• About my Blog
  • GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and This Site
  • My Life in a Suffolk Lane

A Suffolk Lane

~ A diary of my life in rural north Suffolk.

A Suffolk Lane

Tag Archives: Hen Cloud

Rain Almost Stops Play

01 Tue Nov 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, holidays, Rural Diary, walking

≈ 44 Comments

Tags

good food, Hen Cloud, Meerbrook, Peak District, Rain, Ramshaw Rocks, The Lazy Trout, The Roaches, Tittesworth Water, views, walking

We woke on the fourth full day of our holiday to thick cloud and while we ate our breakfast we heard the first raindrops on the roof of our caravan.  We spent a little time tidying and cleaning the caravan and then drove into town to do some shopping in the supermarket.  It was very wet by the time we had finished so we were glad to get back and have a hot cup of coffee.  We had arranged to have a meal with Richard’s brother Chris and it was booked for 1.30 pm at ‘The Lazy Trout’ in Meerbrook, a village a few minutes drive away.  We set off at 1.15.

Photograph borrowed from the internet.

My brother-in-law arrived shortly after we did and we enjoyed an extremely pleasant meal in this very welcoming place.  If anyone is in the area I would heartily recommend the food – it is delicious!

We had thought we might have a walk round Tittesworth Water after our meal but the rain was still heavy so we returned to our caravan for hot drinks and a chat.  Chris stayed with us until 6.30 pm by which time the rain had stopped.  Richard and I decided not to waste a nice evening and so drove to Hen Cloud and did our once yearly clamber up to the top.

p1010201view

Looking towards Tittesworth Water from where we parked the car.

p1010202ramshaw-rocks

Looking over the wall towards The Roaches

p1010203hen-cloud

Hen Cloud

p1010204hen-cloud

Hen Cloud again

p1010205hen-cloud

Looking East from halfway up the hill.  Ramshaw Rocks are on the left of the photo

p1010206hen-cloud

Looking towards Ramshaw Rocks from even further up Hen Cloud

p1010207hen-cloud

View down to the road and beyond to Tittesworth Water from the top of Hen Cloud. We noticed more bad weather approaching!

p1010208hen-cloud

Definitely more rain on the way!

p1010209hen-cloud

Threatening clouds

p1010210hen-cloud

It still didn’t look too bad in this direction

We decided to get back to the car before the rain arrived.

p1010211hen-cloud

One last look at the reservoir…

p1010212hen-cloud

…and at the views from the top

p1010213hen-cloud

We would have preferred to have stayed up at the top for much longer but the sensible thing to do was to get to the bottom before the rain caused the rocks to get slippery and the low clouds to lessen visibility.  We were surprised to see a group of young boys being taken climbing up the Roaches as we got to the bottom of the hill.  By this time it was about 8.00 pm and the thick cloud was making it very dark.

We were back at our caravan before the rain began again.

To be continued…

Thanks for visiting!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Another Walk up Hen Cloud

15 Sun Nov 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in plants, Rural Diary, walking, wild birds

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

butterfly, caterpillar, eyebright, harebells, heather, Hen Cloud, painted lady, Peak District, Staffordshire Moorland, walking, wild flowers, yarrow

We didn’t have much time for walking on our last full day in the Peak District as we had packing, tidying and cleaning to do as well as taking our awning down.  The ideal walk had to be a short walk and one that was near at hand so we returned to Hen Cloud.  It is just a few minutes drive from where we stay and once there, within quarter of an hour we can be away from the road and up high, looking down.  We try to do this walk every time we visit the Peaks and when we stay there at the end of May/beginning of June we use it as an evening walk.  It is great to be at the top of the hill at 9.00 pm with the sun still shining and the swallows and martins flying round us.  Peregrines nest in the rock crevices of the hill and their calls mingling with the sound of the wind blowing across the tops fills me with such joy.

This time the walk was done during the afternoon in the second half of August so no nesting peregrines and not too many swallows and martins either.

IMG_5557View from road at foot of Hen Cloud

This is the view from the place where we parked our car.

This last day of our holiday was warm at last and quite bright too.  Before setting off on our walk I noticed these flowers by the side of the road.

IMG_5559Pink Yarrow

Some very pink Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

IMG_5560Eyebright (2)

Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis agg.)

IMG_5562Hen Cloud

Hen Cloud

The path we choose to walk up isn’t the steepest of the paths to the top, in fact it is a nice steady ascent – just right for two middle-aged, not very fit people.

IMG_5563

The Roaches seen from the path up Hen Cloud

IMG_5564Ramshaw Rocks

Ramshaw Rocks seen from the path up Hen Cloud

We had never been to the Peaks when the Heather (Calluna vulgaris) was in bloom before.  The pink-purple flowers with the bright green grass was very beautiful.

IMG_5565Climbing Hen Cloud

This is the path we usually take to the top. You can see Richard is quite a way ahead of me.

IMG_5566Ramshaw Rocks

Ramshaw Rocks seen from the top of Hen Cloud.

IMG_5567Tittesworth Reservoir

Tittesworth Reservoir

IMG_5569View from Hen Cloud

View from Hen Cloud.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Heather
Heather
Heather
Heather
IMG_5578Painted Lady

We saw this rather battered and faded Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

IMG_5580Caterpillar

I saw this caterpillar making its way across a rock. I can’t identify it.

All too soon, it was time for us to return to the car.

IMG_5582Harebells

We saw these Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) on the way.

IMG_5584Hen Cloud

Our last view of Hen Cloud from the road.

The following day we got up very early and drove to Sheffield to collect Elinor from Alice’s house.  We only stayed for a couple of minutes and were then on the road back to our camp-site to hitch-up the caravan and then set out for home.

Thanks for visiting!

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Peak District Holiday 1st to 9th July. Day 6.

09 Fri Jan 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Rural Diary, Uncategorized, walking

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Hen Cloud, rocks, The Roaches, Tittesworth Water, walking

048View (640x427)

Tittesworth Reservoir  

After a very pleasant afternoon spent in Manchester with my mother-in-law, Richard and I returned to our caravan near Leek via the ‘Cat and Fiddle’ pass.  This is a road that crosses the Peaks from Macclesfield to Buxton with the Cat and Fiddle pub at the summit at an altitude of 1690 feet.  This has often been voted Britain’s most dangerous road as it has drystone walls along it and has many sharp and sometimes blind bends.  It is a favourite road with motorcyclists.  Richard drove carefully and we enjoyed glorious views across the Cheshire plains and over the moors.  No photographs I’m afraid.

We had a quick meal and after a short rain shower passed over us we decided to go out for an evening walk.  Our favourite short walk is up Hen Cloud and this is what we decided to do that evening.

002View from road HC (640x480)

The shower disappearing over the hill

The hill is a short drive from our camp-site – we can get there in less than ten minutes.

004HenCloud (640x480)

This is Hen Cloud seen from where we parked our car.

006Ascent (640x480)

The most strenuous part of the walk is the steep ascent up the side of a field from the road which always leaves us a little breathless.

007The Roaches (640x480)

At the top of the field is a gate on the right leading to the path up Hen Cloud.  If we look left we see The Roaches.  The word ‘Roaches’ derives from the French word roches – rocks.

013View (640x480)

This is what The Roaches look like when we have ascended Hen Cloud a little.

014Tittesworth Res (480x640)

A view of Tittesworth Reservoir (or Tittesworth Water as it is now called) from near the top of Hen Cloud

016Path (640x480)

As you can see the path is fairly easy and goes through heather and cotton grass.

020Tittesworth Res (640x480)

Tittesworth Water from the top of Hen Cloud. Why do some people feel it necessary to cut their names and messages into rocks and trees?

021Drop to road (640x480)

Looking through a gap in the rock we see the steep drop to the road below.

033Roaches (640x427)

Another view of the Roaches. It has only taken us half an hour to get up here and we are old and infirm – well – nearly!

035View (640x427)

A different view from the top of Hen Cloud

037View (640x427)

And another!

045View (640x427)

Tittesworth Water again

046View (640x427)

These rocks are on the edge of the escarpment

047View camp (640x427)

On the other side of the line of trees below us was a camp full of teenage girls. You wouldn’t believe the noise of incessant chatter that floated up to us on the still evening air! Or perhaps you would, if you have anything to do with teenage girls!

052Rocks (640x427)

A close-up of one of the rocks. This, I believe, is Gritstone which erodes easily. It is a coarse type of Sandstone.

055Plants (640x427)

Grasses and flowers living in the cracks in the rocks.  A few lichens there too.

056Rocks (640x427)

Strange rock shapes

057Rocks (640x427)

And more strange rocks.

We are always a little sad to leave the top of Hen Cloud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Holiday Memories and Other Musings

28 Fri Feb 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in Rural Diary, Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

'Local Hero', Austrian Tirol, Cinqueterre, Hen Cloud, holidays, Lake District, Lake Garda, lambs, Limone, Long Sleddale, Northern lights, Ramshaw Rocks, Staffordshire Peaks, Tuscany

So nice to be at home for the day – no trips to the shops or doctors and no errands to run.  Spent the day recovering from a bad headache which bothered me yesterday and doing lots of ironing – lovely!  R phoned me earlier and mentioned that I might be able to see the Northern Lights this evening.  Went out well wrapped up as it is quite frosty tonight but wasn’t lucky enough to see them.  I would love to be able to see them – one of my greatest dreams I think.  I love the scene in the film ‘Local Hero’ when the young American oilman sees them while on the phone to his boss on the night of the ceilidh.  Tonight, in spite of waiting for some time and turning into a block of ice I saw nothing.  The stars were extremely bright but there was some light pollution on the northern horizon.  Heard a tawny owl in the distance and some squeaking in the hedge from some type of rodent.  How strange it feels to walk in the dark outside!  The heavens so clear above and so big and then not to be able to see the ground or one’s legs and feet at all.  Is it like swimming?  Almost a floating feeling – as though with just a little effort one might be able to rise up and up to the stars.

Rainy, wet morning today and then showers (some hail too) and then a little sunshine.

R and I have been talking about past holidays recently and thinking about where we might go this year so I’ve decided to post a few pictures of some of our holiday destinations over the last few years.

Last summer’s holiday was in Tuscany – so lovely.  Here are two photos I took on a trip to the Cinqueterre.

016The sea (640x480)

 

023Sea view (640x480)

For the last few years we have gone to the Staffordshire Peaks in early summer.  It is a wonderful place for a holiday and also close to Manchester where R’s relatives live.

045Moorland walk (480x640)

054Moorland walk (480x640)

010Hen Cloud (640x480)

015Hen Cloud (480x640)

020View from Hen Cloud (640x480)

086View from Hen Cloud (640x480)

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the Lake District at Easter in 2010.  Lots of lovely lambs!

017Lambs (640x480)

018Lambs (640x480)

 

 

The same year we went to the Austrian Tirol.  We had gone to the same places in 1994 for our honeymoon.  The Lakes immediately after our wedding and with A for a week and then to Austria in August just the two of us.  A went to Disneyland Paris with her Dad for a week and stayed with my parents for the second week.

062Mountain view (640x480)

063Mountain view (640x480)

 

 

In 2011 we went to Limone on the banks of Lake Garda in Italy

098View at Limone (640x480)

106Sunset (640x480)

 

 

Where to this year?

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...
Follow A Suffolk Lane on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 688 other followers

I talk about what it's like living in a quiet part of Suffolk. I am a wife, mother and daughter, a practising Christian and love the natural world that surrounds me. I enjoy my life - most of the time!

My Posts

May 2022
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Feb    

Pages

  • About my Blog
  • GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and This Site
  • My Life in a Suffolk Lane

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Posts I Like

amphibians art Arts and Crafts churches cooking Days out domestic animals family fish Folk Traditions Gardening Historic Buildings holidays Insects Landscaping literature music Norwich plants Rural Diary seashore theatre trees Uncategorized walking weather wild animals wild birds wild flowers woodland

Tags

architecture autumn beach berries birds blackbird blackthorn butterfly church clouds common knapweed cow parsley crocus daffodils Diary dogwood family field maple flowers fungus garden gardening geese greylags ground-ivy Halesworth Hawthorn heather holiday Holly Holy Week horse chestnut Hoverfly insects ivy Lake District Lent lesser celandine lichen Lords and Ladies Mallard mallards Minsmere moorhen moss music Norwich Peak District pheasant plants pond ponds primrose primroses Rain rooks Rumburgh Rumburgh Church sheep Sheffield snow snowdrops spring Suffolk Suffolk Wildlife Trust sunset the Beck trees viburnum bodnantense walking weather wild cherry wild flowers winter-flowering honeysuckle witch-hazel

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Goodreads

Blog at WordPress.com.

Interesting Literature

A Library of Literary Interestingness

naturechirp

Celebrating God's creatures, birds and plants...

Sophie Neville

Writer and Producer

Going Batty in Wales

Developing a more sustainable lifestyle in SW Wales

Paol Soren

A bit of this and that

Our Lake District Escapades

Exploring the Lake District and beyond

Making Book

All sorts of stuff about books and book manufacturing

Julian Hoffman

Notes from Near and Far

Short Walks & Long Paths

Wandering tales from around the coast of Wales

Dukes and Princes

History, heritage and genealogy about Europe's highest ranking aristocrats

The Biking Gardener

An English persons experience of living and gardening in Ireland

Nan's Farm

A Journal Of Everyday Life

Walk the Old Ways

Rambling Journeys in Britain with John Bainbridge. Fighting for the Right to Roam. Campaigning to Protect Our Countryside.

Writer Side UP!

Waking the Writer Side...and keeping it "Up!"

Meggie's Adventures

Travel, thank you notes and other stories from Meg King-Sloan

amusicalifeonplanetearth

Music and the Thoughts It Can Inspire

lovefoundation.co.uk

Traveling Tortuga

Simply Living Well

Pakenham Water Mill

Historic watermill in the beautiful Suffolk countryside

Take It Easy

Retired, not expired: words from the after(work)life. And music. Lots of music!

Secret Diary Of A Church of England Vicar's Wife

Public Rights of Way Explorer

PROW Explorer

thanksfortheadventureorg.wordpress.com/

The Beat Goes On

#TBGO

PLESZAK

Frank Pleszak's Blogs

John Bainbridge Writer

Indie Writer and Publisher

roughwighting

Life in a flash - a weekly writing blog

Walking the Old Ways

Rambling in the British Countryside

A Voice from Iran

Storytelling, short stories, fable, folk tales,...

CapKane

thoughts on social realities

SkyeEnt

Jottings from Skye

jodie richelle

embracing my inner homemaker

Skizzenbuch/Blog

Just another WordPress.com weblog

Author Kevin Cooper

Life, Love, Tears & Laughter: Then, Now & Hereafter.

Have Bag, Will Travel

The Call of the Pen

Flash Fiction, Book Reviews, Devotionals and other things.

Book Jotter

Reviews, news, features and all things books for passionate readers

John's Postcards

STADTAUGE

Ailish Sinclair

Stories and photos from Scotland

Art in Nature

The ‘Beauty of the Moment’

The Strawberry Post

Here to Entertain, Educate & Inspire!

You dream, I photographe it !

Smile! You’re in Barnier World......

theinfill

the things that come to hand

Dr. Mary Ann Niemczura

Author of "A Past Worth Telling"

Provincial Woman

LIFE IN MUD SPATTERED BOOTS

A Quiet Celebration of Life on a British Farm

The Pink Wheelbarrow

The Mindful Gardener

The sensory pleasures and earthy delights of gardening.

Luanne Castle's Writer Site

Memoir, poetry, & writing theory

  • Follow Following
    • A Suffolk Lane
    • Join 688 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • A Suffolk Lane
    • Customise
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
    %d bloggers like this: