Being Driven Through The Peak District, Derbyshire, 16/05/15.

Tags

Derbyshire, driving, Mam Tor, scenic views, The Peak District, walking

I can’t drive, which is one of the major factor that directly effects what I write about and photograph, so when my friend and fellow walker Phil kindly offered to drive me down to Edale, in the Derbyshire Peaks, I jumped at the chance!

We drove home via this very impressive pass [the name of which escapes me]. We drove up from where we’d parked the car in Edale, so [if my bearings are correct] that should be Man Tor on the left hand side of the photograph.

If you missed the photographs from the last Mr.B – Phil expedition to the Peak District, you can find them here.

Photo Archive: The View from Shaftesbury, July 2012.

Tags

countryside, Dorset, King Alfred The Great, scenic views, Shaftesbury, Sir Fredrick Treves "The Highways and Byways in Dorset", views

Shaftesbury is a very interesting place, but I must confess that I spent most of my time there with my back to the town, admiring the breathtaking views of the Dorset countryside afforded by the high ground [a certain on-line encyclopaedia informs me that Shaftesbury is one of the oldest and highest towns in Britain at 718 ft (219 m) above sea level]. I don’t often compare myself to illustrious figures from Britain’s past, but I’m sure Alfred The Great, who fortified the hilltop back in Anglo-Saxon times, did much the same back in 880. It is a place to stand still and to observe, as you can see, but it is also a place for action, a place to explore from [I’m sure Alfred The Great would have agreed with me, despite the fact he didn’t have the luxury of being driven around Dorset by my host and good friend, Mr. W].

To quote from Sir Fredrick Treves’ “The Highways & Byways in Dorset“: “There is no spot like it beyond the confines of Britain. It is so typical of the island that it might claim to be symbolic of the Heart of England“.  

Mr. B, Kinder Scout, The Dark Peak, Derbyshire Peak District, May 2013.

Tags

Derbyshire, Kinder Scout, Mr B, scenic views, The Peak District, views, walking

Neither up nor down.

I have got a big birthday coming up this week, so I thought a portrait of myself wouldn’t go a miss. I think my walking companion Om took the photograph, but because Phil’s map was of questionable quality I can’t tell you exactly where this is (it was taken on the way, at any rate). I took a lot of photographs that day, but here are ten of the best:

1. Heading up at a steady pace; looking down at the stream and the sheep on the slopes opposite.

2. Then it starts to get rockier.

3. A popular spot to stop and take in the view.

4. I think my photograph was taken when we got this far. I needed a sit down by then, but I did see a chap running up these rocks!

5. Beautiful.

6. When I first looked at this I couldn’t make out the path at all, but Phil managed to find it!

7. More views worth stopping for.

8. Rocks – by this point I was starting to doubt that there was a “top”.

9. Close.

10. We made it!