river ...

... and just generally taking in the view ...

We decided to carry on through the meadow alongside the river ... though it was considerably busier and most definitely a popular picnic and paddling spot ...

It would have been lovely to have had a paddle, I'd even packed a towel in the rucksack just in case, but it just felt that little bit busy for us and we just wandered through ... managing to keep our distance as we did so ...

We got to the point where we needed to decide whether we would carry on along the river to Alport or to head back up the road into Youlgreave village. We opted for the latter and steeled ourselves for the slog back up the hill ...

We took it slow and steady ... taking in the gardens, more allotments ...

... and pretty cottages along the way ...

It was one heck of a slog in the heat though ...

We were both more than glad to reach the church ...

... where we welcomed the shade ...

We found a bench where we had a breather ... hoping in vain that one of the pub outdoor tables would become free ...

A visit to the pub was not to be but we could not walk past the shop without masking up and calling in for ice creams ...

We ate them sat by the old fountain, opposite the Youth Hostel, where I stayed all those years ago ...

... before having one last push back to the car park where we'd started from ...

As time was getting on a bit we opted to have our picnic by the car, rather than try and find another spot and this was our view as we ate ...

We really did have the best of days. In the great scheme of things we didn't actually walk very far ... about two miles in total ... but it was just the perfect distance for us and it had been so nice to be back out in The Peaks. Maybe we will go a little bit further next time ... as I'm sure there will definitely be a next time ... so until then ...

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The Reading Corner :: July

Hi there everyone 😀

I know it's a little bit late but I did manage to do a bit of reading during July ...

After really enjoying Lee Child's The Midnight Line back in June I managed to snag a couple more of the Jack Reacher series from dad's bookshelf ... starting with ...

A Wanted Man
Lee Child

The story starts with Jack hitching a lift and as the story unfolded it was plain to see that he had got himself mixed up in another web of intrigue and adventure. It's hard to see how so many strange events can be encountered by just one chap when just moving from 'a to b'.

It was another gripping tale and I really enjoyed it and finished reading it in just a couple of days.

Having now read two of the series back to back I decided I wanted to go back to the start and read from the beginning. Following my last Reading Corner post a local friend let me know that they had all of his books and that I was welcome to borrow them.

I picked up six to get me started and went back to the beginning eager to find out a little bit of Jack's history and how he had ended up in his current position.

The Killing Floor

Lee Child

The tale began with Jack six months out of the military police and deciding to just spend some time travelling about ... no ties and no real possessions, just buying what he needed on his way.

Within what seemed like five minutes of arriving in town, and in the midst of his breakfast, Jack's first adventure begins with him getting arrested for something he clearly didn’t do.

One thing that I found strange about this first book was that it’s written in the first person, whereas the later ones I’ve read have been written in the third person ... it certainly took a bit of getting used to and had me wondering when and why this perspective changed.

It was also odd reading about Jack seeming to be falling into a romantic relationship as this wasn’t something I’d encountered in the other two I'd previously read ... obviously having read ahead I knew it couldn’t become something permanent but I was interested in finding out where it went. As the tale went on I could only imagine one ending ... would I be right?

A massive coincidence introduced Jack's brother and the way that ended up kind of explained how Jack really is a loner with no ties to anywhere.

It was another good read but I think I may need to leave it a bit before picking up another ... you can have too much of a good thing you know 😜

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Please note ...

The Blogger interface has changed and it's taking me a while to get to grips with using it ... especially when it comes to positioning photographs. Please bear with my whilst I get used to  how everything works 😀

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Random Ramblings :: Life at Number 27

Hi there everyone 😀

There really doesn’t seem to have been that much of note going on over here over the last couple of weeks. We do seem to have got into a bit of a routine and have got the chores back under control, whilst still managing to find time for making face coverings, gardening and the occasional trip out. I have to say it’s been nice having the house all reasonably tidy and the ironing under control for more than five minutes.

We’ve still not really made many changes following the relaxing of lockdown rules, but are continuing to watch what is happening, both locally and around the World, with interest. I am constantly surprised by photos I see on Facebook of people who seem to think that the need for social distancing is no more ... with large groups meeting for BBQs and grandparents snuggling up with their grandchildren. 

I have to keep reading the rules to see if I've missed something but no ... it's still a maximum of six people allowed to gather outdoors from any number of households and only two households indoors, up to a maximum of 30. From conversations that I have with other people it seems that number 30 is cause for lots of confusion but hey, what others choose to do is up to them and I don't want to turn into a Covid 19 rules bore, so you do your thing and I'll do mine 😀

I did like this though, which was shared on Facebook and makes perfect sense to me ...

In other news we did have another outing a week or so ago to meet up with an old friend. This time I think we got a little bit complacent and arranged to meet up at Coombe Abbey. As soon as we arrived we could see that it was going to be a lot busier than we really felt comfortable with.

We had a bit of a walk, trying to keep our distance, which was tricky at times ...

We had chosen our parking spot carefully though and once back at the car, had a really nice picnic sat in our camping chairs at the back of the car.

It was nice to get out and good to catch up but I think it just reinforced the importance of doing our research before heading out to new places and being very selective with where we go.

We did get a bit excited about the possibility of visiting the gardens at Alton Towers, after seeing them on Gardeners World. They were offering a limited number of garden visit only tickets for a reasonable price. Sadly we left it too late and ended up missing out by one day as the park had fully reopened by the time we tried to book.

There has also been a bit of crafting and I have managed to make something that wasn’t a face covering ... I had a request for a drawstring mobile phone case, which went well ... at the second attempt ...

I've also made another embroidered gift card for my Goddaughter who's baby girl arrived safely during July ...

... and I finally got to grout the mosaic vase that I did on an old roofing slate ...

I'm not entirely sure what the plans are for this as yet but I have pressed some flowers from the garden that I may somehow try and incorporate, but I'll keep you posted.

We have also done a bit of gentle pottering in the garden with plenty of fruit and vegetable harvesting going on and actually managed to spend a week where we were able to eat something from the garden every single day.

It's not all been about the fruit and veg though ... the agapanthus are looking stunning ... my splitting and re-potting of them certainly seems to have done the job ...

... as are the hanging baskets and pots ... the fuchsias that we saved from last year are really doing well ...

This is the cup and saucer vine that we have grown from seed. There is no sign of any flower buds yet, but I'm hoping that it is going to be a stunner towards the end of summer ...

We also managed a garden catch up with friends this week and there may just have been a little bit of baking going on ...

Whilst lockdown has been good for the garden that is most definitely not the case for the waistline!

We’ve continued with our fortnightly food shop ... wearing face coverings for the first time ... which was certainly an experience that I never imagined I would have whilst living in this country. Whilst I can totally see the point and will be complying for as long as is required I can’t say it’s something that I particularly enjoyed ... it was good to see the majority of other shoppers complying and I have to say it did make me feel just that little bit safer.

Oh ... I did have a hair appointment booked for this week ... it's doubly stressful as, not only is there Covid to tend with, I’ve had to find a new salon as the one I’d been going to for 20 odd years has closed down. Anyway I called in for a skin test last week and ended up having to cancel my appointment as it just didn't feel comfortable in the salon at all. I have managed to book in somewhere else for next week as I am more than ready to get rid of the grey and the split ends ... hopefully it will feel a lot more comfortable.

There has also been lots of progress with the sharing of Will's WW1 story on the Away From the Western Front website and we heard recently that it has now been published. It is fabulous to see his story out there somewhere other than on my blog ... it’s always felt a bit frivolous it sitting on a blog called Life of Pottering and Away From the Western Front is a far more fitting place for his story to be shared.

Normally at this time of year I would be working my way through sharing our March and June trips away with you but sadly both were cancelled and I seem to be struggling for inspiration of where we can visit next for the moment ... it all just feels quite ordinary ... not that there's really anything wrong with that 💜

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Random Ramblings :: Time to Harvest

Hi there everyone 😀

If you are a regular reader you will be more than aware that this year we have had another go at growing more edibles in the garden, especially in our new vegetable beds ...

Well ... we are now starting to see the fruits (and vegetables) of our labours and last week we actually managed to harvest or eat something that we'd grown ourselves every single day ...

Monday 27, July

We started off the week with plenty of crisp iceberg lettuce for our salad ...

It's the first time we've grown iceberg lettuce and whilst they don't quite 'heart up' like a supermarket one does they have been really reliable and the leaves taste just like the supermarket version.

Tuesday 28, July

We added a bowl full of spinach to our salmon curry ... a recipe taken from the Britain's Best Home Cook show, which has definitely become a favourite ...

Spinach has been another first for us this year and seriously, nothing could be easier to grow. The seeds are a nice size so can be planted spaced out so no need for thinning and they just grow really quickly. We just keep picking the leaves and within a few days another batch have grown to take their place. We are already on our second sowing ... the first was just in a bucket, but the second is now in the vegetable bed.

Wednesday, 29 July

Wednesday's pickings came from my herb box ... basil for our Abruzzi Lamb ...

I am so pleased with how the basil is doing. The plants you can see in this photo are grown from cuttings taken from a supermarket basil that we bought a good two or three months ago. I've taken more cuttings this week and the original plant has been split in two and both are still going strong. I am aiming to have a season's supply of basil from just the one plant and so far it's looking good.

Thursday, 30 July

Today we had more lettuce for our hot smoked salmon rolls which we had for lunch. I was also given some plums, harvested from my sister's Cornish garden, which we made up into jars of sugar free plum jam ...

Friday, 31 July 

Today it was courgettes, of which we have a number building up. We had ground beef strogonoff and just chopped one up and added it in to bulk it out a bit ...

If you fancy having a go at this recipe we also switched the butter for cooking spray and the full fat cream cheese and sour cream for a low fat cream cheese with garlic and herbs.

Saturday, 1 August

Today we used the first of our green beans ... on the side of a Slimming World friendly lasagne ...

This wasn't the only thing that got picked on Saturday ... I picked the last of the blueberries for dad to have with his yoghurt ... we just have no more room in the freezer ... another big bowl of spinach to wilt and freeze and another courgette ...

We still have beetroot, carrots, turnips, cauliflower, brocolli and leeks to come ... none of which are looking too promising at the moment, but time will tell 🤞🤞🤞

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