Seriously glorious day for the halfway mark walk. Possibly one of my favourite walks so far. And thank goodness we decided to switch the walk from Saturday to Sunday! On Saturday we know, from the people we met, that we wouldn’t have been able to see much further than the end of our noses. But on Sunday, oh, this was something special.
Having looked at the weather app on Jane’s phone, we asked Quentin and Margo if it would be ok to come over on Saturday night and do the walk on Sunday. Super flexible- they agreed. We had a lovely meal on Saturday night at their home in Repton, Derbyshire. We had a chance to catch up with their daughter Rosie, who we hadn’t seen for quite a while. Oh my goodness they grow up quickly! Rosie is in the middle of her GCSEs, poor thing, but she seemed to be taking it all in her stride and is looking forward to the long Summer holiday especially camping out at her first music festival. Quentin meanwhile entertained us with his impression of the Ood from Dr Who!!
We also had the opportunity to check out Q & Ms latest additions to their interesting art collection. The main POI today was the textile hermit crab- which was about 25x life size! Interesting tale behind this one- including nearly a two year wait to collect it after purchase as it then had to go on a world tour! Quentin had to go and finally collect it from a room in Hampton Court. A strange arts collective that clearly don’t have much contact with the outside world!
After a good nights sleep we were all up and raring to go at about 9:30. Today we’d be going off in Quentin’s classic Alfa Romeo 1900 from 1956. It’s a beautiful black saloon car with lovely Italian lines and made me smile all the way to our destination. This car is the only working one of its kind in this country and if you want to see another you’d have to go to the National Motor Museum of France, apparently. Jane and I sat on the back bench seat and rolled about a bit as Q dealt with the slightly temperamental gears. Margo meanwhile demonstrated the heating system- a sort of tube coming off the engine. Open or closed. Simple.
The car has a choke and when Q told us this Jane didn’t even know what he meant. Ha! I remember those days really well with my lovely Austin Allegro. Crikey you had to know how to handle her! Even the dials on the Alfa dashboard were beautifully designed with a kind of Art Deco lettering. And the best thing was that as we motored along through the green, spring valleys of Derbyshire the weather was beautiful and lots of other classic car drivers gave us a knowing salute. Quentin likes to imagine that he is an Italian doctor on his rounds! I feel a book and film rights coming on.
We drove through several valleys including the Derwent Valley and then through Matlock Bath, which on the way back was rammed with bikers. Next we drove through the Chatsworth Estate and found our way up to the car park near Curbar Edge.
There are lots of ‘edges’ around here but I’d never been before although I have been to Chatsworth when we used to live in Stockport. It was just a short walk from the car park to the edge and then you are immediately rewarded with the most spectacular views over the valley below. It was beautiful and as we walked along the edge we passed all the rocky outcrops of millstone grit sandstone. I loved these natural sculptures and desperately tried to remember all my A level geology. Mr Meredith would be proud. Of course it was on these rocky outcrops that Kiera Knightly famously flapped her cloak about in Pride and Prejudice and we did our best to relive the moment with our kagoules!
Actually, really it was such a lovely day that we didn’t need these things. Quentin, you may notice in the pics, is a barefoot walker. He always has been since he was a boy. I’d heard about this when listening to one of Clare Balding’s ‘Ramblings’ radio shows. So today it felt like a perfect chance for me to give this a go. Part way round I took off my boots and connected my feet with the earth. I have to say it was better than I’d expected and I guess I walked about a mile and a half barefoot in total. It was nice feeling the different textures and it was generally quite a good environment for this. Spongy grass, gritty exfoliating millstone grit, soft sand and best of all, the squelchy, peaty puddles. You obviously have to be a bit more careful where you put your feet and especially that you don’t stub your toes!
As we walked past fellow walkers the barefoot walkers sparked a lot of interest. It was very sociable as several people asked me whether I had blisters! They seemed rather worried about adders and thorns! Everybody seemed to agree that it wasn’t for them but I enjoyed it and if it hadn’t been for having to carry my boots, I’d have carried on a bit longer! By the way the next day my feet did feel great like they’d had a session of reflexology for free.
We took the opportunity to catch up with Quentin about his life after retirement from being a solicitor. He has only stopped work for the last three weeks but already seemed to be very relaxed and enjoying his freedom. Margo, on the other hand is not due to retire until she’s 70. Ouch. They’re both looking forward to their holiday in Brittany this Summer but are also contemplating a trip in a camper van as a trial of perhaps a longer term investment. I’m jealous.
Our walk took us all the way along Curbar Edge and then after a little bit of uppy we reached the house which had featured in Jane Eyre where Mia Wiakowska did her bit (not quite sure what as I haven’t actually seem it!). The walk then returns along White Edge which is on the edge of true grouse moorland. We met some entomologists along the way crawling about on the ground with huge camera lenses taking pictures of the tiny tiger green beetle. The weather by now was glorious and it was a good job we’d put a bit of suntan lotion on. I really enjoyed the walk and we happily made our way back to the trig point above the Curbar Edge car park again. From here the views were panoramic and we could see the car park below and the ice cream van waiting for our return. Hurrah!
What a lovely treat when we got back after our 6.3 miles. It was perhaps a little foolhardy on such a lovely day to set off without any water to drink! The ice cream tasted great and whilst we ate it I participated in a survey with a student from Sheffiled Uni asking me lots of questions about the environment. I particularly liked the task of identifying different species of bird, butterfly and plant -which I was v poor at!
We rounded off the day with Sunday lunch (cod) at the nearby Chequers Pub in Baslow. What a great day and truly stunning walk.
Walky Talky 