Ethel #1: Stanton Moor


So sometime on New Year's Eve, Kevin and I decided that it would be a bit of a challenge to do the Ethels.  The Ethels are 95 Peak District hill tops over 400m above sea level, plus some other significant hills.  The challenge was created last year by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, in honour of Ethel Haythornthwaite, a countryside pioneer who was instrumental in the setting up of the UK's first National Park, the Peak District.  You can find out more about her and the challenge here:


It's been a bit of a thing with us that since we married in 2002, we've never done much walking in the Peak District.  As we live in a beautiful place already, we've tended to go for a walk near our home, usually ending in a local pub.  But, as Kevin is CEV, we haven't done pubs (or anywhere else) since the pandemic began!

Joan's sister, Christine, first let us know about the Ethel challenge when it was launched last year and, given the pandemic isn't going to end for us any time soon, it seemed a great thing to focus on.  We're also spurred on by the newest member of the household, Fuchsia, our 4 month old puppy.  We sadly lost our much beloved JB in October, but, by great luck, we were offered her great niece a few days later.

This tiny bundle of fun weighed a mere 220g when she was born, but is already at 4 months old, growing up to be a strapping girl who loves walking and tangling Kevin up in her lead.  We want to spend as much time as we can with her, and this challenge made sure we would all have a joint focus.

So which Ethel to do first?  Things got off to a late start as Joan went for a run this morning which took at least two hours of procrastination to motivate her.  While she was out Kevin had identified three Ethels around Ashbourne, but they take a time to get to and we hadn't even had breakfast.

So we chose a nearer Ethel, Stanton Moor, overlooking the Derwent Valley and redolent with ancient history.  It's the home of the Nine Ladies Stone Circle as well as many other Bronze Age sites.  It's also an easy walk for a not-so-small pup to handle.

The walk was easy steady, past the Cork Stone and up to the trig point.  First Ethel bagged!  Then on to the Stone Circle where Fuchsia barked at everyone.  One lass commented that when she heard the bark, she thought it was a big dog like an Alsatian, not a small puppy!

We visited the tower folly and walked the Duke's Highway.   Not a challenging walk but good to see a bit of Derbyshire that we wouldn't normally see.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th January 2025 - - Whaley to Salta

Image
We dropped off Fuchsia at 4 Paws and the Meezers at Mrs Harris' on Friday.  Our friens, Anne and Nick are looking after Clementine. Having packed, we left home at noon.   The roads were icy and the fields were still covered in snow. The journey to Heathrow was uneventful, except a 30 stoppage near Luton. We are leaving our csr at the Sheraton Skyline.  Built in 1971, it was one of the first hotels to cater for mass tourism by plane. In its heart is what was called El Caribe Paiio, a whimsical fake tropical garden, replete with bamboo shack and pool.  It features in the Status Quo video for Marguerita Nights. The area was closed for cleaning, but Joan got a few snaps. We booked an Uber to Terminal 3 for £15 via a machine in the hotel lobby.   It was several hours before our hysical chevk- in opened but there were machines in the terminal where you could print off your own baggage labels. We cleared securit...
Read more

Tuesday 13th January 2026: Up to Cotopaxi

Image
A faint rainbow where a volcano should be! We're sad to leave Quito as there is so much more we could have done.  However our whistlestop tour won't let us linger for long. Today we are moving on to Cotopaxi which is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.  We're staying in a lodge in Chasqui which is reknowned for its views of the mountain.   Chasqui isn't really a town and our hotel is 500m off the Pan-Americana, so the thought of catching a bus and then having to walk with big suitcases to the lodge did not appeal.  So we messaged the hotel and they arranged a lift for us. Cotopaxi is in an area called the Avenida de los volcanes, a name given by Alexander von Humboldt.  It runs for 200 km and has several active volcanoes en route.  Situated in Ecuadorian altiplano, Joan imagined a bare and desolate landscape, with barren snow capped volcanoes, like those in the north of Chile and Bolivia.  It was nothing like it. Our driv...
Read more

Saturday 10th January 2026: Ecuador - finally

Image
A few days ago a Facebook memory came up from January 2020.  We,d just got back from a three week holiday in St Kitts and Joan had already bought guidebooks for Ecuador, planning our Christmas 2020 adventure. Well, what a year that was, and little did we know world travel for us would be put on hold for four years. Since then, Ecuador has destabilised due to narcotic gangs and some areas are no longer safe to go to, but the lure of the smoking Andean volcanoes and the magical Galapagos Islands was still there. So, in June, we took the plunge and bought flights to Quito.  In between there have been some petrol blockades, four controversial referenda and night time curfews to muddy the waters, but our resolve was steadfast. For the record the four votes were: - to allow foreign countries (read the USA)  to have permanent military bases in Ecuador, including the Galapagos - ending state funding for political parties, which would disadvantage parties from poorer communitiess,...
Read more