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October 21, 2020

Derwent Valley Heritage Way 9 – Belper to Milford

Walk 8 was on 2 September 2019, walk 9 on 4 September 2020 – and that was only by accident. I started in the Oxfam Bookshop – a superb Oxfam Bookshop, but buying two heavy books at the start of the walk was just stupid. I went through the Memorial Gardens and admired the flowers. The sculpture is of Jim Green, who died on the Somme – http:// belperinwartime.org/sacrifice.html Then I decided I would follow the Derwent Valley Heritage Way towards Milford. It was a lovely walk. I went through Belper Parks, then the edge of the town, and...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/Derwent Walk/Railway History Comments: 0
September 23, 2020

northernvicarwalks August 2020

I’ve already blogged the National Memorial Arboretum and my 5 mile walk there on the 1st of the month. We opened St Edmund’s in Allestree on 2 August – so both my churches were open within three weeks of it being possible. I commented it would have been so helpful if the Church of England had provided all the signage we needed – which they did, in the middle of September (8 weeks after I’d needed them). After the service we drove to the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway for tea in Queen Victoria’s carriage. Built in 1885 for...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/National Trust/Railway History/Staffordshire/Wales/Yorkshire Comments: 0
August 23, 2020

Blist’s Hill Victorian Town, Shropshire – St Chad

Last November we purchased an Annual Pass for the Ironbridge Museum in their Black Friday deals. Then came winter, then came Covid. We drove over a few weeks ago to collect it, but it was a wet, horrible day and after a couple of hours at Blist’s Hill we had had enough. On Friday 21 August we booked a 10 am admission, and were there exactly on time. The weather was rather better. We ambled across to the Canal, and admired Trevithick’s loco which was built here in 1802 (this replica dated 1990 – I would love to see...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Railway History/Shropshire Comments: 0
August 20, 2020

National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire – beside the river

Our next amble was from the Naval area up beside the River Tame to the railway, then back in the direction of the ‘Shot at Dawn’ memorial, which we’ll do in the next blog. Here are a selection of the memorials we passed. I ought to know more about the trees and the wildlife. ‘Every which way’ is the British Evacuees Association Memorial. It was unveiled in 2017 and the sculptor was Maurice Bilk. “Through the deliberate distortion of the figures; reversed hands and some torsos twisted 180 degrees, the memorial conveys some of the anxiety and confusion the...
Categories Railway History/Staffordshire/World War 1 Comments: 0
March 17, 2020

northernvicarwalks (and has train rides) – February 2020

This is the month that a Barham makes it into Railway Magazine. It’s not me, it’s Hannah – in a feature on the problems of disability access to trains. This was her first ride on an LNER Azuma (and I haven’t been on one yet). We had a series of wet weekends, and on Monday 6 February the Derwent was very high. I walked six miles round Darley Park. In the afternoon we had a snow shower (Sarah photed St Matthew’s Darley Abbey). It lasted just long enough to photo St Edmund’s Allestree looking lovely. The only snow of...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Lincolnshire/Personal/Railway History/Wales Comments: 0
February 7, 2020

northernvicarwalks – Etwall to Burton (William Stanley Way 2)

Tuesday 4 February. I have a free day, so I’ll leave Caroline to run the office and Julie to go to the Old People’s Lunch. I drove to Etwall, parked by the church and started walking. I have decided to call it the William Stanley Way – he was Earl of Derby and has been suggested as one of the authors of Shakespeare. You would think you would be able to reach the old railway path by walking through the grounds of Etwall Leisure Centre, but there is a fence to separate walkers from squash players. Better to access...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/Railway History/Staffordshire Comments: 0
February 2, 2020

northernvicarwalks – January 2020 (everything else)

I started the year with a 7 mile walk – into town via Chester Green and back via Markeaton Brook – and on 3rd I did 5 miles which included a wander past Darley Abbey Mill. A bit more over the next few days. On Saturday 11 I followed some of the paths opposite the University which I had not done before. The following day I had the afternoon off and went to Rotherham to visit the South Yorkshire Transport Museum. They run a connecting bus from the station, but I missed it and therefore had a walk along...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/London/Northumberland/Railway History/Trams/World War 1/Yorkshire Comments: 0
February 1, 2020

northernvicarwalks – January 2020 and the start of a Pilgrimage (to Etwall) – William Stanley Way 1

In 2017 I said I would try and walk 1,000 miles. I failed. In 2018 I said I would try and walk 1,000 miles. I failed again. In 2019 I kept quiet – then had to have a minor op in the autumn which meant I wasn’t in a fit state to do much walking. I did some academic work on pilgrimage to Lindisfarne, but lack of exercise meant my weight and my blood pressure increased. I signed up to try Nordic Walking, and enjoyed it. I purchased some poles for Christmas, and we’ll see how far we get...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/Railway History Comments: 0
January 31, 2020

Acle, Norfolk – St Edmund

We are having a few days in Norfolk to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary. Friends Rob and Anne drove up for the day and we walked down into the village. The girls took up residence in the tea room while the boys went and explored St Edmund’s church – TG 641203. There is a website at https://www.abychurches.co.uk/ – Acle and Bure to Yare benefice, lots of churches to visit. It is also worth mentioning Simon Knott’s site – http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/acle/acle.htm  The church is on the corner in the middle of the village. Nice view from the south side, and a...
Categories Norfolk/Railway History/World War 1 Comments: 0
November 1, 2019

Birmingham – Hall of Memory

On Saturday 19 October I was allowed an escape day. I started with my flu jab, then caught the train from Duffield to Derby and on (on a packed Cross Country train) to Birmingham. I eventually managed to escape from New Street (how could they make such a mess of a station rebuild?) and walked to the Library of Birmingham. Why does Birmingham have a stunning library when in Derby they closed a beautiful Victorian library and handed everything else over to community control? The Library is hosting an exhibition called “Watt in the World, the life and legacy...
Categories Birmingham/Railway History/West Midlands/World War 1 Comments: 0