Daffodils

Daffodil in the garden

The daffodils are at their best now. Here are a couple of photos taken in our garden this morning.

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(Panasonic Lumix TZ10)

Lady of the Lake

Lady of the Lake boathouse, Rudyard Lake

This attractive boathouse was built in 1893. At that time Rudyard Lake was a major tourist destination. The building incorporates a ships figurehead in the side of the chimney!
(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 24mm, 1/200s @ f/7.1, heavily cropped)

Rudyard Lake Steam Railway

Preparing "Excalibur" for a run

The 10¼" gauge railway at Rudyard Lake normally runs at weekends and during school holidays. We were surprised to find that there was an engine in steam today and that a train was run along the 1½ miles of track. We took a trip with Button and two friends from Ireland.
(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 16mm, 1/200s @ f/7.1)

Ladderedge Country Park

Canal Feeder in Ladderedge C.P. - Westwood Golf Course to the right

The small man-made stream bordering Ladderedge Country Park in Leek is the feeder from Rudyard Lake to the Leek arm of the Caldon Canal. Rudyard Lake was constructed at the end of the 18th century to supply water to the Leek Canal. It runs 2½ miles from Rudyard Lake to the canal head at the edge of Leek. Westwood Golf Club sits prettily in the valley to the right in the photo.
(Panasonic Lunix TZ10)

St.Edward the Confessor, Cheddleton

Church and Lych Gate at Cheddleton

The 12th century church of St Edward the Confessor at Cheddleton together with its magnificent stone lych gate. A lych gate is a covered porch at the entrance to a churchyard. Lych is from the Old English word for a corpse. The first part of the funeral service used to be conducted by the priest in the shelter of the lych gate before moving on into the churchyard for the burial. This example was built in the late 19th century and is a grade II listed building.
(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 11mm, 1/500s @ f/7.1)

Chrome Hill

Chrome Hill

Chrome Hill, with its partner Parkhouse Hill, are the remains of a tropical atoll reef formed when what is now the Peak District was covered by a warm sea. The hill is also known as "The Dragon's Back". One of my favourite places in the Peak District!
(Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-70mm @ 48mm, 1/400s @ f/6.3)

Churnet Valley Railway

5199 leaving Cheddleton Station

GWR Large Prairie Tank 5199 was built in 1934 and restored to steam in 2003. It is on loan to the Churnet Valley Railway and is hauling 5 trains each Sunday from Cheddleton to Froghall and back. Cheddleton Station is only a short walk from our home. There will be lots more photos over the coming months I am sure!
(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 19mm, 1/40s @ f/16, ISO 250)

Magpie Mine

Pit Head and Beam Engine House at the Magpie Mine

The Magpie Mine is a disused lead mine near Monyash in the Peak District. Derbyshire had many lead mines in the past, some deep mines like this one and some shallow surface mines. Magpie Mine is the best preserved of the deep mines. The main shaft is 222 meters deep although the bottom 47 meters is flooded. The Cornish Beam Engine was installed inside the engine house in 1840. It was used to pump water out of the mine. The steel pit head and cage date from the most recent workings of the mine in the 1950s.
The mine is said to be cursed and haunted. The curse was laid by the widows of three men killed in the mine in 1833 during a dispute between two different sets of miners when their tunnels met.
(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 14mm, 1/125s @ f/5.6)

Arbor Low

Arbor Low stone circle

Arbor Low stone circle is one of the largest in England but much less famous than Stonehenge! A circle of 50 or so recumbent stones lies inside a near circular ditch and bank "henge" some 90m in diameter. There are entrances at the southwest and northeast and a central arrangement of seven stones called a "cove". The henge and circle are around 4000 years old. The largest stones measure over 2 meters in length. It is not clear whether the stones were toppled in medieval times by locals worried about the pagan nature of the site or whether they were never raised upright in the first place.

(Canon EOS 60D, Tamron 10-24mm @ 10mm, 1/200s @ f/5.6)