Month: October 2023

A Little Bit of Staithes, North Yorkshire Coast – November 2022

This was a feeble attempt to carry on walking part of the Cleveland Way, which runs down the North Yorkshire Coast from Filey in the south to Saltburn-by-the Sea and then inland to the North York Moors National Park.

Have a look here for more information.

I’d already walked Saltburn-by-the Sea to Skinningrove and then Skinningrove to Staithes, so I wanted to walk the next stage, from Staithes to Sandsend, just north of Whitby. I’d already walked north from Robin Hoods Bay to Whitby previously.

Unfortunately I’d caught Covid about four weeks before but with everything booked and I still went to ‘try’. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, so I ended up pootling around Staithes, tea and cake and then up the hill to think about walking some of the Cleveland Way south.

You’ll see from the last video at the end of this post how windy it was and how unwise it would have been to try, so close to the cliff edge.

So, here’s a little bit of Staithes instead…

And up and up that hill…

Once up on the cliff, I ended up hanging on to fence posts as the gusts were so intense and then chickened out. It’s a fabulous view and a proper walk for another day.

So it was back to the car and across Staithes by back alleys…

And the only clue that trains once used to run to Staithes: the remains of a railway bridge…

Here’s the videos including the wild winds!

Parsley Hey to Biggin on the High Peak Trail, Derbyshire – September 2022

This was the route back from a walk between Biggin and Parsley Hey on a previous post. The High Peak Trail is another one of those Victorian railway lined closed in the 1960s. I’ve walked the southern start of it at High Peak Junction near Cromford Mill.

I must finish the rest of it some time!

Heading south from Parsley Hey but taking the western High Peak Trail. It’s not as popular in the area as the cuttings are deep and the view isn’t so good. It;s still a tribute to those Victorian engineers who didn’t let anything get in their way…

I walked to Friden, then a short stretch of road walking (which I didn’t like) and then cross country, over the Tissington Trail and then a short field walk to Biggin.

It’s here on the bridge you come across one of the companies that built the High Peak Railway line, Josiah Jessop Esq. The work reuqired to survey and build the Cromford and High Peak Railway finished poor Jose off and he died of ‘over-exertion’.

Continuing south with bridges over deep cuttings until you come out into open fields and those lovely ‘big skies’:

And onward to the former station at Friden.:

Then it was road walking on the A5012 to the main A515 between Ashbourne and Buxton. The roads can be quiet but the cars are very fast. Plus there’s an occasional lorry from the Brickworks at Friden to add to the fun.

You can walk on grass verges and on pathways on the roads but I didn’t enjoy this stretch at all.

Walk on the A515 until you see Stanedge Grange and cross over the road (with care!). Climb over the stone stile to the left, then across country… you’re corralled with fences and barbed wire, so just follow them.

It’s much nicer out into open fields, heading east to the Tissington Trail. You’ll see it across the landscape like a huge stone wall:

walk up the path onto the Tissington Trail and then immediately down on the path on the other side:

It’s a short walk across the fields to Biggin with one last stile before you get to the main road…

It’s not a spectacular walk and the views aren’t as rewarding as other walks I’ve done. I can’t help admiring the huge amount of work done, mostly by hand, to build the Cromford and High Peak Railway.

Do bear in mind that there are other section of the High Peak Trail and other trails to explore (without road walking) that you’ll enjoy!

As usual, I forgot to add the videos!

A Brief Walk Around Creswell Crags – Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire Border

This was a very short walk at around three miles. I haven’t had time to do much this year, what with one thing and another.

Creswell Crags is a site of special scientific interest. People (in one shape or another) have been visiting for 50,000 years, starting with Neanderthals in the last Ice Age. You can find a lot more about the area here, particularly about the cave art created by its residents.

You can get to Creswell Crags by train to Creswell (Robin Hood Line) and a twenty minute walk or by car: it’s very well sign-posted from Junction 30 of the M1.

It’s also a lovely place to go and wander around and I was lucky that it was an unseasonably warm and sunny day. I haven’t done the place any justice and I’ll have to go back some time to take some proper photos.

Forgot to add the sole video!

A Fresh Start

Hopefully after a few days of work, all the content from the ‘free’ WordPress sites I previously used will be consolidated here. If you find any dodgy links, please let me know!

Hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll be adding the other walks I’ve done since September 2022. I only moved house a month ago, so promises might be promises… 😁

Enjoy the posts and the pictures regardless.

Cheers!