Lumsdale, Derbyshire

Sometimes, when life gets a bit too fast, all that can bring me back from the brink of balling up and rocking in a corner is escaping back into nature. Throwing yourself into the serenity of the countryside is a sure fire way of bringing your feet back down to the soft, muddy ground. 

Finding places to explore in the Peak District is impossibly easy. Everywhere you look there is a public footpath to follow and get lost down for a few hours.

A new favourite, and most beautiful haunts of ours is Lumsdale.

With the sun peaking through the clouds and promising to stick around for the afternoon I grabbed the Mister and the puppy for an afternoon of exploring and nature based therapy. 

Owning a pooch has it’s quirks and so do they. My pooch is handsome and incredibly loving, but brave he is not.

He has struggled with an acute fear of bridges since being tiny. While he was tiny it was easy getting him across them….now it’s more of a challenge.

Puppy Explorer has been with us at his forever home for a year now and in that time he has settled into our lives making our house a family home. He has gone through not one but two kitchen floors, multiple user manuals for the new house (still not 100% on all of the ranges functions) and has developed a strong, and some what disturbing affection for dirty underpants - not the most gentlemanly. But I wouldn't have this furry little pant stealer any other way.

Lumsdale is a beautiful place shrouded with crumbling ruins, waterwheels and waterfalls, and is a shutterbugs dream place to flex their photography muscles. Nature has fought back against the derelict mill site and has made for a breathtaking place to venture round.

Not far for Matlock town it makes for a great spot to hide away from the world without being too far from a tray of fish and chips. 

It's places like this that makes living so far away from the sea just that little bit easier.