I've driven across the country and down a bit, to visit my daughter and family in Sheffield.

After a over-long five and a half hour drive on Friday, we had the whole day Saturday to spend with the grandchildren.

Dougal also needed a walk so we decided to head out to one of the "edges" to enjoy an outing overlooking a different 'River Derwent' Valley.

We parked the car at the car park above the village of Curbar

This is the view west over Curbar, Calver, Stoney Middleton and the distant (plague) village of Eyam.

It turned out to be the day of the Peak District Nine Edges Event

an annual endurance event organized by the Edale Mountain Rescue Team (EMRT), which raises funds to support its rescue services.

The Runners, walkers and climbers aim to cover 20 miles and 900m of ascent over the day, starting north of Ladybower Reservoir and ending

with a drink at the Robin Hood Inn not far from Chatsworth House, a short distance south from here.

Looking north, across to Curbar Edge . . . too early for participants to be passing yet.

I'm with Matt and Jenna, with Emily (nearly three) in pink and young Sophie in the backpack.

. . . not forgetting his lordship . . . who's enjoying being out in the open country once again.

The plaque highlights the features of the view ahead.

Baslow Edge is one of the classic Gritstone outcrops of the Peak District.

The scenery is typified by these exposed and tilted bands of hard rock strata, incised by the river valleys of the Dales.

Over the millennia earth movement has tilted the rock at an angle and the rivers have eroded the softer layers of rock that have been exposed below them.

Emily was intrigued by the rocks and presumably the extensive views.

Walking along . . . with the occasional lift and jump over the piles of cow dung for Emily.

Jenna takes the high road as Matt walks through the rock paths below.

In its day, the exposed rock provided the raw material for the famous Derbyshire mill stones.

- - - o o o - -   The hard grit stone has a course nature which nowadays provides excellent grip for rock climbers to practice their sport.   In the old days the rock was quarried and worked to form large round grinding wheels for wind or water mills. They were used to grind corn and other cereals into flour.   The trade eventually died out, as first imported French millstones became available, then later flour milling was undertaken by steel rolling mills as part of the industrial revolution.   If you look around there are traces of stones in all the various stages of manufacture.   - - - o o o - - -

[ For more information on the Mill Stones check out the link at the bottom of the page, from one of my previous visits to the area.]

Jen's picture again as we walk along the 'Edge'.

High above, there was the sound of a light aircraft . . . and he seemed to be towing a banner.

When he flew a little lower and passed from right to left, we could read the message.

I hope Kajol was out today and had a good pair of glasses! . . . did she see the message . . . we wish them luck.

[ Google tells me that Kajol is a popular Indian given name for girls, derived from the Hindi word "kajal" which means "kohl" or "eyeliner," symbolizing beauty and grace ]

As Baslow Edge turns east, there was a view south over the Derwent Valley and we could make out Chatsworth House and the meadows and deer park by the large bend in the river.

Jenna says that there's a large fountain next to the house which can often be seen from here, but it's obviously not working today.

From there a diagonal path crosses the level ground, towards a free standing rock pinnacle out on the moor.

This structure goes by the name of The Eagle Stone . . . out in the middle of what is appropriately called on the map, the Eaglestone Flat.

- - - o o o - - -

Whilst at the Wellington Monument we started to see the first of the competitors begriming to pass us by.

Out here there were an ever increasing number starting to appear, including this older gentleman in black.

We seem to be walking back on the favoured path of the runners, as they chose to navigate the direct path rather than the 'edge'.

Others had also decided to use the path, but not for running along.

They were taking advantage of the dry and level ground to relax a while . . . they were not phased by our's, or all the many runner's passing today.

They say that if the cows are sitting down then it's going to rain and by doing so, they are keeping a dry spot to sit on.

These wonderful Highland Cattle not only looked good but were acting according to the old proverb . . . just look at that sky !

The forecast was for rain later, but it seems that 'later' was virtually upon us now.

There's a storm brewing to the west.

. . . and with it, a rain shower was driving down the Eyam Valley towards us.

Jen strides out for the car, as we pass the race checkpoint,

busy handing out refreshments . . . but also packing away anything that would get damaged by the rain.

We made it safely back to the car park just as the rain started . . . perfect timing . . . home and dry !

The hour and a half walk brought us nicely up to lunchtime and conveniently close by was The Bridge Inn.

Emily started to select her lunch . . . she could turn the pages, but at just short of three years old she was having difficulty with the subtleties of the menu.