Day 315: On the Edge

Tags

Chesterfield, Curbar Edge, Derbyshire, Froggatt Edge, Grindleford, Newbold, The Peak District, Yorkshire

Day 315: On the Edge

Getting Ready For the Next Trek

If I’m going to take Jolly on a trek then I need the practice as much as she does. Once underway we’ll be fine. I can never remember worrying very much about little things like what to eat or where to spend the night when I’ve been off on a journey in the past. At least not after the first couple of days. But normally I’m on my own. With a dog I want to try out some routes and check out campsites and other possible places to pitch a tent.

As well as getting her used to walking on open moorland  for many hours a day often through livestock, we are planning out the early stages of a possible route. I have a fancy for combining the five great attractions of Yorkshire. (Pennines, Dales, Vales, Moors and Coast.) If the Tour de France can explore the county then A Lancastrian walker and a Yorkshire dog can do the same. We plan on starting in the Peaks but hope to get onto the Pennine Way after a few days. This should take us up the “backbone of England” and along the wild exposed moors. Once we’ve passed the famous sites of mass trespass, the fast flowing streams that powered the industrial revolution, the moorland world of the Brontes and Malham Cove we intend to take a few days crossing the Yorkshire Dales. I quite fancy an amble down Wensleydale but I could be equally happy exploring Wharfedale or Swaledale. Twenty miles of flat farmland with monasteries follows. This is Herriot Country and with Sutton Bank ahead we should find ourselves on The North York Moors. Once we’ve crossed these we come to my favourite stretch of coast. The whole walk should end in Scarborough and if we manage that in less than three weeks I should be very much surprised. If we manage it at all I shall be more than proud.

She’s had a rotten start to life and even though she is happy and full of fun most of the time, it doesn’t take much to remind her of when things looked bleak and cruel. Like most of us she needs love and attention. She needs calm, patience and she needs to be kept busy and stimulated. She is much the cleverer of the pair of us. We both need a challenge. We plan to celebrate being retired (she is a big reason why I chose to take the pension) by setting off in September. The moors and campsites will be quieter and we can gloat like anything every time we pass a school. Not that there are many schools on the route we’re planning.

These are very early plans. They’ll change as I see difficulties or opportunities (often the same thing) and by September we’ll be planning something altogether different. The planning is half the fun.

Today we walked along some more Derbyshire gritstone edges. The sun shone at its best in the morning and we caught the best part of the day. I’ve got the route planned now from Newbold (in Chesterfield) to Grindleford. In the next week or so we’ll find the best way to follow the River Derwent up to Ladybower Reservoir. After that we will be in the heart of the dark part of the dark peak. I can’t wait.

Day 312: Meet Me on the Ledge

Tags

Birchen Edge, Chatsworth, Derbyshire Edges, dog, Froggatt Edge, Peak District

Day 312: Meet Me on the Ledge

Walking on the Derbyshire Edges When Everyone Else is On Their Way to Work

A new ruck sack actually soothes the pain in my lower back. I should be up a ladder painting windows but I strained my back two days ago and have ordered myself away from anything too strenuous. I take Jolly into The Peak District for a long walk and her first encounters with sheep and cows. She copes admirably; though we take a little detour to give the cows a wide berth. My experience is that they are suspicious animals and nervous of the very concept of dog. They can either get worked up or end up following you across the field. One man followed by one dog followed by a line of thirty cows. These were Highland cattle and have a fierce appearance (if you ignore the Beatle mop top) and horns the size of klaxons. In fact they are quite a mild breed but it did us no harm to skirt the field. They continued to chew the cud.

I was really worried about Jolly and sheep. She’s fine until something spooks her or excites her. Here two thousand years of breeding kicked in. She locked onto them and was transfixed. She also became even more responsive to commands. (She is a well trained dog with occasional red mists…more and more occasional). She watched them, they watched us and everything was very peaceful. Eventually they wandered off and the magic of the moment faded. To the best of my knowledge these are the first sheep she has seen since she left the farm at six weeks old.

We dropped T off at work and were parked up near the Robin Hood Inn by 7.30. Three hours of pure delight. Breakfast was a ham sandwich and an apple near the Wellington Memorial. We walked up, along, under and beside Gardom’s Edge, Birchen Edge and took in views of Baslow, Chatsworth and most of the eastern side of The White Peak. As well as the sheep and the cows we met one farmer and a small party of silver hikers enjoying the view, each others company and the well earned leisure time. There are three or four more edges to explore in this part of the National Park. Now that Jolly has passed stage one with flying colours we will be back up on the moors next week to have a look at them. It’s perfect therapy for an anti social rescue dog that was re-housed (several times) for biting and a retiring fellow with a shocking head for heights. The long term aim is to take on a long distance  (2 weeks or more) walk carrying everything with us. We’re not ready for it yet but are a little bit more ready than we were.