The Alstonefield Amble

As reported in my earlier report of our visit to Alstonefield, we responded well to the challenge set by our leader for the day.

Apart from that challenge we did also take the opportunity to enjoy the walk from Alstonefield along Wolfscote Dale and Milldale back to our starting point.

Alstonefield (alternative spelling: Alstonfield) is in the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire. It lies on the borders of Derbyshire and Staffordshire on the watershed between the valleys of the Dove and the Manifold rivers.

The village is built upon an ancient site. Its name is derived from the Saxon, meaning ‘Aelfstan’s open land’ and its Saxon occupation is indicated by the fortified hill farms, the remains of which can be seen on the West overlooking the Manifold valley and by the many lynchets, the name given to areas of the hillsides which were levelled so that crops could be grown.





The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, 1086, and it was noted in the Latin shorthand of that time that “William holds from him 3 virgates of land. Land for three ploughs.

The Norman arch in the chancel of St.Peter’s church was built at about the same time and completed in 1100.

The village was a centre of trade as many packhorse tracks passed close by and it served as a major conduit for Lead from the local mines, for Copper from Ecton on the edge of the parish, for salt from Cheshire and for Limestone.

On our way to Wolfscote Dale

I have been unable to find an answer to the pressing question of why some cows’ horns point up whilst others’ point down.  Detailed research of the web has drawn a blank, although I have discovered that according to one website, all cows point north (can’t be right) and of course that some wear bells because their horns don’t work!

A dipper - I am sure that Dave will have some better photos

This sheep may not be aware of the name of this Dale - but then it may be a wolf in sheep's clothing

Martin checking out the byelaws

Views over Milldale


After our amble we adjourned to The George in Alstonefield. The village pub is named after George I and the first reference to a pub on this site was in 1720. For the first hundred years of the pub's history, it was tied to the fates of two families, the Lowes and the Mellors.


Robert Mellor, who was the landlord from 1774, was also a cheese factor. He married Mary Allen in 1778 and they had four children. Maria Mellor inherited the pub in 1838 from her mother, Mary, as her brother had been declared bankrupt.

Maria Mellor married George White of Calton in 1832. He was an auctioneer. He continued the practice of holding sales and auctions at the pub. The pub was sold by auction on the 28th February 1876 to Sir John Harpur Crewe. He was the Lord of the Manor of Alstonefield.

The George is now run by the third generation of the same family to run it - Mrs Grandjean was the widow of the Swiss-Buxton chocolatier Marcel Grandjean and came to the pub in 1964 with her son, Richard. Emily, his stepdaughter, took over full time management of the pub in 2006.

By the way, The George serves an excellent pint of Jennings (Cumberland Ale).

"Where's Mike" - the alternative version of our Alstonefield Walk

Our walking jaunt this week saw us start at Alstonefield, then along Wolfscote Dale and Milldale.

For the past week, Stuart (our leader for the day) had been trying to solve too many "Where's Wally" puzzles; so much so that he had invented a version for our team - "Where's Mike".

His challenge was accepted by our intrepid walkers

Dave thought he had seen him

...but Steve was not so sure ...

... whilst Brian had forgotten what he looked like ...

... and Martin was past caring, he just wanted his lunch

A re-group and a team huddle to consider the next steps

Stuart remained confident that we would find him ...

... whilst Martin regaled us with tales of walks with Mike

Brian was keen to keep out of the "Restricted Zone"

but Dave was more gung-ho and sallied forth

Then he was spotted - flying in from Hong Kong

A Sunday walk around Lindley Wood

For those who are not sure where this is, it's North East of Otley.

River Washburn

I think this trailer maybe one of ours!

Clue 1. They say there's one in every family

Clue 2. A beer brewed in Masham

Lindley Wood Reservoir

Back to our starting point

A Bakewell jaunt

This was my first walk with the chaps in 2011.

Walk leader for the day, Simon, did us proud. Not only did he arrange for a bright and sunny day, he also made sure that we had excellent venues for our elevensies and our lunch. Then we finished off with a superb pint of Chatsworth Gold at the end of our walk.

The only (minor) downside was that His Grace was not in to welcome us to Chatsworth; Stuart also wanted a cushion for the lunchtime seat (but we'll let that pass)

Here are a few photos from our jaunt.

Bakewell Station was opened on 1 August 1862 by the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, then becoming part of the Midland Railway. In 1923 the station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and during the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948 the station was passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways, and finally succumbing to the fall of the Beeching axe in 1967.

The station building is still in use as a warehouse along with the platforms (but the gap between platforms have been filled in to make the Monsal Trail).

Bakewell was almost bypassed by the railway - the Duke of Rutland, owner of the surrounding land, was opposed to it. When he eventually relented and authorised a route out of sight of his baronial hall, Bakewell Station had to be built high above the town.  

Edensor's St Peter's church was expanded by Sir George Gilbert Scott for the 7th Duke of Devonshire in the 1860s. It contains an early 17th century memorial to Bess of Hardwick's sons, Henry and William Cavendish. Sir Joseph Paxton is buried in the churchyard, as is U.S. President John F. Kennedy's sister Kathleen Kennedy, who was married to the 10th Duke's eldest son. Kennedy visited the grave during his presidency.

En route to Chatsworth

It's not much but we call it home!

As we all know, Chatsworth House is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549. The name 'Chatsworth' is a corruption of Chetel's-worth' meaning 'the Court of Chetel'.

In the reign of Edward the Confessor a man of Norse origin named 'Chetel' held lands jointly with a Saxon named 'Leotnoth' in three townships; Ednesoure to the west of the Derwent, and Langoleie and Chetesuorde to the east.
 

Chetel was deposed after the Norman Conquest and in the Domesday Book the Manor of Chetesuorde is listed as the property of the Crown in the custody of William de Peverel.

Chatsworth ceased to be a large estate, until the 15th century when it was acquired by the Leche family who owned property nearby. They enclosed the first park at Chatsworth and built a house on the high ground in what is now the south-eastern part of the garden.

The main block was re-built by the 1st Duke between 1687 and 1707, on the site of Bess of Hardwick's original Tudor mansion. The long north wing was added by the 6th Duke in the early nineteenth century.

There are many structures other than the house on the estate, including two surviving Elizabethan buildings — the Hunting Tower and Queen Mary's Bower. Flora's Temple and the 1st Duke's Greenhouse survive from the 1690s, the Stable block and bridge were built by James Paine in the 1760s and Joseph Paxton's Conservative Wall and other glasshouses date from the 19th century. The 11th Duke and Duchess added the Display Greenhouse in 1970.

 

Elevensies by the Derwent

The book said "enter the field by the stile" - so that's what I did

Team lunch

Wood ear - a mushroom of the genus Auricularia that grows on fallen tree trunks, used in cooking. The fungus strongly resemble an ear, as it forms folds and whorls while it grows on the trunks and bark of mostly dead trees. The Wood Ear tends to jiggle slightly, and has a slightly crunchy, slightly rubbery texture which is retained even after cooking. We didn't find these until after we had eaten our lunches - otherwise who knows what we may have done - and in which hospital we may be now!

The Wood Ear fungus is found widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, although it is more commonly cultivated and used for food in parts of Asia. Wood Ear often appears in Chinese and Japanese food. 

A rumour that our globe-trotting colleague may pay a flying visit from Hong Kong proved to be unfounded - although the sight of this helicopter did raise our hopes for a few seconds

Our new "home"

Chatsworth Gold at its finest - we'll definitely return