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| Meden Valley |
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| Distant view of Pleasley Pit - now a mining museum with some impressive winding engines |
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| Magnesian limestone quarry on outskirts of Mansfield Woodhouse |
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| War memorial in Pleasley Vale |
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| ... but not today |
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| Mill 1 and pond |
Pleasley Vale, 28th February 2016
Here are some images from today's walk starting in Pleasley Vale. This deep, narrow valley, formed by the River Meden cutting down through the underlying magnesian limestone escarpment, has been the location for industry since at least 1767, when two forges and a corn mill are known to have been operating, powered by the river.
Radcliffe on Trent and Holme Pierrepont, 17th February 2016
Six people turned up expecting to walk to Holme Pierrepont, Bassingfield and along the Grantham Canal ...
... but the wet weather and muddy paths put us off so we agreed to go round the rowing lake and canoeing slalem course.
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| Spot the canoeist - probably drier than us |
Granby, 14th February, 2016
Janet led twenty five of us on this 7½ mile walk from All Saints Church in Granby to Barnstone, Plungar and
back to Granby. Here are some photos from Steve.
On the way we passed the new biodigester at Barnstone. Planning permission for this seems to have been granted with little publicity - the one at Orston was refused. More details on this and the one at Cropwell Bishop can be found in this Rushcliffe document here where other local renewable opportunities are also discussed.
My understanding of the Barnstone plant is that it will use energy crops grown locally. The (endlessly debated) pros and cons of this can be found on the internet but the main drawback is that a plant with a capacity of one megawatt requires over 20 thousand tonnes [of e.g. maize] a year accounting for a massive 450 to 500 hectares of land. This is a fundamental problem arising from the less than 1% energy conversion efficiency of photosythesis and the 30% efficiency of converting methane energy to electricity. Other opinions are available.
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| Lunch on the canal |
My understanding of the Barnstone plant is that it will use energy crops grown locally. The (endlessly debated) pros and cons of this can be found on the internet but the main drawback is that a plant with a capacity of one megawatt requires over 20 thousand tonnes [of e.g. maize] a year accounting for a massive 450 to 500 hectares of land. This is a fundamental problem arising from the less than 1% energy conversion efficiency of photosythesis and the 30% efficiency of converting methane energy to electricity. Other opinions are available.
Dovedale, Manifold Valley and Milldale, 7th February 2016
Today's walk ...
... explored the limestone country between Dovedale and the Manifold, passing through Ilam, Stanshope, Alstonfield and Milldale.
We started in the main Dovedale car park ...
... before passing through Ilam and its attractive buildings.
... explored the limestone country between Dovedale and the Manifold, passing through Ilam, Stanshope, Alstonfield and Milldale.
We started in the main Dovedale car park ...
... but had to avoid the boggy ground below Bunster Hill ...
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| Ilam Cross - based on the 700 year old Eleanor Crosses but this memorial cross is only 170 years old |
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| Ilam School |
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| Ilam Church |
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| Ilam Hall and Youth Hostel |
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| Examining the water emerging from below Ilam Hall - the source of the Manifold in Summer |
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| Castern Hall above Ilam |
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| Descent from Stanshope to Dale Bottom in Milldale |
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| Snowdrops in Milldale |
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| Alstonefield Church |
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| Lunch outside The George, Alstonfield |
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| Viators Bridge, Milldale |
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| Ram pump house remains |
The ram pump is a simple device for using a low head/high flow stream such as the Dove to pump water up to higher ground. We last came across a working one between Clapham and the Ingleborough Caves. Surprisingly (to me) they are still in production (see below).
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| The famous stepping stones - flooded today |
John and Eileen then left us and were last seen descending from the slopes of Thorpe Cloud - watch this space to see if they made it to the summit.
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