A walk by the river

Today I took a walk along the path to the entrance to Beeley Wood as I had done the week before. It's also possible to get down to the river by crossing the park, but I decided to go along by the road before taking the path that runs along by the park fencing.

There's a row of pretty stone built cottages along this stretch of the road.

Beeley Wood was developed in the 18th and 9th century from a rural to an industrial area. A series of weirs and dams were built in the valley to provide water power for the forges and rolling mills. The first weir diverted river flows to a pond which served a forge which made scythes until the 1950s.  The building housing the forge was demolished and the pond filled in. The site is now part of the Claywheels Lane Industrial Estate.

Some steps lead down to the river.

The bridge over the River Don takes the walker to the Claywheels Industrial Estate. There's another path along the far bank.

The area in the river where the old weir was located.

The Environment Agency together with the Don River Trust, the Canals and River Trust and Yorkshire Water are working to make weirs on the river passable for fish. In 2016 the Environment Agency removed a section of Beeley Wood lower weir, which was already damaged, to allow the river to return to its natural depth.  The natural pattern of fast-flowing shallows (riffles) and deeper, slower pool and an improved habitat not only allows fish to spawn, but aquatic invertebrates such as mayflies can breed and attract birds such as dippers and wagtails. Of course, these agencies have to carefully manage such waters that are flowing through suburban and urban areas and in addition incidents such as serious flooding can create major problems. Heavy rainfall in 2007 and flooding caused a landslip on a section of the bank as water ran down from the hills above. The road had to be closed for several months and traffic was diverted along narrow lanes on higher ground so that the bank could be made safe by reinforcing it and the surrounding damaged area. I didn't see any dippers or wagtails, but one lone duck was valiantly trying to swim against the fast flowing water.

I returned to the main road by climbing up these steps. It has been school half term week and there were families out and about also taking a walk in the wooded area by the river and children playing in the recreation area in the park.

My week and a visit to Tissington, Derbyshire

I went for a local walk in a local wood along by the River Don.

Beeley Wood and the River Don

St Mary's Church, Tissington

On a warm, sunny day we drove to Tissington in the White Peaks of Derbyshire. It's the well dressing season in Derbyshire and Tissington hosts the first of these events. We planned to get there for the church service before the blessing of the wells in the village, but the drive took longer than we expected because there was a diversion due to road maintenance on narrow, winding lanes that criss- cross several deep valleys with cliff-like, wooded hills.  It was a pleasant drive through the shady roads on this scenic route.  Once we had parked in a farmer's field with everyone else we walked to the church and we were able to sit in the shade of huge yew trees and listen to the church service which was being broadcast through loudspeakers for those who couldn't get inside the small building.  After the church service it was possible to go into the church, but I was unable to take many photos because more people had arrived to watch a visual presentation about how the boards are prepared before the flowers and other natural materials are applied to them. Instead we walked to the village pond area, my husband sat down for a rest and I went to find the other wells that are dotted all around the village to take a few photos of each picture board that had been erected by a water source.

Tissington Hall

Tissington Village has several little shops, a tea room, plants for sale in The Old Kitchen Gardens and Tissington Hall, the home of the present FitzHerbert family.  The Hall is open to the public on certain dates in the year and there are guided tours.

Next time I'll continue with a tour of this picturesque village and meanwhile I wish you a good day.