On our week off in July, Dan and I set off for a day trip back to the Lake District for a walk around Derwent Water in Keswick. It's been nearly three months since our first ever week away in the Lake District, a holiday that we'll always cherish, so coming back to the Lake District meant so much to us. Wanting to challenge ourselves a little more, we chose a walk with a steeper accent, reaching to 379m. It was a fantastic walk, with spectacular views across Derwent Water and the impressive peaks of Cat Bells, a fell reaching to 451m, in the distance. We wandered through mossy woodlands, walked through a jungle of ferns, stopped at the beautiful Ashness Bridge and climbed all the way to the Walla Crag viewpoint. We made a slight mistake at the start of our walk and managed to walk the route from back to front, even so it was still a fantastic walk!
It's been a while since I last posted on the blog. Since my last post Dan and I explored mountains and lakes in the Lake District, been on plenty of hikes in between, spent weeks working on some new photography and written submissions and have been working on some new little projects. Alongside all of that I've been feeling a little run down at times and I realised it was because I was trying to do too many things at once and overload myself with lots of different tasks each week. So I've now put my foot on the breaks and I'm beginning to slow down again.
Lud's Church is a moss-covered chasm located in Gradbach in the Peak District. It was caused by a giant landslip, creating a deep and dark crack in the earth with many nooks and crannies spreading for 100 metres. In the early 15th Century it was used as a secret place of worship. It's also known for it's mythical relations to Robin Hood and Friar Truck, who were believed to have fled to Lud's Church to go into hiding from the authorities. Lud's Church has plenty of magic and mystery surrounding it and is a
Wollaton Hall, built in 1588 is an Elizabethan country house surrounded by 500 acres of land, including beautiful gardens, peaceful woodlands and a magnificent lake. It's home to herds of fallow and red deer that can be found wandering the grounds, along with plenty of other species of wildlife you'll find around the parkland. It's also known for being Wayne Manor in the Batman movie, 'The Dark Knight Rises'.
Mam Tor, also known as the 'Shivering Mountain' or 'Mother Hill', is a 517m hill in the High Peak area of the Peak District. It's one of the most popular walks in the Peak District, with spectacular views over Edale, Hope Valley and parts of Kinder Scout.
Ladybower Reservoir is one of my favourite places to visit in the Peak District. It's a Y-shaped reservoir located in the Upper Derwent Valley of the Peak District that was built between 1935 and 1943, and opened on 24th September 1945 by King George VI. In the 1900's the Ladybower Dam was raised in order to reduce the risk of overtopping in a flood. The scenery around the reservoir is not to be missed, with beautiful views from the top of Bamford edge, across the heather strewn moorlands and woodland areas.
It seemed as though winter just didn't want to budge over the past few weeks. One moment we all thought that the weather was just starting to warm up, but then the next thing we know we were hit with low temperatures, frosts and snow. And not to mention all these storms we've had lately with plenty of rain and high winds! However the spring equinox has begun and with the weather looking to pick up, it's time to start embracing the changes of spring.
It's not often that I use my Olympus OM10 camera, but when I do I like to bring it along with me every now and then whilst I'm out and about and take a couple of shots. I had a go at shooting my first roll of colour 35mm film a while back in autumn, I gathered a couple of my favourite prints and shared them in a post which you'll find here.
The more I wander the woodlands and forests, the more I believe that something magical and mystical lies within each and every one of them. Because magic is found amongst the trees and burrowed beneath the old roots. It's found sweeping through the leaf strewn winding paths, under moss covered rocks and flowing along the babbling brooks and streams. Wherever the woodland paths lead you, there's always magic to be found.
I've been meaning to share my visit to Snake Woodland on the blog for a while now when we visited back in late November last year, just as all the trees were starting to lose their golden autumn leaves and you could sense that winter was on its way. Snake Pass is one of the most popular roads to drive along in the Peak District, situated between Glossop and Ladybower Reservoir in the High Peak area, that winds through the valley of rolling hills and alongside River Ashop. Driving along this road you are treated to beautiful views across the heather strewn hills and pine trees on either side of the road as you make your way towards Snake Woodland.
Even the smallest of woodlands hold something magical about them. I hadn't been out to the local woodland trail in a while and so on one Sunday morning I decided to wrap up warm and head out for a walk along the trail, snapping photos on my phone and even taking a few shots on my Olympus film camera.
There's just nothing like putting on your walking boots and heading off for a hike in the countryside. Last summer was when I really started to get into walking, I've always been an adventurer at heart, exploring rugged coastlines on family holidays and wandering through the local woodlands. But since spending quite a bit of time visiting the Peak District last year, the more and more I fell in love with the beautiful landscapes and longed to see more.
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