Wednesday 8 September 2010

Grumpy old woman goes walking




On Saturday I walked 10 miles around the Goyt Valley. It is evident how little water there is in the reservoirs. Makes me wonder how much rain will be needed to fill them up again. Not that there is any danger in this country of that not happening. Especially in the north west of England an area renowned for it's rainfall.

Today I walked 9 miles up hill and down dale. Went up the Roaches and down into my beloved Lud's Church. The Roaches had the normal amount of people we'd expect to see on a weekday morning. But Lud's Church was like Grand Central! There have been two television programmes about it recently and so people are flocking to it. We came across a group of 20 and then one of 12 all arriving in Lud's as we are trying to get out through the mud.

We came across the two ladies who asked on the Roaches, if there was anything else to see apart from the view..... WHAT? This is one of the most beautiful bits of countryside in the British Isles, what were they expecting MacDonalds or a shopping mall at the top? Of course wearing a maxi dress and suede booties wasn't the best outfit for checking it out either!

Then there was the woman in Lud's who was literally screaming cause she got mud on her.....This is a natural crevice of a 100' deep, and what do you know, the floor of it is fed by endless droplets of water from the cliff faces. Perhaps she wanted a carpet.

Or the final daft woman of the day who yelled at us to mind our sandwiches as her dog was about. Excuse me? Surely she should be controlling the dog and keeping it away from us, rather than us having to attend to the safety of our food

I'm all for people enjoying the countryside, but as someone once said there is no such thing as bad weather, just wrong clothes. Or in today's cases wrong attitude!

Come out for a walk by all means, but get your walking boots on,a rucksack on your back and a map (unless you know where your going) rather than shoes and a handbag!

And for goodness sake accept that the countryside is muddy, dirty, wet,overrun with nettles and bracken, has hills and dales and that all of those have to be taken into account alongside breathtaking views and startling scenery.

15 comments:

LindyLouMac said...

Ha, ha, some people do just not understand the concept of the countryside do they?

jeanette from everton terrace said...

Love the wrong clothes quote - great. Watch your sandwiches??? Seriously?? I probably would have had to say something. Anything OTHER than the view? That doesn't even make sense to me. I don't think there are enough question marks or exclamation points for me here.

Merry ME said...

Walking shoes, a rucksack, and sandwiches to go up hill and over dale. I say, Old Chap, that does sound so British. Pip! Pip!

Here in the states the people would be wearing Crocs, carrying a Vera Bag and refusing to turn the cell phone off long enough to take in the view. And quite frankly I don't think we have "dales" over here.

I'm not sure I'm up for a 9 mile walk without an Emergency vehicle waiting for me at the end, but I do envy your countryside and energy.

Helen said...

I went out for my daily walk yesterday, it began to softly rain .. I enjoyed the soft wetness. But came home with rain dripping off my hair. Yours sounds really nice!

Paula said...

I learned that the older people get the more they talk about the weather. Guess this study didnt include the British ;-) This view is simply WOW

Angela said...

Haha, funny people. I can never resist talking with such stupid people ("Aren`t those clouds just gorgeous?"), but very seldom will they listen. Some people go there and WANT to be annoyed it seems. You are having the right kind of fun, Mandy!

cheshire wife said...

Appearance is everything to some people even if they do look ridiculous!

Marilyn & Jeff said...

I love your photos, I would definitely love to walk there. I can never understand people like those you have told us about. It's like city people moving to the country then complaining about noise and animals!

the chirpy bird said...

Nothing like walking it out! Hiking is nurturing for the soul! Love it!
xo tash

Mel said...

What kinda sammich are we talkin'? :-/

Just kidding!!

OMgosh, what a drop dead gorgeous view.
I'da been holding up the whole works with my camera in hand, tossing sammiches over cliffs to get doggies and silly owners out of the shot. LOLOL

~*~ saskia ~*~ said...

Still smiling! Lovely pictures.
Have a happy Thursday xxx

Miss Robyn said...

maybe that woman wanted a souvenir shop? idiots.

Anonymous said...

Haha..people are strange. I love the outdoors,camping,and blustery views but so many say to me "eeww -couldn't possibly! Sounds too much like hard work and discomfort."
I lived in a heavily-treed area once, and a middle-aged couple bought some land adjoining our home."Listen to the birds, it's so rurual" they said.After their house was completed they were complaining about leaves in their guttters,they were cutting down trees, and asking my neighbour to get rid of her clucking chooks.
Your walk looks bracing and good fun Mandy.x

trousers said...

Are we trying to compete in the grumpiness stakes?

Either way, I fully concur and empathise with this post :)

xx

TALON said...

What a gorgeous place that is! At least if the day-trippers are stumbling around in high heels and grumbling, they'll be less likely to come back as they clearly don't appreciate what's in front of their eyes.