Visit 9 - Parsley Hay (26/8/06)

Weather: Sunny spells (but no rain until the minute we got back to the car!)
Ranger: John Towse:
Route:
Distance:

I should have realised that Edale would be booked up on the Friday before the Bank Holiday, so instead it was off to Parsley Hay. As well as a general patrol we were going to research a possible guided walk in the south of the National Park near Ilam. But before setting off there was a lesson in completing route cards, and as my navigation weekend is coming up soon I thought it might be a good idea to listen properly this time :)

We started from the car park near the Dog & Partridge and joined the old turnpike road towards the village of Thorpe. This actually took us just off the bottom of the map and out of the National Park. But just because you're officially outside the Peak District doesn't mean the countryside is any less impressive. The view over the gently sloping Dove Valley leading towards Ashbourne was excellent. It was hard to believe that you were only a few miles south of the ever-popular (and incredibly crowded) area of Dovedale to the north. Crossing the Dove via an enormous stone bridge that once carried the turnpike road we headed towards the hamlet of Blore.

On returning to the car we got an incredible view of most of Derbyshire spread before us (see photo below). We reckoned we could see at least 40+ miles to Derby and beyond. There was even some hills in the distance which I have yet to identify! I really should have taken my SLR camera, but the weather looked so unpromising first thing!

Teapot Parade

Teapot Parade
Originally uploaded by bouldie.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Visit 8 - Derbyshire Bridge (12/07/06)

• Weather: Overcast with sunny spells
• Rangers: Eric Wood and Margaret
• Route: White Hall Centre, Two Rocks, Coombs, Castle Naze and back again.

This was the second time I'd visited this briefing centre and access this time was a little easier than in January ..

Today really reignited my interest in landscape archaelogy and history (probably something to do with meeting Eric and Margaret again who both pass on their enthusiansm for the subject).

Castle Naze
The picture below is a panorama from the top of defensive ditch built acrcoss one side of the fort at Castle Naze.

Residential training weekend at Losehill Hall (15-16th July 2006)

This was the first of the official training weekends which took place at Losehill Hall education centre near Castleton. The wekend was great fun and their was a good team spirit amongst the trainees and I really enjoyed it despite the fact that I was the youngest there by quite some margin!

Losehill hall .....

Visits 5, 6,7 and 8

It's been a while and I've not been very diligent in updating my blog with news about my training, but I'll try and get things up to speed in this latest posting. The only problem is some of them are now so long ago I can't remember what happened :)

Visit 5 - Parsley Hay (13/05/06)
Can't remember a thing from this visit (it must have been that exciting) ... sorry!

Visit 6 - Stanage (3/6/06)

• Weather: Really, really hot!
• Ranger: A. Cherry
• Route:

After finally discovering where the rangers actually start from (not from North Lees campsite, but actually half a mile up the steep road - thank goodness for the guy who gave me a lift in his Land Rover to the top of the hill or I'd have probably arrived about half-an-hour after everybody else had left) we set of in the direction of .... We returned via Bamford Edge, and I'd agree with Alan that this must be one of the best views in the Peak (yes another one!) especially on a day like this when you could see Hope Valley and the Upper Dervwent Valley spread before you. (see below)

Visit 7 - Trentabank (17/6/06)

• Weather: overcast
• Ranger: Geoff Summer
  
• Route: Gradbatch car park, Flash, Gradbatch

This turned out to be a slightly more unusual day than I expected (in as much as I didn't predict I would be walking down the main road with a giant tea-pot, but more of that later...)

When I arrived at the briefing centre I was asked if I wanted to go on a guided walk that one of the rangers was leading ...

Visit 4 - Hayfield (Sat 29th April)

Date: Saturday 29th April (A-shift)
Weather: Warm, Sunny, Slight cloud AM
Route: Hayfield BC, Edale Cross, Kinder Gates, Kinder Downfall, Kinder Reservoir, Hayfiled BC
Distance: 16 miles

Moving slowly northwards.... Hayfield briefing centre is situated at a campsite about a mile downstream from Kinder Reservoir. Tagged on to the campsite shop this isn't the biggest and most well equipped centre but still it does its job. Again I chose the right day for good weather with blue sky and visibility for miles in all directions. Ascending to the west edge if the Kinder Plateau the views were ..... with the Cheshire Plain stretching below us and the North Wales mountains in the distance. Apparently at one particular spot on the tops you can even occassionally pick-up the Welsh Mountain Rescue on the radio!














*Wildlife Watch*
Lots of grouse

Visit 3 - Fairholmes (Saturday 22nd April)

Rangers: Trevor Lawton / Bridget Saturday B Shift
AM: Overcast, PM sunny Patrol: Fairholmes etc

Despite the rather gloomy looking photo Saturady afternoon had some of the warmest weather so far this year ....

The day was split between two rangers. In the morning we did some navigation work, and in the afternoon I went on a patrol down the East side of Howden ...

Visit 2 - Brunts Barn (Sat 18th March)

Ranger: Graham Chapman
Weather: Cold, overcast, snow on high ground, sunny spells in the afternoon
Start: Chatsworth House
Finish: Chatsworth

Arrived at the very busy Brunts Barn briefing centre, only 20 minutes late this week. There were two other trainees already there and this was the first time I'd met anyone who was going through the course this year. I was 'assigned' to Graham a bit of a gadget man like myself so got on really well and have now got a few more items to add to my wishlist (JetBoil camping kit for my Birthday anyone?).

This wintery weather really does seem to be lingering, or is it just me? This must be the fourth visit I've been on this year where there's still been some snow on the higher ground. It was one of those days where I was really glad that I wore my gaiters as the the melting snow has completely saturated the ground and everywhere's as muddy as anything. We started and finished the patrol from Chatsworth (www.chatsworth.org) walking via Calton Leas, Big Moor, Robin Hood etc

*Wildlife Watch*

Visit 1 - Marsh Farm

Ranger: Andy McGraw
Shift: Sunday B
Weather: Cold & Sunny, snow and ice on the ground

Marsh Farm briefing centre is situated near Tittesworth Reservoir close to Leek. It covers the South Western region of the National Park including The Roaches and Warslow Moors. Snow overnight made the roads a bit treacherous (more later ...) in Longnor but had virtually gone when dropping down to lower levels at Marsh Farm. So much for the start of spring! However the wintry conditions and blue skies did make for some wonderful views and great photos.

My first official visit involved meeting up with my mentor to collect my log book and discuss the training course before going out and about. We quickly ran through the stuff I should know over tea (but no biscuits, very disappointing!!). We then went off to practice a bit of Winter driving :) over Axe Edge and down to Derbyshire Bridge in the Goyt Valley. Great fun. A word of warning: don't leave any valuables in your car around these remote places as break-ins a pretty common and another car had been broken into over night.

Plenty of people were out enjoying the weather down in the Goyt Valley sledging and even skiing!

*WildlifeWatch*
1 Snipe, 2 buzzards

Training starts here ......

I've just completed my initial 4 pre-visits to briefing centres around the National Park and have now been assigned my mentor for my training 'proper'. This will involve 8 training weekends over six months covering everything from the role of the ranger to navigation and first aid. In addition to this every trainee has to visit at least 10 briefing centres which are spread all across the National Park. My first official trip out will be from Marsh Farm near Tittisworth Reservoir in the Staffordshire Moorlands on Sunday. It's a great spot and is close to the Roaches, a popular Peak District climbing area. Great views and well worth a visit if you enjoy walking. Should get some good pictures if there's still some snow about.

Welcome to the Peak Ranger Blog!

I've recently been accepted on the Peak District National Park's volunteer ranger training course and thought it might be vaguely interesting to share some of my experiences of the process and record some of the places I visit and people I meet!