I suppose it’s rather bizarre, but three Septembers ago I arranged a family gathering in the very buildings where my Derbyshire great, great grandfather once kept his horses, oats store and cheese press along with all the usual 19th century small farm paraphernalia. Of course by 2018 the said buildings had been transformed into very smart holiday accommodation which we were renting for a week’s holiday, and by then too any actual family connection with the place and the nearby farmhouse had long been severed; back in 1892 in fact, when the Fox family left Callow Farm after nearly 200 years there.
But then there are other kinds of connection, less tangible, but in some ways more visceral – the place, the landscape, the knowledge that past family members had lived and worked here, had been born and died here, their mortal comings and goings marked in the records and gravestones at St. Michael’s church down in the valley at Hathersage:
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The header photo was taken from the barns early one morning, looking across the Derwent Valley to the high moors above Hathersage. Here’s a daylit view:
And here are the barns:
And Callow Farmhouse, now a private home quite separate from the barns, but once home to the Fox family c1700-1892:
You can read more of this story at an earlier post:
So what did Great Great Grandfather George Brayley Fox keep in his barns in 1892
Really beautiful photos.
Thank you.
👌👌👌📷✒️👌
Thanks on all fronts, Mic.
Beautiful countryside…but ..about that “cloud” ..is there a portal in the area?
Ah-ha! No more than an aircraft vapour trail. But then on the other hand, I think it is more or less above Carl Wark, an ancient stone palisaded earthwork, possibly Iron Age.
Hmmm!
Such inviting shots but I do wonder whether that circle is the sky version of a crop circle. 🙂 Did you notice any aliens???
That is an v. interesting proposition, Janet 🙂
Not bizarre at all, something rather wonderful to do I’d say. Fabulous photographs
Thanks, Becky.
PS is that first one the halo that appeared over you all 😀
Now that IS a nice thought.
These photos need to head straight off to the Derbyshire Tourist Office. They’d encourage anyone to visit.
Thank you for such resounding praise, Margaret.
I love that lead photo, Tish. Though it reminds me of an ad for cigarettes…. Smoke circles.
Ah, the perfect smoke ring. The things one tried to achieve back in the day!
🤔💕
Fantastic to get together in the birthplace of your family. That’s when one realizes how far back we all go…
(And it must have been a giant smoking rings lying on the hills) 🙏🏻
Oh I like that explanation, Brian. A smoke ring from a recumbent giant.
Exactly. Recumbent. How so very English of you. I would have said ‘reclining’. My English has become so Americanized…
(And the giant is dressed in green of course… with a point felt hat à la Robin des bois…)
Oh yes! Now we’ve got him ID-d. Must look out for him next time in Derbyshire.
I’ve seen images taken from the air carved in limestone. Quite old. Anything like that in Shropshire? Or nearby?
Sadly no giant traces in Shropshire, though one was apparently responsible for making our nearest local hill, The Wrekin. There’s a famous hill giant in Dorset in the SW – at Cerne Abbas.
Looked it up. Yes I thought Dorset or close.
Thanks for the bit about life and great photos Tish 🙂
Thank you, Brian.
What a beautiful place, Tish. I love your header picture, but all are so appealing.
Thank you, Marsha. It is a good spot 🙂
I would have to agree. Thanks for the virtual tour. 🙂
My pleasure, Marsha.