Sunshine at last…….But Oh! so cold

A day on and around  White Edge Moor…..

Dawn….The Solitary White Edge Lodge, White Edge Moor, Derbyshire

After a week of dark grey skies and the occasional rain we woke on Tuesday to a clear blue sky.  So an early start was indicated so as not to waste this opportunity.  White Edge Moor and Longshaw in the Derbyshire Peak District was the chosen destination.

Just over a week ago you would have had difficulty in reaching the aptly named White Edge Lodge as it and the surrounds were under a covering of deep snow. A week later and you ask…what snow?   The ground was still very wet and as the sun rose its heat started to create a haze which soon started to fog the horizon.

Walking the heights was great,  but it was also equally as good to drop down below the horizon, out of the cutting wind and explore the woodlands and area around Longshaw.  I mentioned wind, well there always seems to be a wind up here in this part of the Peak District…..look at the trees and you soon know which way the prevailing wind blows!   All have a permanent drunk lean.

At the start of the walk Longshaw pond was still frozen but on our return it had thawed…..not that our body thermometers indicated any real rise in temperature.  Normally the fields around Longshaw are good grazing for sheep but the shepherd, aware of the snow and cold had moved them closer to the farm, leaving the fields eerily quiet.  The Stonewalls cutting across the fields, so often used as shelter by the flocks, looking rather stark against the blank landscape.

Here are a few images from the day

19th February

(C) David Oakes 2015