Egypt4u

I started yesterday off with a bit of shopping, a few odd grocery bits then a big bouquet of flowers. It was a fairly bright day but quite cold and threatening to rain, or worse maybe some sleet or snow. I decided to risk it and take Annie out for a walk and on the way call in at the local builders yard to pick up some white stone Chipping’s to top off a couple of garden tubs and help keep the weeds down. Shortly after that we were at our chosen destination, an old industrial mining area not far from the city that had been devastated over many years with old mine workings and all the spoil tips and debris that results from many years of industrial usage.

I am pleased to say that over the last few years it has been the subject of extensive reclamation work and landscaping, the end result is a potentially beautiful open parkland with lots of woodland planting and wildlife projects such as ponds and wetland areas together with a myriad of pathways circumventing and criss crossing the whole area and it was nice to see some signs of the weather warming up as this prickly Gorse bush was starting to flower.



Once it matures it will be a lovely place to visit and a credit to all those involved in the restoration project, although on a day like this it can seem a very bare and lonely place. It is located on what can only be described as a very large undulating mound of land which forms one side of the valley that heads towards the town of Newcastle under Lyme, so the paths rise and fall with the terrain. Without the future mature tree cover which will be extensive, it is very open to the elements, hence if it is windy the cold can cut right through you. They have also retained the old mine workings and shaft along with a small steam train and short length of track, there is also a new visitor centre and a museum staffed by local volunteers.

The car park and visitor centre


There is a second visitor centre/café building at the opposite end from the main park entrance which also allows vehicular access, although I have never seen this café facility open which is a shame as I am ready for a brew about this point. They have continued the green policy by also generating their own electricity and I usually pass by a couple of wind turbines that look like a couple of angry Dragonfly’s as they spin and rotate in unison.



It was as I passed these angry insects that I spotted what I thought was a large bird in the sky, but as I got nearer I realised that it was a kite! Being inquisitive I went over to get a closer look and saw a couple more large kites that seemed to be duelling as they whirled and spun in the sky, diving and sweeping in at each other like birds of prey. I got talking to the guy with the bird like kite and he told me that every month a kite club meets at this place and I am not surprised as it was very exposed and very windy. He also told me that the kite he had with him cost around £180 and was designed to be flown indoors in such places as stadiums. He said that the duelling kites were so controllable that they could actually be landed gently on to the top of a fence post and then be lifted off again and that they cost in the region of £480 each, I must remember to go up on a meeting day and get some more pictures.



There are many places where you can get off the designated paths and walk through wooded areas, usually of the self seeded variety with lots of Birch and Elder and rough ground cover existing on very poor spoil heap soil. These paths meander through this scrubby woodland and I often detour through them to see what if any wildlife may be present, on today’s visit I spotted several very fresh Badger sets like this one.



I usually make my way up to the very top and have a rest at the highest point, there is an old mine winding wheel with a coal truck and a name plate on it dedicating it to all the people who worked in the now defunct mining industry.



On this summit is what looks like a miniature Stonehenge of tall wooden posts forming a circle, at its centre is a large stone that forms a circular bench where Annie and myself often take a short rest.



If you approach any of these posts it will inform you of any feature on the distant landscape that is in your line of sight from that particular post. One gives you a line of sight to what is now a very shortened monument dedicated to the famous pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood, as a child I remember that it used to be very tall obelisk like structure and visible from many miles around, but it was partially blown down in a severe gale sometime in the 70s in think, in typical penny pinching fashion the borough council refused to fund the restoration and so it stays as a truncated shadow of its former self. I mention this one in particular as I live almost opposite this feature but on the other side of the distant hill and about as far away again. (this image is zoomed, but it can be seen as the highest point between the support legs in the mining wheel picture)



There are several more benches situated around this central feature and they give magnificent views for almost 360 degree around and across the valley. One caught my attention as it had two bunches of flowers placed on it, so I took a closer look.



The plaque gave the name of a young woman who had died very young (aged only 34 years old) and the plaque was from her parents, I have deleted her name out of respect, but it read “I feel you in the wind, you are gone and left a beautiful hole in my heart”

It was now late afternoon, it was getting cold and we sat alone on the bench, I looked back towards my home and scanned the empty horizon, tears flooded my eyes as I again read the plaque and I remembered the flowers I had bought that morning for what would have been our wedding anniversary today, it was time to go home.

Am still really sorry for your loss Horus. It was a lovely gesture though to remember your anniversary with a bouquet of flowers. What were they? Roses? Tulips? Gardenias? Mixed?

My Papa was my life and his passing is now 50 years gone but I still miss him terribly but enjoy the memories he left me.

KITES! WOW! that is a phenomenal price for a kite. I just spent all of $4 for two kites with Jake and the Neverland Pirate motifs for the twins for Easter. They like kites and we have some really great beaches for flying them but so far we're only up to a cross bar and plastic I see men flying them on our beaches using fishing rods to let them fly out and reel them back in but I never ever thought the price of a kite would go that high - WOW!

Do you think they're kits they're buying? I would have thought that if you are that advanced into kite flying you'd be making your own and I honestly can't envision what material would go into a kite that would cost that much? Are they plated with gold or something? Or are they sporting mini-motors? (AHA! cleverly disguised drones is it!!! )

Very interesting days you have there H.

Quite like the wind turbine too. That is interesting and I'm not thinking it is really that visually objectionable.

They were mixed flowers LLL, all bright colours to match her personality, I always have bought and always will continue to buy her flowers for our anniversary, her birthday, Christmas etc. or any other special occasion, so no point in stopping after all these years and every week I buy a small bunch to put in a vase next to her picture.

I don't think that the kites are in kits as such, I think that they are maybe paying a premium for some sort of advanced aerodynamic design, basically they all strip down into pieces anyway for transportation. They are extremely lightweight and highly manouverable and the material is the same 'rip stop' fabric that parachutes are made from (or so I was informed) He did say that some people had 'hundreds of kites' although I doubt if they all cost that sort of money.

Nice story H and you had me guessing about the bouquet at the start of your tale but how nice of you to come back to their purpose at the end.
I never quite get the point or appeal of Kite flying. It doesn' really 'achieve' anything so I must conclude that it is for the sheer relaxation of this persuit. We can't fly so perhaps the nearest we can get is to 'fly a kite'. But for all that it is a very popular pastime around the world.
I think it is so good that some of the old coal mine sites are being cleaned up and put to good use for the community. We have a similar site not too far from me where a similar development as yours has been completed with cycle tracks and cross country running routes have been created.
Even here in Kent, we used to have a significant coalfield with four or five pits. All closed down now and the sites have been turned over to other uses like industrial parks etc.
Thanks for posting your interesting account and more good pictures giving a flavour of the area.

I agree Grandad that flying kites does seem to be a bit of a pointless exercise although they are nice to watch occasionally.

The twins like flying kites but they're 5 and they're also equally happy just to go to the beach to play too.

There are lots of mines in this area and there was just an article in our local newspaper that the City is waiting on a grant from the Feds re: study of the mines. Didn't quite say what all the study entailed or why it is being conducted now but I do believe many of your mines are still open. "Open" in the sense they've never collapsed tunnels but have, I believe, closed up openings.

Men & their toys again but what lengths do some go in the money they spend out on them....... each to their own I guess.

Thank you for your lovely writings on your walk & pictures, all interesting stuff

You had me in tears with you in the end but, as you say why spoil the habit of a life time, just because we cant see them we can still feel & think of them in our hearts & have the memories of a lifetime

Like you I also place flowers with my Mams' photo on Mother's Day, birthday Christmas etc

H, when I made my comment about flying kites I was trying to think of other similar pastimes. The nearest was course fishing but at least you achieve an objective, even if you put the fish back to fight another day.
I believe I have seen kite flying in the middle east where the objective is to 'down' other kites. This is competitive and I also believe that they have competitions with prizes which puts another aspect to innocent kite flying.

@ LLL, yes we still have many mines most are for coal and some are for Tin and Copper, the latter are usually driven through solid rock and tend to stay open, but they do flood from lack of pumping out when they cease to be worked. Coal mines on the other hand will eventually collapse as the ground pressure closes off the workings, they also flood and can often fill with gases, some explosive and others poisonous, in most cases they become unusable several years after closure unless they have been mothballed and properly maintained.

@ Grandad, I suppose they used to have uses for military purposes such as spotting during WWI. The guy told me he owned a man lifting kite! I asked him if he had ever gone up in it and he said "no because you would need about 8 of them" If that is the case why are they called 'man lifting kites'

And thank you all for your kind comments on the walk and pictures, I did not intend it to upset anyone, just to reflect my own sadness and thoughts at the end of a very pensive day as I sat in this lonely place.