Tuesday, August 24, 2010

F is for ....

FROGGATT EDGE

This is also known as Curbar Edge and is located in the beautiful Peak District of Derbyshire UK., roughly speaking between Bakewell and Sheffield.  The purple in the photo is heather in bloom.


The Edge, which is several miles long, bounds the Derwent River Valley on the east side.  Once you're up and over the Edge you are on flat moorland and on your way to Chesterfield.
Froggatt is important to me because in the valley close to the River Derwent is Cliff College where my husband and I met for the first time. Later in 1965-66 we lived for a year on the college estate while my husband was on staff as an Evangelist.  Cliff College was at that time a Methodist Training College for Lay preachers and evangelists. It has since grown academically and I believe offers university degrees.




There were a number of houses on the estate  for those who worked at the college.  This is where we lived, the last cottage in a row of three located adjacent to Froggatt Edge.  There were fields in front of us and behind us and of course the inevitable sheep.  Our first son, Glyn, was eighteen months old when we moved there  and it was my greatest delight to put him in the stroller, no matter the weather, (we could put the hood up and the rain-cover over him and we would walk the two miles into the village of Baslow, where I would get a cup of coffee and then we walked home again.  Even though my husband's schedule was to be away for ten days and home for four all year long, the year holds very happy memories.  I loved the beautiful landscape, the animals, the little cottage,(two rooms and a small kitchenette downstairs and two bedrooms and a small bathroom upstairs.)  From our tiny living room we could see all the way down the valley to the Chatsworth House Fountain that shoots at least 50 feet in the air.

This was the view of Froggatt Edge from our house.


...and this is the view from the top of Froggatt looking down the valley.  If you can see the small patch of blue in the middle of the trees, that is the River Derwent.  Our row of cottages is somewhere on the edge of those trees.  Chatsworth house is way off in the distance.

I have been so blessed to live in many different places and in nearly all of them surrounded by exceptional beauty.  That's why I love to read your posts all you wonderful English bloggers.  I love Southern California.  I would love the desert of Arizona, but I have been indelibly impressed by the English countryside.  One day, maybe I'll tell you about Thornbridge Hall, my teacher training college which was located about 5 miles as the crow flies, from Froggatt.

For more blogs about "F" visit ABC WEDNESDAY -- you'll love it!
Thanks Denise Nesbitt, for this inspirational challenge.

19 comments:

Wanda said...

The beauty of Froggatt is beyond beautiful... Can it be real??

Interestingly we have something else in common... Don was an Rural Evangelist for a year with Voice of Calvary, gone two weeks home one....

Wonderful "F"....such a good read.

Sylvia K said...

What a lovely post for the F Day! And what a wonderful place Froggatt looks to be! Thank you for sharing this with us! Have a great week!

Sylvia

Gayle said...

How fortunate that you were able to live in such a beautiful place. I'd look forward to walks, too! Hope you're keeping cool during our "heatwave".

photowannabe said...

The place is so lovely. It looks like a nice place to bring up children.

Roger Owen Green said...

You express such joy re the place. That's a fond feeling for a fine location.

On behalf of ABC Wednesday team, thank you! - ROG

Eldritch the Dragon said...

That's a pretty place and it isn't far from where we live but we've never been there yet. Munm says we might go now she's seen how nice it looks.

Rune Eide said...

There is something special about the English countryside that never fails to impress anyone who sees it.

MorningAJ said...

OK so now Eldritch is nagging me to take him to Curbar edge. Not this weekend though. It's Bank Holiday Monday and Matlock will be HEAVING with motorcyclists.

It looks gorgeous though. Is it where the millstones are mined?

Autumn Leaves said...

What a beautiful place and a neat looking home in which to live. I love when you share your memories, Chris!

jabblog said...

Happy memories, Chris. What beautiful surroundings and views you had.

mrsnesbitt said...

Oh yes, such beauty and not too far away! Could be a Sunday trip me thinks!

Anonymous said...

You also have a nice way of writing that leaves me wanting to read more. A talent that is rare these days with limits on how much a person can say. I used to teach adults how to write for advertising and the biggest problem they always had was trying to use too many adjectives to describe things.

I will have to tell you sometime about the exercise I had the adults do on the first day of class.

You would partner up with one a student. And each pair would get a pair of shoe laces. The problem was to have one person tie a bow as when you tie up your shoelaces, and the other person watch you move and what you do, and then describe it in words so a stranger could read the identical words and tie a shoelace by doing what was written down.

And the winner was, of course, the one whose instructions were copied perfectly and whose instructions were the simplest that worked and was quickest to do.

And we were doing great when one older man did it and his were read and the person followed his directions and tied the bow in record time and with the shortest instructions.

Anyway. I enjoyed your post.

Wanda said...

Just found and posted your Daisy Mae. A new Art Challenge is up..several of Abraham Lincoln's Bird photos. Check out my Art Blog.

BTW ~ your rendering of Daisy Mae was so realistic...wow!! good job.

Cherdecor said...

Your English countryside was intriguing. I am wondering if you speak with an English accent! I love hearing the English speak.

Tumblewords: said...

How wonderful - it sounds like such a terrific experience!

Cheryl said...

This is beautiful. I would love to have spent time here. It looks so idyllic. Your photos and story are enchanting.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful shots of the place. The landscape is amazing.

Elizabeth said...

Chris, I never knew you had this connection with Cliff. Martin and I met there as students and I'm now the Fellowship secretary - if you look in the handbook, there I am and presumably so must you be. Oh, I'm so thrilled you posted this. Cliff College is such an amazing, special place and continues to bless many,although its a very different place now to what it was with a much wider variety of courses. As a matter of fact, I'm hoping to go back, part-time to do my M.A.Theol beginning this September/October. x

sandy said...

Fascinating post to read about you living there and seeing these pics! I really enjoyed it.