Last Saturday we took advantage of the good weather and spent the morning in Bradfield Dale with lunch sitting outside in the sunshine at The Strines Inn which is nestled in a hollow on the edge of Strines Moor. The colours of the landscape with the mix of pasture, rough grass, bog and moor dotted with deciduous trees and patches of pine plantation change with the seasons. At this time of the year there are softer hues as many of the trees come into leaf, but there is still a contrast between the green, hilly pastureland, the dark pines and the sombre, rock-strewn moorland ridges covered in dried grasses, heather and other scrubby bushes.
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Our usual route is to drive along Ughill Edge from Low Bradfield, passing Boot's Folly on Sugworth Edge and the 17th century Sugworth Hall, with later additions to the house, doing a U-turn near Moscar Moor and then driving along Strines Moor Edge to the inn on the road that can be seen in the middle distance of the photo below.
On the near side of the valley are more grouse moors and above us Gibraltar Rocks stand out as a landmark. Here and there trees have been planted to give some shelter around an isolated farmstead on Ughill Heights one of the few on this stretch of the single-track road, otherwise there are few trees on these windy ridges.
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| Gibraltar Rocks |
(The above photo was taken last year in April when we had had unseasonal snow and bad weather)! We go this way frequently from where we live in order to cut across to Ladybower Reservoir and into the Derbyshire Peaks. That day was an interesting drive. I do like the bleakness of the moors in the Autumn, Winter and early Spring seasons, although when the sun shines on the string of reservoirs in the area, the sky is blue, you can hear the cry of the birds, such as the curlew, and notice other wildlife it's also rather special.
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Jacob Plantation with Bamford Edge (Part of Stanage Edge) in the distance  |
The field beside and behind the Strines Inn is an enclosed sheepfold.
'Strines' is an Old English word (strynds) for a stream or rivulet and these flow off the high ground of the moorland making some of the lower areas very boggy around the Strines Reservoir.
How do I get down there?
The water course has formed a good place for the sheep to come down to have a drink and a stray duck seems to be enjoying the experience too.
Underneath a tree by the stone wall and the watery scene someone had placed a white stone inscribed with the word 'Tranquility'.