Springtime walks: Croxden Abbey and Shining Cliff Woods

It seems to be taking a long time to get properly warm, this spring. But suddenly there are flowers everywhere and the world has turned green. We had to go and see it all.

Croxden Abbey

800 years ago, there was a community of 70 monks at Croxden Abbey, hidden away in a beautiful nook of Staffordshire. Now there are peaceful ruins, carpeted with soft green grass. It was hard to imagine the space filled with busy worship and work.

Croxden abbey cloisters

the west door of the church

We had parked at the village of Hollington and walked down the hill, playing a game of spot-the-animal. In just a few short fields we had seen sheep, cattle, horses, alpacas, rabbits, a dog, and even a donkey. We decided we only needed pigs to make our farm animal collection complete!

It wasn't a long hike - we probably spent just as long eating snacks and playing hide and seek in the abbey ruins, as we did walking. Our return journey took us past a few horses, but sadly no pigs. We followed an old Roman road (now tarmacked) back to Hollington, where we removed ourselves from history and jumped into our very modern car.

Shining Cliff Woods

It's bluebell season! Usually that means a trip to Calke Abbey, but this time we decided to venture a little further afield. Shining Cliff Woods are just off the A6 between Belper and Cromford. They certainly lived up to their name on a surprisingly warm April day. The sunshine picked out startlingly green leaves, enthusiastic streams, and yes, the gorgeous colour of bluebells in bloom.

We had paused at a direction sign when some people came past and said, "Go that way, it's more interesting". That way took us up to a small reservoir, built to supply power to a wire works in the valley below. It had a No Swimming sign which I suspected many people ignore - it looked a perfect place for a wild dip.

Further on, we passed a hostel and a fire circle tucked under a rocky outcrop. Graham had read about a 2000 year old yew tree at the other end of the wood, so we set out to find it. After a decent hike we found it - a broken stump, with two tiny yew saplings bravely carrying on the family line. Definitely not the enormous gnarled tree we had been expecting!

Theo and I by the stump

Fortunately the path back down the hill turned into a stream, which turned our walk into an exciting hop from rock to rock. The boys forgot their disappointment as they splashed their way down as fast as they could.

We came back through the derelict remains of the wireworks factory, which closed in 1996. This blog is worth a look if you like photos of deserted buildings - they obviously had a good time exploring the wireworks. Most of it is securely bricked up now, to prevent entry. So here's our attempt at a family selfie instead.

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The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as

The Churnet Way: bells at Alton

Alton village and Alton Towers are perched on opposite banks of the Churnet, with the river cutting a deep valley between them. Most people drive straight through the village on the way to the theme park. But I have a great liking for walks and no fondness at all for rollercoasters, so I found a large layby to park in at Town End, in Alton, and pulled on my boots. The church bells were ringing as I set off. I vaguely wondered if there was an event. A wedding? Unlikely on a Tuesday morning. Maybe a funeral. I followed a footpath across a few fields to reach Saltersford Lane. This was the width of a single-track road, but mostly overgrown and muddy. I was grateful for the strip of stone flags (and some more modern concrete slabs) which provided a dry surface to walk on. Presently I came out into some fields and dropped down a slope to the old railway line, at the point where I left it on my previous walk . bit of old rail There followed several miles of walking along the railway path.

The Churnet Way: Rocester and Denstone

I looked at the stile and shook my head. Only a few metres beyond it was a busy B-road with a nice wide verge to walk on, but between the stile and the road was an impenetrable mass of brambles and bushes. I wasn't getting through that lot. Reluctantly, I turned left and trekked along yet another field boundary in search of a gate. You may recall that my previous walk had taken me to Thorpe, with Toby. If you're really paying attention you will know that I'm then supposed to be continuing on the Limestone Way as far as Matlock. Well, I've taken a detour. I realised that I had crossed every bridge over the Dove so far, apart from one small one just south of Rocester. I couldn't miss that out, could I? So today's walk was designed to take in that bridge, but it also happened to start me off on the Churnet Way , which I rather liked the look of. I think I will follow it for a while and come back to the Limestone Way later. JCB factory and lake The walk had start

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

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