Reasons to be cheerful, Part B

For this round of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, I thought I would take a theme which might loosely be entitled 'Reasons to be Cheerful, Part _', after the 1979 hit single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3).

J

For everyone, the reasons will be different, but I wanted to search around for some of the things which brighten up my day; things for which I am thankful.

B is for berries.

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Berries may not seem much of a reason to be cheerful, but at this time of year, when the leaves are falling, the flowers dying and the days becoming increasingly short, it is very good to know that the berries will be around for a while.

These bright red berries are on my pyrocantha. I can see them from where I am right now; a welcome splash of colour in an otherwise very grey day! They will continue to be cheerful until the blackbirds have run out of easier food and move in to strip this bare. Then, I will have the pleasure of watching them at work for a few days.

A similar tale here, but this is slightly further away from the house and will show up on the blackbird RADAR a little earlier than the red. Aren't they lovely against the blue sky? (There's another B which is certain to bring cheer!)

The rose hips have replaced blooms on most of the roses and will retain their red for a while yet. There aren't a huge number of these, but every little helps!

And then there are the berries further afield, like these yew berries photographed on a recent walk. Colour to brighten the day.

When the last of the leaves have littered the ground and turned to so much dark brown mush, I will look at these berries and think cheerful thoughts!

Yet another hall

Just north of Ilam is Castern Hall. This is a grade 2 listed Jacobean building dating back to 1660, but extensively remodelled in the Georgian style around 1740; probably for Nicholas Hurt (1710-1767).

If you want to read more about its status as a grade 2 listed building, look here.

The Hall was originally owned by Burton Abbey, but was bought by the Hurt family after the dissolution of the monasteries.  Through the 18th and 19th centuries, Alderwasley Hall was the main residence of the family and Castern was let to tenant farmers. The family only moved back around 1930 when Alderwasley was sold.

Which room would you fancy as yours?

Recent renovations have included the restoration of windows which were blocked up to avoid the paying of window tax. Window tax was first imposed in 1696 to counteract the loss of revenue caused by coin clipping. It was banded according to the number of windows in a property, an easy calculation because they could all be seen from outside the property. The tax was scrapped in 1851 after a campaign which claimed that it was a tax against good health. Meanwhile though, existing windows had been bricked up and new houses built with fewer windows; creating cities full of dark, damp terraces!

Finally, dropping down into Manifold Valley at the top side of Ilam Hall, we passed this cross shaft. The light was beginning to fade and the photo ended up with a weird sci-fi tinge!

The cross shaft is known as the Battle Stone and links back to the fighting between the Saxons and the Danes. It was taken from the foundations of a cottage about 1840, during the rebuilding of the village, but the stone itself probably dates from around the middle of the 11th century.

A climb up the stone steps takes us back to the front of Ilam Hall and the tea rooms where our walk began (now closed for the day, sadly, so I can't buy you a cuppa). 

Ilam – high route Dovedale – Ilam Rock – Stanshope – Manifold Valley – 7.5 miles,  1620’ ascent, MODERATE

I hope you enjoyed tagging along.

Fields of green

I think that one of the most beautiful stretches of our walk was this last section from the rim of the Manifold back to Ilam. We walked over luscious green fields, dotted with livestock; the sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, the views were open and there was little in the way of noise apart from sheep bleating, birds singing and a tractor on a distant hillside.

I'll leave you to enjoy :)

"You lookin' at me?"

"This is my best side!"

Just to be here is so refreshing!

Manifold

From Stanshope Hall (which is a privately owned B&B, so we couldn't go inside - sorry Desiree), we turned west across the fields to the rim of the Manifold Valley.

I really love the little rocky outcrops of limestone.

The Manifold is a sister river to the Dove, though generally less well known. The upper course runs through gritstone, but at Ecton, it reaches limestone country and cuts through a deep valley. 

North of Ilam, this valley widens out and is dry for much of the year as the river disappears underground, only emerging again just above Ilam Hall, after which is reaches its confluence with the Dove and the two rivers take on that single name.

Top 'o the dale

Stanshope Hall sits at the top of Hall Dale, just outside the village after which it is named. The hall is dates back to the 1600s and was, at one time, home to the quartermaster of Oliver Cromwell (who happened to be called Michael Jackson). It is now a listed building. An unusual feature of the interior is that every room is hand painted by an artist.

Standing just below the hall and looking back, this is the top of Hall Dale and the field of the Belted Galloways. This scene is very typical of the White Peak area of the Peak District National Park; limestone walls climbing the hillsides, the bones of white rock poking through the steeper slopes, the lush green of the small enclosed fields and the sudden fold of a steep sided dale. Beautiful!

Reasons to be cheerful, Part A

For this round of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, I thought I would take a theme which might loosely be entitled 'Reasons to be Cheerful, Part _', after the 1979 hit single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3).

J

For everyone, the reasons will be different, but I wanted to search around for some of the things which brighten up my day; things for which I am thankful.

A is for MAN AS RAG

or do I mean A SNAG RAM?

or should that be MA RAN GAS?


Hold on. This time, I've really got it...

A is for ANAGRAMS

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I am one of those people who enjoys playing with words. I don't just like anagrams, adjectives are pretty cool too - as are adverbs, antonyms, alliteration, acronyms, abbreviations, affixes and a whole bunch of other stuff which doesn't happen to begin with A.

At this point, I want to make it clear that if word puzzles are not your thing, you must not feel obliged to plough on. Feel free to go visit someone else instead of me :)

If you are still with me, I hope you find these fun.

I'll start with something easy.

1. NO CAR


Okay so far??


2. OLD MAN


3. A METRIC HIT


4. ROAST A NUT


5. THAT EEL


6. RANCH AID


Nearly there :)


7. SEAPORT HOP


8. GO RIP A LEECH



How did you do? Hope you enjoyed the fun.


By the way, the answers are down here somewhere

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Here they are:

1. acorn

2. almond

3. arithmetic

4. astronaut

5. athlete

6. arachnid

7. apostrophe

8. archipelago

Washed with wet sandpaper

And this is what was waiting round the corner at the top of Hall Dale; Belted Galloway calves. Aren't they absolutely gorgeous?!

Cows are curious, but naturally timid. If you run, they may chase, but shout and wave your arms around and it is they who will retreat.

(This one courtesy of Sacristan)

Which is why it was all the more surprising when the mother decided to investigate up close; having a good old lick at my hand (probably 'pleasantly' salty from sweating up Bunster Hill) and generally acting rather like an over-sized pet. But goodness, that tongue was rough! It was a bit like being washed with wet sandpaper.

(This one courtesy of Sacristan too)

She really seemed to enjoy being scratched between the ears!