Walking Group
November 1st started foggy but when we met outside church the sun was just starting to break through.
The regular seven walkers jumped into two cars and off we went to Eyam for the start of our 4 ½ mile walk. When we arrived in the car park the sky was clear and it was warm enough for most of us to start without coats.
We walked through the plague village of Eyam, renowned for the self-sacrifice of its inhabitants during the years of 1665 and 1666 when 260 of its inhabitants died of the bubonic plague. Turning up Tideswell Lane we passed the house of the village gravedigger, Marshall Howe who actually survived the plague. After walking up a narrow path between houses we continued through fields of grazing sheep and cows, making sure we did not get between cow and calf.
Soon we reached the village of Foolow, set around its duck pond.
After passing the village pub, The Bull’s Head, we turned right and started a gradual climb towards Bretton. Over to our left we could see the site of the sinkhole that opened up just before Christmas 2013. It was 130 feet deep, 160 feet across before being filled in by rock and soil from local mining operations.
Continuing up the hill we reached The Barrel Inn. Dating back to 1597, at an altitude of 1300 feet, it is one of the highest inns in Derbyshire. Just past the inn we paused to admire the view, just as a man approached us carrying a lopper. He told us he was going to prune the gorse on the path we were soon to follow, something he volunteers to do for the local community.
Following the path downhill we were pleased not to have bare legs – the gorse was certainly prickly! At the bottom of the path we reached a fluorspar works. Nobody was working that day but there were piles of bricks waiting to be processed – one of the companies on this site is Fine Grinding Ltd, a mineral, aggregate, ore processing and recycling company, the bricks could have been waiting to be ground down into absorbent clay granules.
After skirting the works we reached the main road back into Eyam, which we followed for ¾ mile back to our starting point. We all agreed that after a dull start to the day the afternoon had been glorious with the car temperature gauge displaying 67ºF.
The next walk will be on Sunday 6th December, a 4 ½ mile stroll along the Five Pits Trail starting from Timber Lane car park. The walk will be followed by home-made soup at the home of Bob and Ruth Cable.
All are welcome to join us outside church at 12:00 noon