Eyam Middleton Moor RFM Blue Line

 Eyam Middleton Moor 

RFM Blue Line

Walking with my brother

11/10/24

We met at the church in Eyam at just before 9.00 o'clock. As the walks are a little shorter now we are getting into the darker months we can set off later. It was still a suprise when I had to de-ice the car before setting off. 

Peter was dressed in the many layers he employs in the winter to keep warm. He has no fat on him unlike me so suffers from the cold. We both had warm coats and hat and gloves on. It was the first outing for months for my favourite orange woolly hat.

In the photo of the church from the start of the walk you can see the frost on the ground.

We headed down Eyam Dale along the road as there is no footpath, luckily it is not busy. On our left we could see a limestone rock face which is probably the result of quarrying. Its hard to tell round here what is natural and what is quarry.

The first climb up past Darlton Quarry was unremittingly steep. It was well fenced off and needed to be as there was quite a drop.

Looking back to the wooded steep slopes of the very narrow Middleton Dale. We were to meet these later.

The view back down the hill towards Eyam was great.

To the right of Black Harry Lane there was an old quarry and this marvellous huge stone wall marked its boundary. We speculated on how they got these blocks in place many years ago. We decided it must have been steam powered cranes or something. 

At this point we passed a field full of cows with the one on the right that I mistook for a bull. Peter quite rightly pointed out it had udders and the bull was further across the field. It was however the most muscular cow I think I have ever seen.

We passed a huge stone with a large ring in it. We again speculated on why they would do such a thing and came up with the solution that it must have been the counter weight for the steam crane, neat.

We passed a man made pool of fenced in water in the bottom corner of a field. We had seen a couple of these last week and were curious as to their origin and purpose. We debated whether they could be used to water the livestock but dismissed it as unlikely. We were stumped.

As we started on the walk to the lake at Blakedon Hollow we wnet through Black Harry Gate and I suggested that Black Harry had probably been fastened to the ring on the boulder and left to perish. Peter suggested that he had been left there as a punishment and then released alive. There is some meaning in this but its too deep for me.

The lake was inaccessible but we could see a flock of Canada Geese on it.

Another one.

We sat on the roadside wall at White Rake and had a coffee and bun. It was actually warming up but still fresh. The air was really clear. The views were fine.

The sheep guarded the path but gave in just before we got to him and ran away.

The lonely tree in a massive landscape was perfect.

Sheep sheep and more sheep.

We dropped off the moor onto the road/lane past Cavendish Mill. The mill is an active fluorspar mill. I've heard of flourspar but have no idea what it is used for.

Past the mill.

The ivy covered surroundings of Farnsley Lane was a little spooky. The lane itself was leaf covered and slippy. Only one car passed us along this interesting little wooded dale.

We crossed the main A623 road into Middleton Dale and the quarry limestone face could be seen through the trees on our left.

The quarry face looks almost natural. This lump of limestone is quite impressive. At the base of this cliff we met 2 fellows who were just starting their walk. We discussed the limestone for a while wondering how many billions of sea creatures made up this cliff. These had been the first people we had seen for a long while. 

 

The small stretch through the wood and up the slope of Middleton Dale which we had seen from the top of Durnston Quarry earlier was to quote 'not for the feint-hearted.' Traversing the dale the drop off to the right was getting higher and higher and steeper and steeper and the narrowpath was crossed with brambles and hidden by vegetation. Seriously scary. It was a matter of head down and concentrate and get to the end without mishap.

We emerged from the wood and headed across the fields towards Eyam.

We were parked next to the church in this photo.

As we passed these houses we came across a chap with a young labrador called Betty. I asked him if he could tell us what the circular pools were and after looking at our photos he was pretty sure they are what they call dew ponds used to water livestock. I told him I'd google it. When I got home I looked it up and its true they are. To quote. 'A dew pond is an artificial pond usually sited on the top of a hill, intended for watering livestock. Dew ponds are used in areas where a natural supply of surface water may not be readily available.' This makes sense as the underlying rock is limestone which is notorious for drying out in the summer as limestone does not stop water.

This 6 mile walk was basically straight up and down Middleton Moor and took less than 3 hours. It was an interesting and in parts beautiful walk and well worth doing.

Distance	6.43	miles
Duration	2.41	hours
Avg. Speed	2.39	mph
Total Ascent	1158	ft
Steps	14,527