Youlgreave YHA weekend

Last Friday, after the epic 24 hour lecture,  we set off for Youlegreave and our annual Youth Hostel weekend with our friends in Sheffield City Morris. Good meal when we got there - beef stew and mashed potato followed by apple crumble and custard. Just the sort of comfort food you want after staying up all night. Usual session/beer/wine evening followed

 and then off to bed in our bunks with 8 of us sharing. I slept like a log, unsurprisingly and had to be woken up for breakfast and hadnt noticed 7 people getting up and dressed round me.

Beautiful sunny day, and saw the Youth Hostel for the first time - a converted shop:

We gathered by the water butt oppsoite to set off on our 3 different walks.

and we chose the one that went down Lathkilldale and had a pub in the middle. Set off to the River Bradford

 with its swimming area and salmon weirs, and it was a lovely walk along it, past some angry geese who tried to see us off

 and into Lathkilldale - one of my favourite dales - it really is spectacular, especially in the sun.

Loads of spring flowers out, crocuses, snowdrops etc. Then we climbed the valley into Over Haddon, past a house who I think were try to tell us they had a dog in every language:

This was my favourite:

and on to the Lathkill Hotel, where we enjoyed a nice pint, overlooking the valley we'd just walked down

Back down the valley, and straight up the other side. Quite a climb, but worth it when we got into the fields and were able to sit down and eat our packed lunch.

Over some undulating fields, and we were back in Youlegreave in time for a walk round the village.
Normally we're miles form anywhere in our hostels, but those time we were next door to a pub, so time for a pre dinner session where we were joined by a pipe player from a Kletzmer weeekend which was happening in the village and two banjo players who happened to be passing.

 

After dinner, another session, and we had the obligatory  "I wish I'd looked after me t*ts" which Lizzie loves her mother performing so much

Quite a late night, and I think brandy was consumed. Either that or it evaporated as the bottle was empty in the morning.

Another walk inthe morning, along Lathkilldale again, with some amazing colours in the river

Back for lunch in the pub, and off home. Another great weekend.

Waterfall, cream tea and birds of prey

Friday morning dawned even more bright and sunny, so another coastal walk on our last day was definitely in order. looking for one with interesting things on the route, we drove to Hartland Quay, at the end of a road to nowhere, and boasting a museum of shipwrecks which we didn't have the to visit. We set off along the coast, this time with a lot more climbing, but again, amazing views of the coast and the rock formations.









It Was as we're we're setting off that I realised I'd lost my walking pole, or rather I'd left it in the pub we'd had lunch in on Wednesday. Think I'm onto my fifth now, I've left them in loads of pubs. Luckily, Stuarts camera monopod made a good substitute, as there was a lot of rough walking, and some steep slopes on the edge where extra balance was needed!





Not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but we have seen loads of buzzards, beautiful birds, and we've seen a couple close up. One on a fence by the side of the road and one in a tree. I've flown them to my wrist when I've tried falconry a couple of times, and they truly are magnificent birds, and they were everywhere this week.

Eventually we reached our coastal destination, Spekes Mill Mouth, and a rather good waterfall.





A good place for a coffee stop, then we cut inland for a while.




Until we reached Duncton Mill, where there is a lovely garden in the grounds of a watermill which the owners have lovingly restored. The tea shop there did delicious lunches and we were joined by the family Labrador who was very quick at spotting dropped crumbs, even from my crab sandwich.We had a walk round the garden:











And then found ourselves back at the the shop for a cream tea. Well, we had been in Devon a week and not had one!





We decided not to complete a circular route which would have involved some road walking, but make the most of the weather and the coastal,views and walk back the way we'd come. When we got almost back to the coast we watched a kestrel in the sky, very different action to the buzzards. A few minutes later we went round a corner, and there it was, sat in a pole in front of us. It didn't really want its picture taken, keeping its head firmly turned away, and flying off when we got too close, but it was great to see it so close up.




A couple of miles walk back along the coast, in fantastic weather and we were back at the car. A short drive back, and a cocktail before dinner. We also saw our favourite peacock in his tree.





We ate in the restaurant again, and the following morning we were up bright and early for the journey back. Well, maybe not very bright, and not really early!

The satnav was estimating just over 5 hours back, and we decided to do as much as we could before stopping, and did about 3 hours. I don't like service stations, so a quick look at my National Trust App found Hanbury Hall, just 4 miles off the M42. We stopped there, did a bit of shopping, had a walk round the gardens, and lunch.




Two hours later we were back in Sheffield, with just enough time to unpack the car, have a rest, and get to the Saffron Club for a curry. An amazing week, with weather that we just weren't expecting in March.


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Bude, coast and canal

Wednesday we went on a walk I'd planned. I'd wanted to make the most of walking on the coastal path whilst we were in Devon, but it's often difficult to find a circular walk, but found one starting from Bude. Bude is a lovely little seaside and fishing town with a canal that enters the sea though a sea lock. After a coffee at a canal-side coffee shop, ( we like a coffee before setting off on a walk), we walked along the canal to the sea. I don't think I've seen a sea lock before.






Then a climb up onto the cliff top where we had some lovely views of Bude and the coast. It was about a 3 mile walk, staying on the coastal path all of the time, but not too close to the edge, I'm not too keen on sheer drops too close to me! Gradually the sun came out, coats came off and we had a glorious walk.










You never quite know what you're going to find on a walk, and in the middle of nowhere on the coastal path we came across a wheelbarrow of second hand books, with an honesty box for donations.





Eventually our designation, Widemouth Bay came into view, and we made for a pub, obviously.




We were pleasantly surprised to find fish finger sandwiches on the menu, which went down very well with a pint for lunch.





After lunch we cut inland till we reached the canal, then it was a very pleasant stroll back along the canal towpath, past a number of locks, and in lovely sunshine, spotting birds and wild spring flowers.





It was about another 3 miles back, so a good 6 mile walk in all, and we were ready for a quick stop at a pub before getting back.
We decided to be self sufficient for dinner, and had a relaxing evening in eating Spag Bol and watching The Apprentice.

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Holiday in Devon

Just got back from a week in Devon - almost no mobile phone signal at all, and very dodgy wireless, so couldn't post to the blog daily as I normally do - it's had to wait till I got back, so here goes with first installment. Saturday we set off from Celtic Manor, drove over Severn Bridge which I've never seen before - beautiful design. Amused that there's only a toll on one side of it, so you pay to get into Wales, but can get out for free!  Stopped at Barnstable to get some shopping, and then to Bideford for lunch. Found a pub by the banks of the river in Bideford which is a lovely little town.  Got to Woodford Bridge around 3, and checked into our small cottage, right at the top of the complex with great views over the fields. After 4 nights of eating out, I didn't fancy another restaurant meal so we unpacked, cooked a nice meal, and stayed in for the evening. It was bliss!

Sunday woke up to a lovely sunny day, and drove to Hartland Point, the furthest North West point in North Devon. There's a coastguard station and lighthouse, and we walked along the coast with some stunning views, including Lundy Island.

 Completed a nice circular walk by cutting inland down a lane. On the drive back from the point we spotted a National Trust sign and stopped to investigate. It was a working farm, East Titchberry Farm, a lovely thatched building with some ducks on the roof courtesy of the thatcher.

Then we drove into the village of Hartland, as it was getting dangerously close to 2 o'clock and we were both hungry. We'd also forgotten it was Mother's Day, so the local pub was busy, but luckily they squeezed us in for a lightish lunch (seabass for Stu and risotto for me). 

Then we went to Hartland Abbey which I'd spotted a sign to. We had a lovely walk round the gardens - the clematis and magnolia were out together with a whole host of spring bulbs and hellebores.  There was a lovely restored Victorian garden which you reached down a wooded lane, and a bog garden. Bright sunshine as well. We almost went on a newly opened circular walk to the beach, but it was getting late by then, so we drove back.



One of the peacocks decided to pay us a visit and Stu fed him grapes. He liked them so much he jumped up onto the wall next to me which was a bit of a shock!  They're quite big birds close up.

Then, about half an hour later we heard tapping on the window, and there he was again, demanding more grapes!

We had dinner in the restaurant, which was packed for Mother's Day, but the food was good. Great day - just pottering around doing things on the spur of the moment.

Gradbach Weekend

Just got back from a great weekend with Sheffield City Morris and assorted hangers on (including us), at Gradbach Youth Hostel.  Usual Friday night of turning up, eyeing up the bunk-beds, finding the showers, sharing nibbles and pre-dinner drinks and a meal provided by the hostel. Slight deviation from the norm was that one phase of the power supply to the hostel had gone, so some lights, sockets, heaters and showers worked, Some very cold, light bedrooms, some very dark warm ones. We had a cold, light one!  More importantly, parts of the kitchen weren’t working so the staff had to improvise, which they did very well!

After dinner, the usual gathering in the common room for singing, playing, monologues and assorted entertainment.  Highlights included a dancing, drunk panda, and the first outing of a certain person’s banjo…..


Next morning we were up early for a cooked breakfast, and the arrival of Electricity North West, who were given a round of applause! We had two walks to choose from. We went on the smaller walk to Three Shires Head where the Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire meet at a bridge and a waterfall. The story goes that criminals could escape the law by crossing the bridge to a different county. After a coffee break we climbed up (very, very up) onto Wolf Edge where we had a great view of The Roaches. Then we dropped down slightly into Flash, the highest village in the UK for a packed lunch and a quick pint and a sit down at the pub.

Instead of taking a direct route back to the hostel (that would have been too easy), we climbed some more, saw some interesting sheep (these are called Zwartbles…),

 and crossed many bogs. We only had one casualty who went up to her knees in boggy water but luckily didn’t lose her boots.  Got back after a 9 mile walk for tea and cake. This was closely followed by nibbles and gin and tonic!
Another hostel cooked meal, and more merry making later. We had songs, tunes, monologues, comedy turns, classical violin pieces, poems  - we’re a very versatile and talented crowd! Even the panda put in another appearance.

On Sunday some of us went on a shorter walk – about 4 miles – to take in Lud's Church.  More climbing (of course), and after a couple of miles we reached a deep, dark chasm which you have to climb down into– quite spooky but fascinating. Lud’s Church is definitely a place to visit, and the pictures don’t really do it justice.

Then a walk across a ridge, and a steep drop down, and we were back at the hostel, for another packed lunch which despite it being February we ate in the garden.

A great weekend with some great walking and good company. There’s some more pictures here if anyone’s interested.

Temples, terraces, walled gardens and wine

Off to Whitby Folk Week, this time via Helmsley for a couple of days with our friends Andrea and Donald. Staying at The Feathers in the market square. Thursday we drove up, had lunch in The Feathers, and a look round the lovely shops. Then we walked to the Walled Garden which I've seen at various times of year, but the herbaceous border looked particularly good at the moment.






There was also a beautiful wild flower meadow.



We had diner in The Feathers, and then a quick pub crawl round the Market Square in the rain. Well, a quick dash to the only other pub which is all of 2 mins away.

Friday was a lovely day, and we had a quick look round the Market, bought provisions for a picnic, and set off to walk to Riveaulx Abbey. The walk was lovely, and took about an hour and a half, with a coffee stop along the way. I took the opportunity to rejoin English Heritage while we were there, and we had a good look round the ruins.


Then, on the way out we spotted a fridge full of cold beers. Knowing that we had some climbing to do, we bought a couple as we thought they might come in handy. We were right! We climbed up to the terraces and temples, and went up the "summer path" rather than the road. It was a 1 in 4 slope, on a narrow, muddy, slippery path. To say I was out of breath at the top was an understatement, and we could all barely speak as we went into the temples. But, it was worth it.



The views were fantastic, and the cold beer to wash the picnic down with was very welcome.



We walked from one end of the terrace to the other and back, which was covered with wild flowers and butterflies.






Then it was back to Helmsley, an 8 mile walk in total, and you can see it on runkeeper here.

We'd been looking for a cottage for our girls weekend away in November, thought we'd found a good one on the Internet, so went to have a look. Nice place, perhaps I'll write about it in a few months if we can work out how to get to Helmsley by public transport. Suspect getting back on the Sunday might be a problem.

Then a was and brush up, posh clothes on, and off to The Feversham Arms for a nice meal. Cocktails, some amazing food, and some nice wine made for a very pleasant evening. Nice to be recognised by all of the staff, but Stuart was a bit disconcerted to hear the maintre 'd tell the waiter that "Mr Sexton likes a lot of wine".



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