A Walk on Ramshaw Rocks – Peak District Holiday

Tags

bilberry, church of St Edward the Confessor, cotton grass, heather, Leek, Peak District, Pride and Prejudice, Ramshaw Rocks, rocks, Staffordshire Moorland, walking

Sunday 16th August was Richard’s birthday and we marked it quietly by attending one of the churches in Leek and then having an early lunch at one of our favourite cafés.  My own father died shortly before my birthday five years ago and so I knew a little how Richard was feeling.

The church we attended was St Edward the Confessor and we were comforted by the familiar words of the service and afterwards were made very welcome by members of the congregation.  I mentioned this church in a post I wrote about the visit we made last year to the Peak District.  In that same post is a mention of the favourite café.   We were concerned to see that the café was up for sale.  Would it still be there next time we visited Leek and if it was, would it still provide us with tasty oatcakes?

I didn’t take any photographs of the interior of the church but Richard did with his phone.  The church contains some beautiful embroidery and stained glass.

Stained glass in the church of St Edward the Confessor, Leek

Stained glass window – St Edward the Confessor

I know that one window in the north transept was designed by Edward Burne Jones and made by Morris and Co.  Not having any means of finding out for certain which of these two windows is the window I cannot tag the photo.  (I think it might be the round window).

Hen Cloud from Ramshaw Rocks

The following day, we drove the short distance to Ramshaw Rocks as we wanted to walk on them again.  We parked the car by the side of the narrow road and walked up to the first of the rocks – the one we call the ‘Top Hat’ rock.

‘Top Hat’ rock. I expect you can’t understand why we call it that!

I can see another photo-bombing bee!

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) and Bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus)

A sweet and juicy bilberry!

Beautiful grasses – possibly Tufted Hair-grass (Deschampsia cespitosa)

Perhaps you see now why we call it the ‘Top Hat’!

This rock may look familiar to some of you.  Perhaps I should give you a clue.  Stick with the link – you will see the rock eventually.  If you haven’t the patience, the rock appears at 4.38 minutes into the clip.

This rock can be seen very clearly from the road on your left as you go north along the A53 from Leek to Buxton.

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The photos in the slideshow are all of the rocks we saw on our walk.

A view of the surrounding countryside from Ramshaw Rocks

I was surprised to see this Common Cotton-grass (Eriophorum angustifolium) still in flower in August

Lichen and moss on a rock

More Common Cotton-grass

A cocoon on Heather. I don’t know what made the cocoon.

Tormentil (Potentilla erecta)

Richard climbing up the hill

A view

and another!

Richard and the carved boulder

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Alpacas

This is some type of Bedstraw plant. Note the pink spots on the flower buds.

I found this tiny fir tree next to the path.

This colourful Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) caught my eye.

We had by this time walked back to near where we had begun our walk.  We returned to our caravan for our evening meal and a hot drink.

Thanks for visiting!