11.11.21 November
visit to the Mysterious Stanton Moor, Whitworth Park and the Pickled Pear
One misty moisty morning three ladies went out to visit the nine ladies at Stanton Moor with a mere sketch of a map which took us round in a big circle as if trying to catch the Woozle.
Pam, Jo and Alison met at the car park by Birchover quarry – the sat nav code was useless… and took Jo somewhere near Longcliffe quarry!! Luckily Pam and Alison didn’t use a sat nav. Unfortunately Julia was at home with a bad cold but thought she could manage lunch.
The rock climbers were absent today and there were no good views due to the fog.
The light and mist was really atmospheric and ethereal. Pam bravely led the way.
Who is Pam photographing?
Look out for the huge fruit bat flying over the woodland glade.
Beautiful pearls of misty dew. The spiders were up all night working on their intricate webs.
Alison striding out to the nine ladies – we come to ….
……dance round the stones
The spell is set and ready to bring out the sunshine
Who is camping in the woods?
Breakfast foraging for edible fungi …
The mist starts to clear before the ramblers arrive…
Peacocks strut noisily through the crispy autumn leaves….
Mini sculptures of rock stacks by school children on a day out in Derbyshire … renewed happy memories of AGS art trips out in the fresh air?
Passing by the quarry blasting – thank goodness the sign is not from English Heritage.
On to Whitworth Park to find some points of interest and birdlife as our list was very short from Stanton Moor. Onzain in France is twinned with Darley Dale, they are celebrating 30 years together.
11.11.21 Armistice day – the cannon in front of Whitworth Park Hotel
The park and war memorial which seemed very appropriate today.
Little bridge but still no bird life
Lovely autumn beech trees.
The Gelly Babes at the Pickled Pear.
Pam’s pics
Three ladies on the stones from a different angle
Jo and Alison striding onwards
Topics of conversation were very varied:
• Sticky ears and olive oil. Doctors and deafness? One ear could be treated for £50 or two treated for £70. What a bargain!
• Incipient Alzheimer’s – we’re all wondering… but it’s good to help our friends finish a sentence and remember a name.
• The success and the full gamut of emotions at the recent performance of Handel’s Messiah at St Mary’s Church Wirksworth, 80 singers and Chris Dixon on the organ, following Lynn’s baton on her wedding anniversary.
• Dodgy land ownership and the complications of land registry past and present.
• Visits to glorious Cornwall
• Autumn colours
• An exhaustive discussion about the December Gellybabes pre-Christmas meet up - what day? Where? Who? Etc. Possible venues – The Stone Centre, The Pickled Pear or Carsington Breakfast? Lunch?
Bird list
Stanton Moor.
Magpie, crow, great tit, pheasant, peacock, wood pigeon
Whitworth Park
Jackdaw, mallards, coots, moorhens, cormorant, grey heron, black bird, squirrel
13 for the day!! And a squirrel.
Meanwhile somewhere in Yorkshire……..
Cheers!
The bird sightings from the Yorkshire contingent were as follows: bullfinch, many jays, red kites, song thrush and an unidentified beast bird which did an enormous poo on the car windscreen when I was driving! In fact in might have been a baby pterodactyl!
And from our roving reporter in Norfolk …..
Sea birding at Titchwell-in-the-mist
A rare viewing of a shorelark at Holkham
As it was foggy the Norfolk sightings were greatly reduced, key birds which caused excitement were red throated diver in sea mist, demented sanderlings scampering around on the beach, avocets not yet migrated, water-rail lurking in the reed beds, lots of pink footed geese and to cap it off the first barn owl of the year.
