Winter walking

Lovely and sunny but very cold. . Pictures of the sea wall and of catkins earlier in February.

Baslow

We recently spent a week near Chesterfield again, this time walking round Baslow. The bridge over the river has pedestrian refuges either side, the point of one can be seen in the picture.
On one face, instead of numbers, the church clock has Victoria 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee.

Chesterfield Canal

A recent holiday took us to a village near Chesterfield. The canal was neaby and we walked the towpath for a short distance.

Dunster

A visit to Dunster was very interesting. The yarn market on the high street, dovecote (behind the church) as well as the tithe barn and the church memorial garden are all worth the visit. Parking is good and payment options still include cash - a plus for many.

A passageway in South Molton

Walking around South Molton we found this passageway - similar to ones we have seen in Spain. The market Hall is on the left and the passage comes out onto the high street. The Pannier Market (Thursdays) is well worth a visit.

N Devon

In early November we spent a few days in North Devon near South Molton. Here are a few photos from our visit. Old houses in the village, with the 'break away' fire break between the old mill and its house; the bread ovens - internally built at the side of the fireplace seen as a bulge at the outside; a view from the hilltop and the river.

Kite

The red kite around Oxford are a sight worth seeing. Re-introduced with chicks from Spain some years ago they have flourished. This year a reciprocal arrangement was made as the Spanish numbers were critically down.
The kite here are flying over the houses in one of the villages and seen against the building rain clouds.

Summer walks

The current hot weather is limiting our walking to early morning locally. There have been few butterflies this year - until yesterday on the hilltop we found many on the brambles. While walking up the hill we saw a few Holly Blue butterflies and at the top were Hedge Brown.

Spring flowers

As we walked recently there were primroses and violets, just about at the end of their season. The bluebells were starting to flower and the cherry blossom was coming out too. Final photo is of a red kite flying.

A walk in Devon

A winter walk in Devon took us to Stover Park. We went past the lake and along the frosty footpath.

Near here there is a memorial to the 250 men of the Canadian Forestry Corps who worked at Stover during WW1. They were foresters and sawyers and felled the trees on the estate to supply wood to the troops for railway sleepers, huts, trenches etc as well as fuel.
All the figures are carved from wood and are life size.

December

Just to wish everyone a Happy Christmas

South Molton, Devon

Our latest walking holiday took us to South Molton. Very hilly but enjoyable.

The Trans-Pennine Trail

A recent holiday took us to Penistone and some time to walk on the Trans-Pennine Trail. This mostly follows the line of the old railway so is fairly level at this point. The trail itself runs from Hornsea to Southport on a mix of disused railways, canal paths and other walking routes. It is part of the cycling network and some parts are bridleways too. At Penistone the remains of the old turntable housing can be seen just off the path.

Thatching

During recent walks we watched the thatchers at work. The special thatching straw is extra long and the end finisher was being woven into a peak. The following week we walked back to see the nearly completed ridge and then later again to see the finishd work.

Easter 2021

The Good Friday walk through town had to be cancelled again due to Covid restrictions. However this year the cross was placed at the top of the hill and a prayer vigil organised during the day, with strict control of numbers and distancing. We joined one small group (3 of us) for an hour at mid-day.

View fom the hilltop

Walking on Dartmoor

With no likelihood of ever returning to Spain and the Camino we have been walking on Dartmoor, Devon, England. Some photos from our walk in late October - pre the second lockdown.

San Martiño de Mondoñedo

The Basilica de San Martiño de Mondoñedo is on the Ruta do Mar which we walked in 2015. In 2018 we visited by car from Mondoñedo itself.

Photos from Spain

Back in 2018 we promised to upload photos of our time in Spain and we never got round to it. Now would seem a good time to revive memories of the trip so (hopefully) we will be posting here over the next few weeks with photos from that trip.

Celorio; Asturias, N Spain

Local walks

For the past 3 months we have been walking locally for daily exercise. Photos are few but back in April these trees were lovely.

No walking planned now for this year

Sadly all our plans for 2020, like those of many others, are cancelled as we stay at home due to the Covid-19 lockdown. We wait to see what will happen later in the year but will nor be looking to going to Spain for the foreseeable future, which is very sad.

Spain 2020

We are planning to visit Spain again this year, walking around various places in Asturias and the Picos de Europa. Training for walking is affected by the ongoing bad weather but there is plenty of time before we go. We would be walking out from chosen destinations rather than walking a pilgrimage route this time so are not needing to be so well prepared as in previous years. As ever - watch this space.......

Goodrich Castle

One place we visited, on a trip out from Ledbury, was Goodrich Castle (English Heritage site). It is very impressive and well worth the walk from the parking area.

Views from outside the walls and of the keep and a range of buildings inside.

Ledbury

Two years ago we stayed near Ledbury and visited there again this autumn. There are many good walks in the area and interesting places to visit. British Camp is an iron age fort which we have visited before. A good walk, but curtailed by the rain. However we did reach the top but this year did not continue to walk along the ridge, returning instead by the path round the lower side of the main fort.