Stoney Middleton

Stoney Middleton is a village in the Peak District National Park. The first settlement was made 6,000 years ago due to presence of thermal waters. The Romans were settled here too and they were smelting lead. 600 years ago the Church was built, they were giving supplies to the self-quarantine people of Eyam during the plaque and in The Second World there was a camp for prisoners. The village has an impressive history considering how small it is.

We’ve started the walk in the centre with St Martin’s Church.

The cottages look beautiful and they are well maintained, with pretty flowers in their front gardens.

This is the Bathhouse, is known as the Roman Baths but there is no evidence that Romans had a bath on that place. The water has a constant temperature of 17 degrees and it was believed it had health benefits. The house is a listed building.

Another important landmark is The Old Toll House, built in 1840 to collect tolls, now is the local chip shop at Stoney Middleton.

These rocks are called Lovers Leap because in 1762 Hannah Baddaley was abandoned and flung herself off the cliff top. She was saved by her voluminous skirts, which acted as a parachute. She died of natural causes two years later, unmarried.

Those rocks are used for rock climbing. On the leaflet it says they are some of the most difficult climbs in the world. There is a man in red on the rocks, climbing.

The rocks are really magnificent. We took a path towards the caves that were on the map.

As I had no idea I’m going in the woods, I was in heels, at least I had my new shoes with low heel (and not my usual 3″-4″). I thought people will think I’m not that bright, but when I left the home I had no idea I will walk through the woods and I don’t want to miss an opportunity.

We found the caves.

Hubby wanted to have a better look and went down into a cave.

Of course I had to jump there to see the cave for myself. I wanted a fashion photo shoot, but I was laughing to hard to keep still. I managed to get out with hubby’s help and my heels intact.

We went back to the main road and continued the circular walk. The waterfall was very close to the road, but it looks like it goes deep in the forest.

This is the entrance into an old Lime Kiln.

The old path near the quarry was beautiful, there were lots of birds singing and I saw an incredible amount of butterflies flying around.

Darlton Quarry is an old limestone quarry.

We had to descend towards the pub and finish the circular walk. It was nice and relaxing. There were caves, some historic landmarks, beautiful cottages, butterflies and livestock, birds of prey and pheasants and some ponies. The perfect combination for a few hours in the British countryside.

things to see.