The Long Walk to Leicester #8 - Loughborough to Leicester 05/09/19

15.5 miles, via Loughborough Moors, Pillings Lock, Barrow upon Soar, Meadow Farm,   Mountsorrel Lock,  Sileby Mill, Cossington Mill, Rothley, Wanlip, Birstall, Red Hill, 
  Ellis Meadows, Abbey Meadows, Abbey Park, St Margaret's, and the City Centre.

Long Distance Trek means Selfies!
#7 at Loughborough station.

The Last Leg of the Long Walk comes around, the latest of my cross country schemes to come to fruition, feeling fortunate that the opening of the late season of 2019's walking has sent some rather good walking days our way so far, and there's not massive pressure to get out early again as the morning temperatures are markedly lower than the preceding couple of days, and anyway, the return rail ticket I bought to Loughborough if off-peak and thus not valid until after 9pm, so the Parental Taxi doesn't need to be ready for the crack of dawn to get me underway. So back to the point where my Up Country and Down Country trekking points finally touched, getting away from the railway station in the shadow of the Brush works at 9.40am, striking across the car parks to Nottingham Road, by the mill that is getting the upscale apartment treatment to descend beck to the towpath of the Loughborough Cut of the Grand Union Canal's Soar Navigation, coming down on the opposite side of it to the residential complex built around a former hosiery factory and passing under the Great Central Railway's canal bridge, their next fixer up job before they can start building their embankments to get to the bridge of the Midland Mainline. We strike southeast from here along the towpath, hemmed in by thick hedge and the town having grown to fill all the plots up to the west side of the canal, surrounding the once rural Little Moorland bridge, and looking like its probably ready to consume the factory site to the south of it, the one with large ghostly lettering along the length of its wall that resolutely refuse to resolve into any readable words, and beyond the town looks to have breached a path into the low fields of Loughborough Moors to the east as a new close or two have arrived on the far side of Moor Lane bridge. That's as far as this town's suburban splurge has grown, with the town ending by the boatyard of the Peter Le Marchand Trust, who run boating trips for the elderly and disabled and whose boats were spotted more than once along the path of the previous day on the trail, beyond which we enter the low fields once again, with only cows in the fields and the morning air still feeling chilly despite the sunshine, with all feeling peaceful beyond Miller's bridge, where there are only random boaters and solo dog walkers out on the canal with me.

The Long Walk to Leicester #7 - Shardlow to Loughborough 03/09/19

13.1 miles, via Derwent Mouth, Sawley Bridge Marina, Ratcliffe on Soar, Kegworth Marina, 

 Sutton Marina, Diamond Wood, Zouch, Normanton on Soar, and Bishop's Meadows.

Long Distance Trek
means Selfies!
#7 at Shardlow

We get off to another early start as we head back to the bottom right corner of Derbyshire, with the Parental Taxi adding another 50+ miles to the 130+ miles that it put down on my behalf yesterday, which well illustrates My Mum's willingness to go above and beyond when it comes to accommodating my crazy walking schemes when she could have so easily cast me out to travel by train and the Skylink bus service, so the note of gratitude needs to be posted here, rather than buried in my later summation. We land at the Navigation Inn at Shardlow at 9.10am, so Mum can make a beeline homeward to do here thing with her Church Lunch Club, and so I can get on with the last mile or so of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, which we meet when we return to the bridge of the Trent & Mersey canal and descend to its towpath, heading eastwards into the still intact landscape of wharves and warehouses at the heart of this late 18th century boom town, where goods travelling to and from the northwest would by stored and sorted before going on their new markets on the burgeoning canal network. It's a quiet idyll for leisure boating these days, making it hard to believe just how much industry would have gone on here in the 50+ years before the railways became the new transportation method of choice, it's now a place for waterfront living, and going back in time by visiting the watermen's inns such as the Malt Shovel or the New Inn, which we leave in our wake as we pass under Wilne Lane bridge, and we carry on pass the last few canalside cottages and the flood lock that protects the village from inundation, to meet Shardlow's extensive marinas. We can race the active boaters on the canal as we head east, along the long cut that passes Porter's Bridge, the very first on the canal as it makes its long way to Liverpool behind us, and the Derwent Mouth lock leading us out to the very end of the channel where it spills out into the River Trent, where the Derwent Mouth confluence can be observed from the remaining abutment of the original and now demolished Long Horse Bridge.

The Long Walk to Leicester #6 - Belper to Shardlow 01/09/19

17.4 miles, via The Park, Cowhill, Milford (sorta), Makeney, Duffield Bank & Bridge, 

 Peckwash Mill, Rigga Quarry, Little Eaton, Darley Abbey (Mills & Park), Derby Waterfront, 

  The Holmes, Pride Park, Alvaston Park, Spondon weirs, Borrowash Bridge, and Ambaston.

Long Distance Trek means Selfies!
#6 at Belper Station.

With the High Season of 2019 done, mostly successfully despite the wildly inconsistent weather, it's now time to get away from it all, at just about the best possible time, to head Down Country and get back onto the last legs of The Long Walk to Leicester, this year's crazy scheme that has actually slipped pretty far from my attention over the last three months, and now requires all my focus as I travel away to stay with Mum and utilise what is usually one of the best months of the late Summer for my jollies. Travelling on a Sunday had originally had me planning to ride out to Belper to resume the trail, and the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, by train, but a distinct lack of EMR services north from Leicester scuppered that plan and so Mum offered the Parental Taxi for my usage, despite her having to do an 80 mile round trip to get us underway, and that offer is taken up gratefully, taking a ride that visually stitches us up to the last leg as we get sight of East Mill before I get dropped off at the railway station to pick up where we left off in May, at a bright but chilly 8.35am, a good 90 minutes ahead of the rail alternative. We set off from the station up Albert Street to pick up the DVHW again on Green Lane, heading down it to meet King Street by the Memorial Gardens and the Ritz Cinema, with the town main shopping drag running down towards the A6, and we head up this road to the old Market Place at the top of the town, which feels eerily devoid of life at this early hour, before we head on into The Park, Belper's wild space where the morning exercisers can be found. Down we go through the rough field to cross Coppice Beck, and then rise across dewy grass and among trees to find the hilariously slanted football pitch, from whence we find the wooded path that takes us uphill, where a perch above the Derwent Valley is found, concealing the town rather successfully, before we slip behind and then among the houses of Cowhill, at its southern periphery, where we need to slip down among the older looking terraces of Holbrook Road before we can find the high path that will take us on down the valley, and away from the wrinkles of Derbyshire hills that have spread all the way down from the Peak District.

The Long Walk to Leicester #5 - Rowsley to Belper 23/05/19

17.3 miles, via Northwood, Churchtown, Darley Bridge, Oker, Matlock, High Tor, 

 Matlock Bath, Cromford, the Cromford Canal, High Peak Junction, Robin Hood, 

  Whatstandwell, Ambergate, and Scotches (plus the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail Leg #3).

Long Distance Trek

means Selfies!

#5 at Rowsley

Take two days out from the trail to allow the legs a rest and to blog to my hearts content in the down time, and also to do holiday stuff, because I'm on holiday, which has Tuesday spent riding the train at Peak Rail, because it's not a trip away without visiting a preserved line (which would make Dad happy, for sure) and then Wednesday is spent getting in the industrial heritage in at Cromford Mills, where the concept of factory manufacture took off in the late 18th century. With holiday whims satisfied, we can thus get back in the walking saddle on Thursday, knowing that another 17+ mile day lies ahead, with weather that promises a lot of sunshine and heat, in complete contrast to the already distant feeling trip over the Dark Peak only five days back, taking off in the Parental Taxi with a bag full of food and liquids that I know I'm going to need for a jump off at the Grouse & Claret in Rowsley at 9.05am. We're right by the side of the A6, which as we know is one of Leicester's main roads and could rightly be followed for the remainder of my Long Walk, but we know there wouldn't be as much fun in that, and the Derwent Valley Heritage Way will offer a much more peaceful take as it ventures down Old Station Close, to the sight of the second and longest enduring of Rowsley's stations, lost under industrial units since its 1968 closure, and we could walk the cycle path on the railway formation south from here, but the way wants us to venture into the beech woodlands by the side of the river, and so that's the way we head. A nice and shaded start to the day, feeling that it's much longer walk down to the newer Peak Rail station than it felt when we drove down there, and only slight landscape hints are felt during our passage, and oddly, we miss seeing the confluence of the River Wye as it flows in from the west, and it's odd that such a major branch of the Derwent could arrive invisibly, especially as I knew that I was looking for it.

The Long Walk to Leicester #4 - Bamford to Rowsley 20/05/19

14.4 miles, via Shatton bridge, Goose Nest wood, Leadmill bridge, Coppice wood,

 Grindleford bridge, Horse Hay coppice, Froggatt wood, Frogatt, Calver, Bubnell, Baslow,

  Chatsworth Park, and Calton Lees (plus the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail Leg #2).

Long Distance Trek means Selfies!

#4 at Bamford

Sunday makes for a nicely chilled out day away as we spend it settling into our rather curious cottage in Winster, one which has two double bedrooms, a dining room that seats six, but a living room with only space for two armchairs, so it'll be fine for Mum and myself to fill for the week, and the village itself has a tonne of charm, with many stone cottages crammed together on its hillside, largely borne of the lead mining industry and sat around the National Trust's very first property, the 15th century Market Hall. Thus relaxed, we are ready to go again on Monday as the weather showed a marked spike in improvement, tootling our way back up to the Hope and Derwent Valleys to resume the trail, not getting out quite as early as I'd would have liked, due to Mum accidentally breaking our cottage's shower, and me managing somehow to successfully fix it, landing us at Bamford station for a 9.30am start, hopeful that I haven't seen too much of today's passage already on our way back. Anyway, I can guarantee that this will be a much shorter and gentler trip than Saturday's escapade, as we make our way back over retraced steps over Mytham Bridge and past the Hope Valley Garden centre to resume the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, at Shatton bridge, leading into the dead-end village of Shatton and taking us over the lowest crossing of the River Noe, the main watercourse of the Hope Valley itself, which flows to our left as we pass around an equestrian paddock as we make for the Derwent's bank. Where the Noe converges with the Derwent is where the latter becomes considerable, as both drain an extensive area of moorland, and thus we have a large channel to follow as we join the undulating an occasionally high bank of the river, skirting along the edge of the broad pasture below the rises of Offerton Moor to the south, following it around Kentney barn before we get a reveal of the local Dark Peak company behind us, with Lose Hill and Win Hill flanking Crookstone Moor, the eastern edge of the Kinder Scout plateau. Bamford Edge also muscles into the view as we press on, but there's not so much to see going forwards as the bank gets tight and undulating until we get a reveal of the hillsides above Hathersage, a proud Derbyshire village that looks like it will remain completely unseen from this trail, hidden away on the north-eastern bank, with only signage indicating its presence somewhere beyond the coverage of trees and the string of stepping stones.

The Long Walk to Leicester #3 - Penistone to Bamford 18/05/19

17.5 miles, via Cubley, Sheephouse Height, Midhopestones, Ewden, Smallfield, 

 Bradfield Dale, Bole Edge Plantation, Strines, Moscar, Ladybower Reservoir, 

  and the Thornhill Trail (plus the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail Leg #1).

Long Distance Trek

means Selfies!

#3 at Penistone.

It's a weird feeling to organise a holiday for the family without having Dad around to enjoy it too, but after his passing getting away for a week was one of the first thoughts for the future that Mum and I shared, and with a legacy having come my way, affording a few weeks away over the coming years shouldn't dent my finances at all, and as Mum has gotten her driving confidence going again, added to getting herself a sat-nav app, her being my taxi for a week of walking across Derbyshire should be as straightforward as is possible. Getting going is the first order of business then, leaving Morley at ouch o'clock in the morning, and leaving Mum as custodian of my flat and the baggage as I make for the trail that will link my local wandering fields to the Midlands, which probably aren't as far away as my brain would think, riding the rails and cursing this month of May that still hasn't brought any consistently decent weather, arriving at Penistone for an 8.45am jump-off, under gloomy skies and clouds that look like they could threaten rain at a moments notice. We thus start our resuming path into the unknown by slipping onto the Trans Pennine Trail path which heads south of the station and reveals the platforms of the former MS&LR Woodhead route, which were coated in trees when we visited in 2014 and haven't seen a regular passenger service since 1970, and we then slip down Eastfield Avenue to make our way through the town, rising among the terraces on Church Street to pass around the other side of the parish church of St John the Baptist. Land on the High Street opposite the pubs and the Co-op, and am struck that folks seem to already be out in force despite the early hour and we press on south as the stone houses slip from townhouse style to a scale more modest, and occasionally rural before the lane takes a dip and slips solidly into suburbia, gaining the name of Mortimer Road as it goes. The rise away from the Don valley resumes as we climb towards the bottom end of town, and there's more to Penistone than you'd expect clearly, meeting the council estate at Cubley, right about where the Barnsley district bus terminates and we start to slip into the countryside, past the Cubley Hall hotel and pub, and into the elevated fields that lie beyond, shrouded in an uninviting grey haze, which sadly gives us little by way of gaining a contextual view into the landscape around-abouts.

The Long Walk to Leicester #2: Horbury Bridge to Penistone 20/04/19

12.8 miles, via Netherton, Midgley, Bretton Park, High Hoyland, Cannon Hall, 

 Daking Brook, Rons Cliff, Gadding Moor, Gunthwaite Bridge, Cat Hill, Broad Hill, 
  and Watermeadows Park.

Long Distance Trek means Selfies!

#2 at Horbury Bridge

Still feeling sore as the next day comes around, not because of my new boots rubbing me up the wrong way, but more because of a sore muscle in my right thigh, pulled when descending the steps to Soothill Tunnel and now aching constantly after hours of resting it, not a bad enough pain to prevent me heading out, but enough to temper my expectations for what ought to be a 5 hour run, and thus we seek an early start so that we might get ahead of the weather and avoid the worst of the heat by aiming at the 2.19pm train home. The journey out to Horbury Bridge is immediately improved due to the #427 bus out of Morley having so few passengers boarding it that it arrives in Wakefield ridiculously ahead of schedule allowing me to hop on the earlier service to my start line, hopping off the #128A at 8.50am, way earlier than I'd ever conceive of starting a day's trekking in April and make my way to the corner of Bridge Street where we can rejoin the path south, opposite the house with the blue plaque that celebrates the mission church of Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, author of 'Onward, Christian Soldiers'. So south again, past Bosco's coffee & champagne bar and on down the A642 to slip over the River Calder, looking all calm after the business of three weeks ago, passing the Bingley Arms to again ponder its viability, and then over the Calder & Hebble Navigation which marks us finally starting our way out of the Calder Valley having started our trek from high up on its watershed divide with the Aire. Our route lead us up Netherton Lane which is some steep going with some pretty terrifying early morning traffic on it, rising above the suburban closes and getting a look down the through the haze that hangs over the lower Calder before rising on, over the bridge on the MR's ill starred Royston to Thornhill line, and up towards the next village, enjoying the views, up the valley and back to Horbury and Ossett, and looking down to the viaduct that just calls out for accessible reuse in the future.

The Long Walk to Leicester #1: Morley to Horbury Bridge 19/04/19

8.8 miles, via Hembrigg Park, Howley Park, Soothill, Chidswell, Gawthorpe, 
 Ossett Street Side, Ossett, and South Ossett.

Long Distance Trek

means Selfies!

#1 at Morley Hole

Taking last weekend off proved to be a great idea, as it transpired to not be the point in the year when Spring Warmth finally wins out and instead proved to be one of the chillier April days that I can immediately recall, so going to Manchester with my Good Friends from Calderdale for noodles at Shoryu Ramen, and some Bax, Walton and Vaughan Williams from the BBC Philharmonic at the Bridgewater Hall proved to be a much more sensible use of my time, while also giving my legs a rest. With that out of the way, attention can now focus on this year's long and crazy scheme, namely trekking cross-country from West Yorkshire to Leicestershire, one of those ideas I've had on the to-do list for a good few seasons but never got scheduled because of My Dad's inability to travel in his later years, and now, since his passing, My Mum and I can try holidaying away together as a duo, which would allow me to complete the middle portion of the 100 mile trip through Derbyshire, especially as she feels apt to drive a lot again after a few successful trips away in the last month. So before we can aim at a Maytime holiday to do the middle of the trail, and then the return to the county of my origin, we have to start out from home and having a long Easter Weekend to use is absolutely the best time to get that going as a modest first leg and a longer second will fit in nicely on Good Friday and the Saturday, and it's an even greater bonus that the Cold Season has finally slipped away to be replaced by a completely unforeseen blast of hot weather that's due to last the entire break. If heat is in the air, then getting an early start is in order, not quite getting up with the lark but ensuring that I'm prepped and at my start line at Morley Hole at 9.10am, ready to strike off to the south and find it frustrating that I really am starting to run out of unwalked road around my home town, and thus we start off along lanes that have been seen before, along Brunswick Street and up the wooded and unmetalled track over Dawson Hill, leading around Morley Hall and the hidden former burial ground before landing on Queen Street by the Mumbai Village restaurant and then pressing uphill past the cenotaph gardens and Scatcherd park, as well as the still derelict St Mary-in-the-Wood, to the main drag and the Town Hall.