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Today we went to another valley. We exchanged Longdendale and its chain of reservoirs for the Derwent Valley and a different set of reservoirs.
We have walked here before in all seasons, including after some long dry spells. Low water levels often lead to exposing the village that was flooded to create the reservoir. Today all the reservoirs are officially 100% full and the only sign of the lost village is the resited village War Memorial which was moved uphill before the reservoirs were finished. It now stands alongside the entrance road to the Derwent Valley that leads to the main car park.

Autum is a good time to visit the Valley. The spillways for the Derwent and Howden dams are often in full force. The trees that line the reservoirs are in beautiful autumn colours. Both were true today. With water washing over both dams and few visitors it was a great day for a walk. We went anticlockwise.
The larches were golden yellow, the beeches russet and brown and the birches a brighter lighter yellow. A couple of slow horses entertained us as from time to time they stopped on the path ahead unwilling to move on in spite of the insistence of their riders. They were taking it at their own pace too.

The bridge at Slippery Stones marks the transition from one side of the valley to the other. The King’s Tree, planted in 1945, is the next landmark. Then on the way back down to the starting point, the site of Birchinlee Village, the former Tin Town of the reservoir building navvies.
Back at the car park there was time for a hot drink and to admire the very large number of vociferous resident mallards before heading home.

From Isaiah 40
Every valley will be lifted up

We pray for those who work in the rural economy, especially those who’s jobs depend on tourism as the autumn days shorten.

God grant a quiet night

JAL 05.11.2019 from Fairholmes around the Derwent Valley reservoirs.

To be honest the tide was in so we didn’t actually see the beach, but this was the second of our two days on the North Downs way. We started at Shepherdswell Station (there’s some confusion as to whether this village is two words or one).
The North Downs way is well signposted. In this section the route is often over arable fields, some of which had been recently ploughed, and occasionally through fields of livestock (once sheep, once young cattle). In wetter weather the ploughed fields would have been heavier going but the sunny dry weather of this week meant today’s walk was glorious.

My favourite parts were the narrow leafy lanes and off road paths, some in line with a Roman Road. Its still quite green here and they’re full of hedgerow treasures: hips and haws and old man’s beard. A section through the parkland of Waldershare House was populated with many large older trees, including sweet chesnuts.
The former Chantry Chapel that was All Saints Church Waldershare, is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

There was something of a detour to cross the A2. We had to walk up to a road bridge and back again as there was no footbridge across the dual carriageway in line with the Roman Road. It seems this was one of the things the Romans didn’t manage to do for us.
We were soon on our way down into Dover where we enjoyed an excellent plate of liver and bacon at the Whitecliff Café. This was followed by ice cream over looking the massive harbour between the Eastern and Western Docks.The white cliffs were behind us and the smooth blue sea ahead. It looked as if you could walk on it. From time to time a small poster popped up on the buildings along the seaboard. Reporting to be ‘conversations from Calais’ they contribute to keeping the migration dialogue alive.

From the remembered gospel
Jesus said to the waves: ‘Peace be still’.

We pray for those crossing the seas of the world.

JAL 31.10.2019 Shepherdswell to Dover on the North Downs Way.

On Tuesday we decided to walk the coast path from Broadstairs to Margate. It was a damp start and this was added to by the high tide and excited waves at the seafront in Broadstairs. So we walked on the Viking Coast route that was a little higher up at the top of the cliffs.
The shower clouds blew away and we had a good view of the off shore wind farms. Along the coast, chalk cliffs were pock marked with caves. An arch punctuated one headland and on another a stack had become isolated.

The waves continued to wash over the lower promenade as we walked on from Kingsgate, now more than half way there. Just before the Turner Contemporary Gallery, the RNLI station tells a moving story of service in very challenging conditions along this coast over more than one hundred and fifty years.
Some excellent fish and chips fortified us after our breezy walk.

Those that go to sea in ships, and make their living in the huge waters….

We pray for all at sea.

JAL 30.10.2019
Walk from Broadstairs to Margate via the Coast Path on 29.10.2019

Based in Canterbury for a few days, we decided to walk some miles on the North Downs Way, also known as the Pilgrims’ Way. As we started at Canterbury YHA and were walking sort of eastwards towards the coast.It was a beautiful bright morning as we left Canterbury behind. The walk went across open fields and downland, along strips of woodland and through small Kentish villages.The first village was Patrixbourne where the church dates from 1170 and has two Norman carved doorways.At Aylesham Cemetery we stopped for 11s. Therewas a sizeable group of Commonwealth War Graves in the cemetery, witness to the war in the air above Southern England in WW2.The second church was in the village of Womenswold where the Parish Church is dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch (the one in Turkey) who was a dragon slayer. The village is on the pilgrim route which extends from Canterbury to Rome and eventually Jerusalem.This section of the walk ended at Shepherdswell Station where we got the train back to Canterbury. We hope to do the section to Dover later in the week.From Psalm 5Lead me Lord, lead me into righteousness:Make your way straight ahead of me.JAL 28.10.2019 Canterbury YHA to Shepherds Well Station

On or around 10th August 1666, Elizabeth Hancock was burying the last of her family at the Riley Graves in Eyam. Her husband and six children had all died of the plague in a week. Hers is just one story from the plague village of Eyam in Derbyshire: a place where almost every stone tells a story.
The story of the plague village began sometime earlier, of course. The panels on each cottage or Inn record those who died. The lists include whole families.
My walk began in the free car park on the edge of the village. I set off up hill. Note to reader: its quite hilly round Eyam. With the Autumn colours in the landscape it was quite beautiful. The Riley Graves are set in an enclosure in a field. At the time, in order to avoid spreading the disease, public funerals were not held and Elizabeth Hancock buried her whole family herself.

I came back into the village by the Chapel. A notice there tells that Revd Thomas Stanley was a dissenter and in 1662, just a few years earlier, had been removed from his living. He stayed in Eyam and helped his successor, Revd Mompasson, during the plague years. He was one of my forebears in faith.
The village has some excellent cafés, most of which were full of cyclists on a sunny Sunday. The museum is also very interesting, telling the story of the plague, if indeed that’s what it was. Unidentified haemorrhagic illness is the best than can be said from current evidence. DNA testing of those folks descended from plague survivors is currently being used to help develop a vaccine for HIV. I left the village as it started to rain, determined to return for more walks in the future.

From Psalm 139: God, you have looked for me and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; you perceive my thoughts from far away. You understand my travelling and my resting; you are familiar with all my ways.

After so long, the memory of this faithful group of ordinary people lives on. The village is ordinary enough too, but a walk in those lanes is to step back in time and wonder at life and death then, and how it was to survive.

God grant a quiet night and a peaceful end.

JAL 20.10.2019, Eyam, Derbyshire.

After a few walks going West on the TPT, yesterday we had a walk that took us a bit to the east(ish).
Having previously walked east along the Longdendale valley and beyond the Woodhead Tunnels to Dunford Bridge and Penistone, I was keen to join up our TPT walking with North Sheffield. We therefore started our walk at Penistone.
The first section of the route goes parallel with the current Sheffield to Huddersfield line. The old locomotive turntable is now rather overgrown and a little further along a WW2 tank ramp can be seen. This ramp was used to load tanks onto trains.

At Oxspring the current line and the disused line of the walk diverge. After a while we reached the Thurgoland tunnel about 300 yards long. We continued onto Wortley and a spot of ice cream for late 11s at a local farm. Just across a field and round the corner on the main road it was Pie Day at the Wortley Arms and it seemed churlish not to try any.
After an excellent lunch we walked across Wortley Hall Park and into West Wood Country Park. We were making good progress and met our friends Gwen and Peter at the Bridge Inn near Chapel Town in time for tea and cake at their house.

It was a lovely walk and felt just like a day on LEJOG although it was of course Autumnal.
I’ll leave the closing prayer to Lisa who made this banner for me from words used on my LEJOG blog.

JAL 16.10.2019
Penistone to Chapeltown on the TPT

Our second day of walking on St Cuthbert’s Way began at Mount Hooley where we met Camilla our walk companion. It was an overcast day but not actually raining. However the overnight rain had made the ground wetter and filled the streams. This made for one or two moments of mild adventure peril: a muddy bit of uphill path and some boggy bits around the field edges. The most perilous moment was crossing a small streamlet which had steep muddy banks using two sticks.
We followed a farmer up a track as he herded his prize bull ahead of him. We kept well back. The path wound its way through small patches of woodland once again, well provided with various fungi. We had our lunch stop in one of these woods amongst golden leaves and fallen acorns.
In the second part of the walk we had Bob’s company which helped when we came to the road closed sign near Cessford Castle, as he’d already walked down the road earlier. The castle shell is still quite impressive and had defended the Borders for many years. The road was being dug up for broadband.

After that it was road all the way to Morebattle, which is a quiet small village. We ended the day at Cuthbert’s Café housed in an old church at the end of the village. There we said goodbye to Camilla as we return home tomorrow and she goes onto Lindisfarne at the weekend.

From Psalm 100

Go through God’s gates with thanksgiving, and into God’s courts with praise: be thankful.

A small church that has been used as a bus garage is now a café. Hospitality is offered here again; the roof is fixed and the kettle is on. Inside there’s still much to do but worship is offered here again and the door is open.

God of small overlooked places,
We give thanks for open doors:
Hear our prayers as we share tea and cake.

God grant a quiet night

JAL 25.09.2019

This week there’s was chance to catch up with a friend on St Cuthbert’s Way. Camilla is on her sabbatical and wanted someone to walk with for the two days she’d been unable to find someone else so we said yes and here we are.
It meant an early start to get to the route at Maxton by 11am but we made it. We did walk the St Cuthbert’s Way in 2014 and sat on the same bench at Maxton church.

We were soon pounding out the miles along Dere Street, another local example of what the Romans did for us. There were a lot of quite large fungi, it being that time of year, as well as acorns and such like.
We stopped for cake at the Woodside garden centre, and the cake was every bit as good as the one we tasted 5 years ago. Unfortunately at this point it started raining. Then it was onto Harestanes visitors centre where you can get your route card stamped if you are mindful of these things. We then had to take a small detour at Monteviot House due to a wasps nest (and angry wasps) on the path.
The suspension bridge over the River Teviot was a slightly wobbly experience. 

The rain was not too heavy and we finished the day at Mount Hooley, not too wet. We drove onto our accommodation at Kirk Yetholm Hostel, where we have stayed before. It was lovely to walk together and share walking stories.

From Isaiah 55

The trees of the fields will clap their hands and we’ll all go out with joy.

It was lovely to be on the St Cuthbert’s Way today winding through the green countryside. It was a different season but it felt more like being on the End to End again. I am thankful for friends to share it with.

God grant us a quiet night

JAL 24.09.2019

Our post LEJOG walk westwards from Longdendale to meet up with our North -South route today reached Dunham Massey in Cheshire.
This was the fourth part of our walk.
Part one was from Broadbottom to to Haughton Green via Werneth Low.
Part two was Haughton Green to East Didsbury
Part three was from East Didsbury to Dane Road via Jackson’s Boat
Today we did Dane Road to Dunham Massey via the Bridgewater Canal.
Each walk has included public transport to the start of the walk and back from walks end.

We still have to go onto Lower Walton to complete the link.
Today was a very warm September day and the Bridgewater Way was busy with walkers, as was Dunham Massey when we got there. A picnic in the park was followed by Snugburys. It was almost like being back on LEJOG again.
The park is home to a herd of Fallow Deer. Their dappled coats make great camouflage in the trees as the sunlight filters through the branches. Some are dark coloured and some light. They were enjoying the bumper crop of acorns, as were the grey squirrels.

From Psalm 42

Like a deer pants for a stream of water so my soul pants for you, my God.

On a hot day we seek shade and cool water. Yesterday, young people the world over sought to energise the global population to respond to the climate crisis. May we all listen and respond to their leadership.

God grant a quiet night

JAL 21.09.2019

As the butterfly summer ends
With thistledown blowing across the valley,
I see your faded wings and broken bodies
Littering the path and wonder
How far you came on your journey:
You gave it everything you had
To finally find yourselves beaten
With only the promise of a hungry caterpillar
To take us through the winter months.

A wide range of butterflies are still active this month: painted ladies,  speckled wood, red admiral and small tortoiseshell have all been spotted locally. 

JAL Longdendale