This walk on the Limestone Way takes me to three villages starting with B: Ballidon, Brassington, and Bradbourne.
Parwich to Brassington
The weather forecast says it's fine, but as I walk out of Parwich some light rain starts, which persists for most of the walk. It's not enough to make me properly wet. Parwich sits in a large bowl; the kind of landscape where you can see where you're heading, where you came from, and the next hill you are going to have to climb. The area has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years.
A short climb up a field takes me to Highway Lane, which I follow down again, and then bear left across the fields to Ballidon. I can see the chimney of Ballidon Quarry, and a building which looks like an old chapel. I assume it must now be a private house, but when I get there, I discover that this is All Saints church, now in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. What a nice surprise! I'm intrigued by the Creed and Ten Commandments, painted on what look like tiles.
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| Highway Lane |
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| All Saints Ballidon |
I climb out of the bowl and head mostly uphill to Brassington. Rainster Rocks are on my left; there was a settlement there in Roman times. This area has been mined extensively, as you can tell by all the lumps and bumps on the ground.
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| barn / art installation |
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| Rainster Rocks (in distance!) |
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| lumps and bumps |
I'm getting hungry now, and looking forward
to a lunch stop in Brassington. There's a path which would take me
straight there, but I stick to the Limestone Way up to the road, where
horses graze peacefully while quarry trucks thunder past. The wind turbines of Carsington Pasture are visible beyond.
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| approaching Brassington |
Brassington is a friendly village. I see four or five people and they all say hello. One lady, leaving her house, calls to her partner, "It's not really raining, just cold." She's wrong. It's raining and cold, and I'm glad I've brought a hot drink to go with my lunch. The church has scaffolding on, which is presumably why it's closed today. The clock strikes twelve as another passer-by says, "Good morning," and then corrects himself to, "Good afternoon."
Nether Lane takes me towards Bradbourne, the third and final B. I get onto a footpath for a bit, then join Brackendale Lane, where I see the sign at the top of this blog post. "Expect the unexpected and slow down" sounds like good advice in general!
Bradbourne is a doubly thankful village. I'd not come across this term until recently; it means that no one from the village died in either world war. Someone is obviously keen to celebrate this. There are two signs, and, in the church, a list of all those who fought and returned (18 in the First World War, 9 in the Second). In the churchyard is an old cross, carved with figures and swirly patterns.
The church is interesting too, with a lady chapel, and a Bible verse painted directly onto the wall. (It says: Keep thy foot when thou goest to ye house of God, and bee more ready to hear than to give ye sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they doe evill.) Over the tower door are carvings which remind me of the Parwich tympanum.
From the church it's straight down the hill into the Parwich bowl again. I cross a marshy bit by a stream and join the road into the village. There's a footpath which is technically a short cut, but it has so many stiles of intricate and unhelpful design that it probably takes longer than walking along the road. Still, I make it through all the barriers and back into Parwich.
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| overgrown double stile |
20 Jan 2025 14.5 km / 9 miles
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