Walking Wednesday

It was definitely not 'wordless' on Walking Wednesday as about a dozen of us climbed up and down the rolling hills around Cubley in Derbyshire. As one of the walkers remarked "Aren't we a noisy lot!" as we filled the air with our lively chatter and laughter. It's a real test of fitness to be able to keep up with the conversation on steep ascents. On this walk there were plenty of really dodgy stiles to negotiate, which gave us the chance to catch our breath as we waited our turn. I know I'm no lightweight, but I had great difficulty squeezing through some of them, eventually popping out like a cork from a bottle. And some appear to have been designed for people with exceptionally long legs, so that getting up and down the steps is quite a problem. I know I've moaned about it before, but why do the farmers wrap barbed wire around the posts where we put our hands as we climb over? Disappointingly the grey mist never lifted to reveal the lovely views that Jo and Peter, our leaders, had hoped we'd enjoy. Still, it was an interesting area, with some history. Lunch was taken outside St Andrew's Church at Cubley. Jo was eager to show us the painted walls inside, and in the churchyard there were some unusual gravestones, such as the one to John Goodall, who died 30 October 1704, with its rather spooky shrouded figure carved on the back (or was it the front?). I thought it looked like an infant in swaddling clothes, but we could not see an age on the stone. Cubley was the birthplace of Michael, father of Samuel Johnson.

Across the road from the church are the lumps and bumps of what remains of a moated manor, once the chief seat of the Montgomery family. It was pulled down during the mid 16th century and reputedly the materials were saved for the building of Somersal Herbert Hall, not far away. Built for John Fitzherbert in 1564, but incorporating an older hall from around 1500, this is quite a striking building but, I have to add, does not list to the right quite as much as my photo may suggest! It would be worth returning to the area hopefully on a better day next time.