jumpy
02-04-08, 11:59 AM
Hey all, this saturday just gone, myself and swmbo went to the Peak District in Derbyshire for the day.
Some of you may know about the so-called 'harsh weather' :roll: the UK has been experiencing (not as harsh as I remember as a child) with people getting stuck on motorways for many hours and the like.
Obviously this is the ideal time for a drive :p
For some reason a little bit of snow on the roads is termed as harsh these days, so, fully expecting to have to go home due to traffic jams, we set off up the M1 at about 10am.
About an hour and a half later we arrived in Ashbourne and continued on to Wetton, down into the Manifold Valley and Wetton Mill (and then on foot to Thor's Cave, our destination). All of the roads around here are single tracks with dry tone walls on either side and for the most part covered with snow.
Now, I've not been back to the peak district for about 16 years and this time I was driving. I've done a lot of walking in this area when I was younger and I have to say some of it has changed quite a bit; there's more car parks and some of the tracks are more accessible than I remember. Add to that it is winter and hardly anyone was about, by comparison to the summer months.
http://www.snapthepeaks.co.uk/Walks/Thors/thors.htm Good link to places in the area we were.
Unfortunately, as we drove from the village of Wetton, down into the valley to Wetton Mill, we encountered a road accident. As I mentioned earlier, the roads are narrow, but this one was steep too, probably greater than 10% decline, covered with ice and snow and with a sheer drop on the left hand side though scrubby thorn bushes down into the river below.
As I come creeping down the hill in first gear, with both feet off the pedals, I see the back end of a police 4x4 and beyond it a car on its side, halfway up the right hand embankment. I'm guessing this has happened in the last 20 minutes or so.
Anyways, mr policeman was quite friendly and asked if, as we were going down to the mill, I wanted him to move his vehicle so I could squeeze past on the left hand side?
Now I don't have any pictures of this, but I can assure you two wheels would have been off the road and into the edge of the slope to our left.
Discretion being the better part of valour, I declined and instead opted to reverse back up the road to a gateway to turn round, whilst mr day-glow ensured no other traffic would come trundling unexpectedly around the bend and run into us.
I can't help but smile ruefully at the thought of the absolute terror of whoever the crashed car belonged to as they came around a gradually tightening turn on an icy/snowy narrow lane right next to a steep drop. Then to suddenly loose control on the ice and swerve wildly across the road before finally ending up on their side, still on the road and not down in the river below. :lol::oops:
So, our original destination being off limits for now, we diverted to lower down the the Manifold Valley.
It was at this point I remembered that my phone also has a camera and since it had no signal it had better come in useful for something.
View driving down into the lower end of the Manifold Valley, heading towards Grindon:
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5951/image094an2.th.jpg (http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image094an2.jpg)
Walking through the valley by the river:
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1682/image096lg1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image096lg1.jpg)
Facing the sun:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/125/image095lv5.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image095lv5.jpg)
From there, we moved on to Hartington, where I eventually bought some marmalade jam and she acquired a hippy woolly bobble hat thing. :roll:
The road there took us over the top of the hills:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/8036/image097zs9.th.jpg (http://img144.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image097zs9.jpg)
It's a little bleak:
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7519/image098em6.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image098em6.jpg)
The chariot, back home and following a zip over at the jetwash place today:
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/7291/copyofimage099ft8.th.jpg (http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=copyofimage099ft8.jpg)
I'd forgotten quite how much I like being in the Peak District, either on foot or in the motor. So I thought I'd share some bits of the day with you.
Any time you guys from across the pond come to visit England, don't bother with London or any of that stuff. Drive up to the Midlands and visit the Derbyshire Peak District, or the Lake District or somewhere north of the border (ie Scotland hehe :) ) It's a much nicer place to be.
Though you won't be dazzled my its monolithic spectacle (by comparison the Derbyshire dales are a mere crease in the landscape against the grand canyon) but the landscape has a definite charm many find irresistible. If you do go there, try and plan it slightly out of season; everywhere is still open for tea and scones, but the heaving masses of high summer are nowhere in sight.
All in all we had a grand day out, bar the fact I didn't take a flask of tea to enjoy at the side of the road.
Some of you may know about the so-called 'harsh weather' :roll: the UK has been experiencing (not as harsh as I remember as a child) with people getting stuck on motorways for many hours and the like.
Obviously this is the ideal time for a drive :p
For some reason a little bit of snow on the roads is termed as harsh these days, so, fully expecting to have to go home due to traffic jams, we set off up the M1 at about 10am.
About an hour and a half later we arrived in Ashbourne and continued on to Wetton, down into the Manifold Valley and Wetton Mill (and then on foot to Thor's Cave, our destination). All of the roads around here are single tracks with dry tone walls on either side and for the most part covered with snow.
Now, I've not been back to the peak district for about 16 years and this time I was driving. I've done a lot of walking in this area when I was younger and I have to say some of it has changed quite a bit; there's more car parks and some of the tracks are more accessible than I remember. Add to that it is winter and hardly anyone was about, by comparison to the summer months.
http://www.snapthepeaks.co.uk/Walks/Thors/thors.htm Good link to places in the area we were.
Unfortunately, as we drove from the village of Wetton, down into the valley to Wetton Mill, we encountered a road accident. As I mentioned earlier, the roads are narrow, but this one was steep too, probably greater than 10% decline, covered with ice and snow and with a sheer drop on the left hand side though scrubby thorn bushes down into the river below.
As I come creeping down the hill in first gear, with both feet off the pedals, I see the back end of a police 4x4 and beyond it a car on its side, halfway up the right hand embankment. I'm guessing this has happened in the last 20 minutes or so.
Anyways, mr policeman was quite friendly and asked if, as we were going down to the mill, I wanted him to move his vehicle so I could squeeze past on the left hand side?
Now I don't have any pictures of this, but I can assure you two wheels would have been off the road and into the edge of the slope to our left.
Discretion being the better part of valour, I declined and instead opted to reverse back up the road to a gateway to turn round, whilst mr day-glow ensured no other traffic would come trundling unexpectedly around the bend and run into us.
I can't help but smile ruefully at the thought of the absolute terror of whoever the crashed car belonged to as they came around a gradually tightening turn on an icy/snowy narrow lane right next to a steep drop. Then to suddenly loose control on the ice and swerve wildly across the road before finally ending up on their side, still on the road and not down in the river below. :lol::oops:
So, our original destination being off limits for now, we diverted to lower down the the Manifold Valley.
It was at this point I remembered that my phone also has a camera and since it had no signal it had better come in useful for something.
View driving down into the lower end of the Manifold Valley, heading towards Grindon:
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/5951/image094an2.th.jpg (http://img181.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image094an2.jpg)
Walking through the valley by the river:
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1682/image096lg1.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image096lg1.jpg)
Facing the sun:
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/125/image095lv5.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image095lv5.jpg)
From there, we moved on to Hartington, where I eventually bought some marmalade jam and she acquired a hippy woolly bobble hat thing. :roll:
The road there took us over the top of the hills:
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/8036/image097zs9.th.jpg (http://img144.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image097zs9.jpg)
It's a little bleak:
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7519/image098em6.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image098em6.jpg)
The chariot, back home and following a zip over at the jetwash place today:
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/7291/copyofimage099ft8.th.jpg (http://img244.imageshack.us/my.php?image=copyofimage099ft8.jpg)
I'd forgotten quite how much I like being in the Peak District, either on foot or in the motor. So I thought I'd share some bits of the day with you.
Any time you guys from across the pond come to visit England, don't bother with London or any of that stuff. Drive up to the Midlands and visit the Derbyshire Peak District, or the Lake District or somewhere north of the border (ie Scotland hehe :) ) It's a much nicer place to be.
Though you won't be dazzled my its monolithic spectacle (by comparison the Derbyshire dales are a mere crease in the landscape against the grand canyon) but the landscape has a definite charm many find irresistible. If you do go there, try and plan it slightly out of season; everywhere is still open for tea and scones, but the heaving masses of high summer are nowhere in sight.
All in all we had a grand day out, bar the fact I didn't take a flask of tea to enjoy at the side of the road.