Rivers, hills and a funky app.

I have a feeling that all three elements of this title are going to feature prominently throughout my sabbatical.

A view down a gentler bit of the valley

Yesterday, I decided to amble along the Rivelin, a river which runs along a valley just below our bit of Sheffield. Almost from the end of my road, I can see right across the valley and I can be down by the river in 10 minutes. I chose to meander down via a scenic route through the woods, but even so, it's amazingly close. My walk took me right to the border of the Peak District National Park, but not quite into it.

I love rivers. I love pools and waterfalls, and water in general. This stretch of the Rivelin is very pretty, with some fun stepping stones (and some slippery ones, as I discovered).

The stepping stones that didn't tip me in...

...and those that did.

It has a small but perfectly formed waterfall and some picturesque spots. 

Very pretty waterfall

And it has small wiers and mill pools - a reminder of the importance of Sheffield's many rivers in its industrial heritage.

My legs, today, are rather aware of the climb. Most of the walk was fairly level, but the river is over 300ft below where I live, and so the last leg was pretty tough. But coming up a little further along from where I descended did give me country walks and views I barely knew existed, only about half a mile from my house!

Country lane, just up the road from home, complete with goat.

And all was logged with the help of a funky app, called MapMyWalk, which recorded where I went, calculated the height climbed, let me know every time I'd covered another mile, and let me take pictures which were saved against the walk. More depressingly, it gave me my average speed (which could have been higher, had I taken fewer pictures). Sadly, I forgot that I'd downloaded it until about a mile into the walk, but I'll know next time.

The point of this countryside rambling is supposed to be to engage with the beauty of creation as a spiritual experience. I'm not sure I really managed that this time, but I'll work on it. I have three months, after all!

And I'll try to remember that, beautiful as the heart of the Peak District is, there's countryside to be enjoyed even closer to home.

 So here are some more pictures, of tranquil millponds and a hungry sheep.