Deceptive country scene

Glorious weather as summer gets under way.  Enough sun to ensure warmth, and (of course, this is England!) cool enough to be outdoors a lot.

This stretch of the River Tean (which is no more than ever this wide, and which, curiously, never leaves Staffordshire) at Spath suggests the forgotten English countryside of yore.  However, behind the treeline, and about half-a-mile away, a huge industrial estate is taking shape.
Most deceptive.

Traces of 300 year old sweat

Much of the Peak District National Park in Staffordshire is now untouched countryside... so it's strange to think this was actually once an industrial heartland.  It is dotted with old diggings.

In the picture are the remains of the Dale Mine near Warslow.  Labourers started mining for lead there as far back as three hundred years ago.  You can just see in this photo (top right), the side of the spoil tip.
Odd to think that this solitary and quiet place was once the scene of much sweating and groaning by many men!

Walk at Hanging Rock

It may be nearly November, but the weather is still very mild - even if the sky is permanently light-gray.  Walking is easy in such weather: you just have to be careful not to wear too many layers or you are soon stripping off...

I followed the Roaches walk from the Walking Englishman website to Hanging Stone (in pic) which is an easy landmark to pick out.  From a distance it has an Easter Island effect, but it's basically a gritstone rock outcrop.

This post was featured on the City Daily Portal Landmarks theme

Difficult-to-follow instructions

I am always careful, when walking in the countryside, to close gates etc ("Observe the Country Code"!) but it's difficult to follow the instruction on this sign....           ...because there is no gate.

Picturesque wharf

Once this quiet place was a centre of industry...! 
Froghall, on the Caldon Canal a few miles north of Cheadle, was an area famous for processing copper as well as limestone.

You can still see the old wharves-type buildings (in pic) by the canal, from where the industrial barges would pick up their limestone load.  It looks quite incongruous, now that it's been turned into something of a beauty spot here.    But, in fact, older folk still call this area Froghall Wharf.

Dismount - and re-mount

You know you're in horse-riding territory when you see four mounting blocks within a few yards of each other on a road.  
Yes, we are near Whittington, in open countryside; but this part of the road also goes up and over the rail line, where I guess the horses might spook if an express came through.

Autumn stream

Autumn is running late by two to three weeks this year, apparently.  The eating apples are just ripening here in Staffordshire, and the weather is mild, even if cold after the sun goes down.

Oh well, I shall try to cope.

Earth, air, fire, water ... and spirit

The five elements of classical times were earth, air, fire, water and spirit.  To celebrate the solstice this month, the City Daily Portal website asked its members to put together photos incorporating those elements together.

My own entry is this one of a fishing pool in mid-Staffordshire.  I've cheated a bit by using the fire of the setting sun (which lights the reeds)...
And the spirit?  ...is of the ghosts of those anglers who once sat here, 'en plein air', enjoying the countryside.


See other photos on the CDP website celebrating the five elements

Dry stones in the Peak

Dry-stone walls are a feature of the landscape in the Peak District, and the Staffordshire part of the Peak District abounds in them.

Simply, dry-stone walling is the art of building a wall out of the natural bits of rock lying around, but fitting them together so snugly that the structure has no need of mortar (thus 'dry' stone walls) to hold it firm. 

I tried doing it once. It's like trying to build a 3-D jigsaw.  It takes a real eye to see what stone best fits what space - without using up all your 'best' stones immediately.

Photo - just photo

Why did I feel compelled to take this photo?
All photo-bloggers have the same experiences: sometimes you have those days when nothing, yes nothing, seems to be worth even a desultory snap; and then there are those other days, when, for no apparent reason, random photos (like this one) beg to be taken.

So... I can't tell you why I like this composition. I just do.

Surreal hay bales...

Whether in tubes of black plastic wrapping randomly sited across recently-mown meadows, or piled in symmetric pyramids at the farm, hay bales in the countryside always have a slightly surreal - even sinister - air for me. Don't know why.
And when they glow in the setting sun, as in this photo taken near Newborough (nr Abbots Bromley), they have it even more.

Maybe it's just me.

Rootsy in Alton

Nature is amazing, huh? Nothing new in that statement, but I was reminded of it during this walk near Alton Towers.

I felt I had to take a photo of this huge tree (100 feet high) which appears to be supporting itself even though the ground beneath half of it has fallen away. It is balancing itself by inserting huge and strong roots in... what looks to be sheer rock.

PS - sorry to have been away a while. My internet-access went down, which seems to happen more and more.