Who can resist the many splendours of clouds?
A very short walk (because of the cursed knee) that focused mainly on the sky and clouds. Some of it taken in the grounds of Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire but I may have strayed into Derbyshire too.
Taken with my phone camera, so if course it doesn’t do the scene any justice.
This is another section of the Cleveland Way, along the Yorkshire Coast which I’ve been enjoying walking for several years. Here’s a link to some other walks in this area.
First of all, I made the mistake of not checking the tides! I’ve always ended up in Runswick Bay early in the afternoon and the tide is out, revealing a beautiful beach.
It’s wasn’t like that on this particular morning. The tide was very high, covering the beach and lapping at the rocks placed to prevent erosion. I did meet people who had scrambled over the rocks but I didn’t think it safe.
I managed to find a path running parallel to the sea with lots of twists and turns and dead-end, finally arriving at the south end of the beach. It was muddy and slippy and I managed to scrape my scalp on a low-hanging branch. Nothing serious…
It was a bit grim and grey but I loved the wildness of it all:
Beach stones, for those of you that like such things:
Then there’s a fairly hefty climb up from the beach to get on to the Cleveland Way (heading south). There’s a stream running alongside it which makes walking a little slippery:
I stopped a few times to admire the shale deposits…
It’s worth it for the view from the top:
Despite it being rather grey and grim, there was still something bright and beautiful to be found:
Then it’s southwards on the clifftops:
A bit of blue sky starts to brighten everything up:
Cows, cows and yet more cows…
Mad cow?
Some beautiful views looking back:
And forwards:
Harvest time…
Looking back once more:
Getting closer to Sandsend. This is the railway tunnel which ran north via the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway.
Then it’s south, follwoing the cliffs and the old rail route down to Sandsend itself. At this point, it’s busy with people – some more friendly than others!
Not much left of the Sandsend railway viaduct! There’s no access to the former railway station which seems to be a private residence.
Here it is in it’s full glory. Demolished in 1960.
I caught the X4 bus back to Runswick Bay and then a walk down the hill to the car. I always love that view!
This was a different walk from Creswell Crags to Worksop and worth trying when the other route (you can find it here) is busy with lots of people.
There was an autumnal feeling about, with drooping leaves just starting to turn but the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds and bright sunshine, which made the trip so pleasurable. I’m a sucker for clouds…
It’s also an enjoyable round-a-bout sort of walk crossing fields, streams, sometimes busy roads, muddy messes and up and over styles. Stout waterproof boots are a must!
Paths weren’t very well signposted but you can usually see the trails people have made for years across what must be private property.
It was at this point the clouds began to darken…
And the rain began to fall, quite heavily but luckily for a short while. Fortunately I’d got a fleece and hat but a proper overcoat would have been welcome!
Rain or not, the skyline looked wonderful and I took far too many pictures of the horizon. Here’s a few:
Then out of the fields and on to what might have been an entrance to one of the estate houses, at a guess? It looked too ornamental to be just a farm track?
Then a crossroads of sorts, where I got slightly lost. Thank goodness for satnav…
Yet more blue skies and clouds:
And finally a familiar rough trail from my previous walk, heading towards Worksop:
Worksop Manor in the distance:
More clouds:
Then it’s over the stile and then over the A57 which was suprisingly quiet for early rush hour and I didn’t have to take my life in my hands to get cross.
There are no pictures of Worksop itself. There are some interesting buildings but they should be captured by a photographer who has more interest in the urban environment than I!
I was driving south just now and spotted the most spectacular synset and cloud formation, so I had to stop at a lay-by and take some pictures and a video. It looks just like the breath from a dragon…
It was taken using a smartphone, which (as ever) doesn’t do the scene justice. It was still worth doing.
I’m not a great fan of Christmas and the forced gaiety makes me moody, but this cheered me up!
Video at the end.
You may think that I’ve added the same picture over and over , but I thought the changing light from minute to minute was wonderful:
The video!
And a couple of pictures nearer home…
This was a walk along Stanage Edge in Derbyshire, one of those gritstone ridges common to the area. It’s a beautiful and wild place!
I parked my car at Upper Burbage Bridge Car Park and then walked across the moors. Be warned it can be a very popular walk and tricky to find a car space, so start early in the day.
Not many pictures and it was done by my phone camera and the quality isn’t so good but it captures something about the place. The views are fabulous!
Spot the hang-glider…
This was a walk in north Yorkshire from Robin Hood’s Bay to Whitby via the Cleveland Way on an unusually sunny and warm day in November 2021. It’s got to be one of my favourite walks with blue sky full of many different sorts of clouds and dark seas below. At times, it was very blustery but remained warm.
It’s hard to get very good pictures with the sun so low in the sky and I struggled to take them without my shadow appearing! My camera, an antique Canon 30D takes good pictures but it does benefit from stronger sunlight. I’m still pleased with many of the pictures but it doesn’t quite capture the glory of the day.
It was at this point I did think about turning back. The streams (know locally as becks) means many descents and ascents on the Cleveland Way. There was a bit of a bit of muttering about ‘the joy of becks’ at this stage. The steps can be very slippery, especially the sections that are smoothed stone covered in mud.
I thought I’d walked further but I’d only done less than half way. Fortunately I’m stubborn, so I carried on and hoped for more level walking. Silly me!
God bless Colin Thompson and his bench!
I’m not sure it’s wise to obstruct the first view of Whitby Abbey from the south with a caravan park:
After that, it’s the descent via the 199 Steps to Whitby.
To be honest, I didn’t find Whitby very inspiring, hence no pictures. If you like places full of older, aimless and bored tourists looking in shop windows, it will suit you well. The lack of friendliness and engagement is a complete contrast to that of walkers I met on the way.
The bus back to Robin Hood’s Bay was welcome!
It’s the most wonderful walk along the coast with beautiful views and big skies but it is a challenge if you aren’t very fit (like me). However, I’d do it again like a shot!
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
A lovely walk along Bamford Edge, an elevated gritstone ridge looking down on Bamford village and then overlooking Ladybower Reservoir in Derbyshire.
The wind was howling, the sky was full of changeable clouds, rain, sun and blue skies, depending on the moment.
And lastly, who can resist a picture (or two) of the intrepid explorer posing?
And a video…
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
A decent walk from Bamford in Derbyshire up to Ladybower Reservoir which supplies drinking water to the East Midlands.
The plan was originally to walk for Bamford up to Bamford Edge, another one of those granite cliffs which dominate the skyline. Unfortunately the road up there (‘The Clough’) is closed off, so we had to settle for walking along the Thornhill Trail heading north.
It’s still a lovely walk…
Were pretty lucky with the weather but the day was quite changeable. Five minutes later, it looked like this…
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
Greenfinches, bullfinches and blue tits in the back garden, on the feeder in January 2021. They are territorial little sods!
The pictures aren’t that great at times because the camera was quite new to me and I had to shoot through a double glazed window. It’s impossible to be outside without alerting the birds – even the click of the camera makes them fly away.
I’ve since tried with a tripod and a remote control (me inside and out if direct view) but it takes them about a week to get used to the new ‘thing’ in their environment and the camera clicks still send them scattering.
You’ll also see how fast they can be when they fly…
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
This is yet another old railway line which would have run from the now defunct Derby Friargate Station to Etwall and then joining the mainline south of Eggington Junction.
It’s not a terribly exciting walk but when we’d been in Lockdown I grabbed the chance for a short walk, despite the cold and the snow flurries! Luckily the sun came out later on the way back.
These pictures and videos are @Aidan Parr 2021, so please ask permission if you want to use them. I’ll probably say ‘yes’!
