I have all kinds of ideas for posts about local history; however, the regular changes in what we can and can’t do keep getting in the way of my tracking down that one last picture or detail I need. Fortunately, I managed to fit in a photography walk while visiting my parents last weekend. I’ve mentioned Bamford Mill before, and that’s where our walk starts. When I met a pair of ducks making pretty ripples on the River Derwent just above the weir, I decided to give my walk and photographs a watery theme.

Having watched the ducks for a while, I wandered down past the weir and crossed the river by the stepping stones and the bridge.

 

On the middle of the bridge is one of the sculptures that makes up part of the Touch Stone Trail. These were created as a community project to celebrate the Millennium and have lasted incredibly well. This one incorporates steam engines on the two railways (the Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield and the disused railway that used to carry building materials from Bamford Station to the reservoirs when those were being built) as well as Edna the mill engine.

From the other side of the bridge I crossed the fields, heading for the previously mentioned disused railway, and found a cute little trough, fed by a spring, beneath a hedge. I tried to catch a glimpse of Ladybower Reservoir between the hills, but to no avail.

I followed the old railway down towards the village recreation ground, but made a rather large detour through more fields and then the garden centre, finding a large water feature, and various old sinks and other water containers on sale at the vintage shop there.

 

 

My walk then took me back to the River Derwent at Mytham Bridge, which I crossed, before wending my way back to my parents’ house. I passed several more spring-fed troughs, but only the last was photogenic. Way back when I was a teenager and the main road was less busy, my pony used to stop for a drink here. I’m not sure I’d want to do that now although dogs still seem to like the water (they can drink from the pavement).

So that’s my walk. I’m hoping to have a suffragist for you all next month.