Tag Archives: derbyshire

Walk at Cromford Canal for the #Walk500 challenge!

Posted on by Abi

cromfordcanalWalking is good for you! Whether you’re skipping the car on the way to work or walking in the countryside, getting up and out on your feet has a whole host of benefits both physical and psychological. But incase that isn’t enough motivation to get your walking shoes on, then how about walking for charity instead! Walking holiday provider HF Holidays recently launched the #Walk500 challenge to help raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

It’s pretty simple, grab a camera or smartphone and get out walking. Whether that’s in a city, the countryside or just to post a letter, get out and document your walk. Share your attempt on HF Holiday’s Facebook page or on Twitter mentioning @hfholidays with the #Walk500 hashtag, then tag three or more friends to help spread the word. HF Holidays has committed to donating £5 for every mile walked up the 500 mile target. You can also make a donation to The British Heart Foundation via www.justgiving.com/walk500withhfholidays or text HFHW50 £3 to 70070.

Now I’m no master rambler (I get tired and quick!!) but eager to join in for an admirable cause my family and I took a trip to Cromford Canal in Derbyshire. I don’t have an accurate measurement of how far we walked but it was at least a leisurely mile. I should also note that my husband and Mr Dog walked significantly further (because they’re tough like that) and so the family total was probably more like 7 miles!!

doghatMobile in hand I recorded our walk (don’t worry I sped it up!) so please do take a look below. If you watch to the very end you can see just how much our dog enjoyed it!!

It would be great if more people could get involved to raise much more money for the British Heart Foundation.

For more information about HF Holidays and the #walk500 challenge please visit www.hfholidays.co.uk/news/2015/5/walk500

To find out more about The British Heart Foundation please visit www.bhf.org.uk

Music for the video kindly provided by Sean Eskimo.

 

 

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The Woollen Woods in Derbyshire

Posted on by Abi

A month or so ago I wrote about the upcoming Woollen Woods project that I was taking part in. Knitters from near and far created woodland creatures to be hung in Belper Park Woods as part of the Here and There Art Trail taking place in the town. The event was a huge success and seemed to delight everyone who was able to visit.

For those who were too far away or otherwise couldn’t make it I thought I’d post up a few snapshots plus a wonderful video created by the chaps at Ablewild.owlswool

I forgot to take my camera so these were only taken on my phone but the animals were so fabulous that even a dodgy phone picture can’t spoil them! I think the pic above should be named ‘Owls in Love’.

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Red squirrels eating acorns, ‘real’ red squirrels are such a rare sight that it was lovely to see our native breed even if only in knitted form. This must be Mummy, Daddy and baby squirrel.

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These three snails look distinctly like they might be up to no good, perhaps they were gossiping about the other animals in the woods that day.

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This guy has obviously eaten all of the acorns and is now having a rest by some beautiful flowers.

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There were even tree climbing bunnies, a sight you’ll only see in Derbyshire!! No doubt he was trying to get a better look at all the other chaps hiding in the trees.

I didn’t get a decent photo of everything (there was loads there!) and I was rather caught up hunting with my kids to find it all. The following video shows off a lot more but even this misses out some of the pieces, it just gives a wonderful feel of the whole event. My kids feature a lot in the video, my youngest took far more photos with his Grannie’s camera than I did. Hopefully the event will take place again next year and it is definitely worth a visit if you can.

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The Here And There Art Walk with Woollen Woods in Belper, Derbyshire.

Posted on by Abi

During the weekend 23rd – 25th May 2015 the Here and There Art Walk is due to take place in Belper Parks wood in Derbyshire. Artists of all kinds have been encouraged to join in with this event and artwork should be popping up amongst the trees for all to see. Rather than getting out my pen and paper I’m joining in with the yarn bomb inspired by the Woollen Woods event taking place countrywide. All manner of knitted woodland creatures will be taking up residence in the branches and it’s sure to be a welcome sight for any families, dog walkers or art trail visitors.

woollenwoodssquirrelUnfortunately my contribution is rather tiny at the moment. I’ve got no excuse really, I just keep forgetting to knit! In fact my knitting has been so slow to progress, that you might be forgiven thinking I was trying to break some kind of world record for the slowest growth of stitches! I have contributed a mouse so far (he’s quite small though) and I’ve been knitting a squirrel forever, so long in fact that I thought he was a fox until I double checked the pattern and realised I’d forgotten what I was making. At this rate I really should be knitting a snail!

If you want to get involved (and you’re faster than me) there’s still time to knit, crochet or otherwise combine textiles to be included in the woods. All you need to do is get in contact with the Yarn bombing organiser Anne Clark of Anne Clark Handmade and I’m sure she’d love to see your efforts.

If you don’t fancy getting involved with making any of the creatures then do pop along to see them all in situ, hopefully the weather will be good but the knitting should be at least partially protected from any rain under the leaves and branches.

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