Peaklass Greeting Cards
It’s always much more than ‘just a card’ isn’t it? It’s sending a thought out to someone and showing them that you care.
My Peaklass greeting cards all feature my own Peak District photographs, capturing the beauty of this wonderful place throughout every season, from the first bluebells of Spring to the deepest snowfall of Winter.
They are blank inside for your own message and suitable for any occasion. They’re square, 6 x 6″ (15 x 15cm), printed in vibrant colours on very high quality card stock and supplied with an envelope. They arrive with you in a compostable cellophane bag to keep them clean in transit.
Sorry, UK shipping only. Please note that all my orders are processed through a small, rural, village Post Office to help keep them open and viable, so please allow 7-10 days for despatch and delivery. Thank you.
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The ancient forest of Padley Gorge is a truly magical place in all seasons and weathers; it's one of my favourite spots in the Peak District. On this particular winter afternoon the light among the twisted old oaks was incredible, a milky sunlight that drifted through the branches, picking out the vibrant moss on the rocks and the little patches of frost still clinging to the fallen leaves.
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Snowdrops make me smile. You can't fail to feel a little brighter and happier when you see those first delicate heads stretching up out of the winter earth, pushing through the dead leaves and damp undergrowth to reach the pale sun.
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I don't think I'll ever lose that thrill of watching a cloud inversion, a phenomenon that occurs when temperatures at ground level are lower than those up in the air. It feels like watching a magician's trick as the mist coils and swirls through the valleys - revealing, then hiding, then revealing again the farms and trees and villages. This is one of my favourite views of the Hope Valley, with Mitchell Field Farm nestled in a hollow of trees. On this particular morning the farm stood bathed in early sunshine, but its view across the hills was utterly hidden as the mist danced around its footings.
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Sometimes trees are just as magical when fallen as when standing proud. This wonderful beech tree in my favourite wood, Hay Wood near the Peak District village of Grindleford, has obviously lain among the bracken and grasses for years, yet still bursts valiantly into leaf every Spring. When the conditions are right, its broad, moss-covered trunk is surrounded not by sky but by bluebells, and there are few more inspirational sights. I waited patiently for more than a year to get this shot from exactly this angle in exactly this light, and I hope you think it was worth the wait.
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These woods above the village of Hathersage in the Peak District are a family favourite of mine - easily accessible and with an abundance of trees to climb, rocks to scramble over and secret glades to explore. The spaces between the trees allow the sunlight to filter through, and in the Spring it looks wonderful as the light hits the bluebells and creates shadows on the little grassy paths.
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There's something very special about being in a bluebell wood, quiet and fragrant, every step like walking in a fairytale. I just love the combination of English Bluebells and Lesser Stitchwort that you find hidden deep in ancient woodlands, perfectly crafted and wonderfully delicate.
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Sometimes you don't need grand vistas to feel inspired or lucky. Sometimes you just need old stone barns in fields full of buttercups, the morning mist draped softly across the hills, and the air full of skylarks.
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It's always an uplifting sight to see the first bluebells of the year, a return to colour and light, a sure sign that the grey, dark days of Winter are behind us. This little patch of bluebells were very early, and I chanced upon them while walking along the lanes near the pretty village of Fenny Bentley on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border. They were among trees on a hillside, and must have been perfectly positioned to catch that early Spring sunshine to allow them to bloom almost a month before the flowers closer to my home. I spent ages in that wood and missed an appointment, but it was all worth it!
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You know those bumper stickers that say "I brake for horses!"? I seriously think I need one that says "I brake for barns!" I can never resist that combination of limestone walls and crumbling barns, and I'm apt to stop suddenly and without warning if I see a particularly lovely example that I just can't pass by. This barn in the gently rolling fields on the edge of the Peak District village of Sheldon is one of my favourites, and it looked especially beautiful in the first rays of the early sun on this perfect summer morning.
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The beautiful, calm waters of Ladybower Reservoir on a Spring day, the blue surrounded by the fresh green of new leaves - and of course a magnificent gate to set it all off! The only sounds were the sheep, the birds and the soft lap of the water.
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Being only knee-high to a grasshopper myself, I could completely sympathise with this little chap as he hopped up on a handy rock to peep over the edge and see the view. And what a beautiful spot on Longstone Edge for him to grow up in!
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I was peeking through a hedge at this little lamb playing in her dandelion field, when she suddenly spotted me and came rushing over to discover what on earth I was. Except she came so close that I couldn't fit her in the frame and I had to move back a little to take the shot, and then she was Very Proud Indeed that she'd scared off the hedge-based intruder, and went racing off to tell mum how brave she'd been.
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This lovely lane is in Staffordshire, not far from the little Peak District village of Wetton. The setting sun was turning the sky a beautiful pinky purple, which matched the colours of the wild scabious flowers in the verges. It was a warm, quiet evening and just a very pretty scene that I felt privileged to be able to capture.
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I hope I never lose that thrill of sitting up high and watching a cloud inversion shift and roll over the Peak District hills. There are many great spots to watch them from but I particularly love the view along the Hope Valley from Millstone Edge, pictured here. The mist pools around the foot of Win Hill and Lose Hill, and then you can watch it creeping up the gorges and cloughs like tiny waves rushing into inlets on a beach. I always have to put my camera down and just watch.
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I love the little hamlet of Stanshope in Staffordshire, just a cluster of lovely houses, a few farms, lots of birds and sheep, and fantastic views over the limestone hills and valleys that lead into Hall Dale. Plus, does anything say 'English countryside' more than cow parsley by an old stone wall and a postbox on a stick?!
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Most of the buildings in the pretty Peak District village of Derwent were flooded when Ladybower Reservoir was created in the 1940s, but a few higher up on the hillsides survived. This beautiful house is one of them, happily, and on a Spring day with the blossom on the trees and the early morning sun streaming through the new leaves, it was a particularly poignant reminder of everything lost in the valley below.
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This is a little gated lane just outside the Peak District village of Hathersage, and it was a perfect early summer day when I chanced upon this view, with the road winding through the bright gorse ahead and into the trees. What I couldn't capture was the scent of the blossom in the tree above ... and the incredible noise of the thousands of bees enjoying the flowers!
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Sometimes you head out with intentions of capturing sweeping views and morning mists and grand autumnal scenes ... and then you spy little moments of such absolute simple beauty that you get completely entranced and waylaid, and instead spend ages with the tiniest toadstools gleaming in the dew. But how could I resist?!
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"Once upon a time, forests were repositories of magic for the human race." - John BurnsideNo matter how many times I walk in the wild ancient woodland of Padley Gorge, it still takes my breath away. It's beautiful when the Spring sunshine is dappling through the leaves of the twisted oaks, when Autumn's brightness shines from every bough, or when the Winter snow is softly falling, but it's perhaps at its very best on misty Summer mornings, when it has such a quiet magic that even the birds fall silent in awe.
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The glowing beauty of Haddon Hall in the early morning light with a soft mist hanging over the hills beyond. Haddon Hall dates back to the 12th Century and it’s a wonderful time capsule inside, with most of its rooms unchanged through the centuries. You can really feel the past breathing from every worn stone step and fine wood panel.
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This was the most magical, beautiful morning in Padley Gorge, when the woodlands were covered in soft mists and every leaf glowed with a fresh green light. This lovely boy was enjoying it all as much as I was, pausing to drink the cool water in Burbage Brook and pose perfectly for a portrait.
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The ancient woodland of Padley Gorge is a magical place in all seasons, but on fresh summer mornings it takes on a very special beauty. It guards its heart well; this entirely natural heart-shaped hole is hidden away at the bottom of an old beech tree, tucked away for only the smallest creatures (and photographers) to find.
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This wonderful little path on the edge of the Peak District village of Pilsley is a hidden gem, especially in summer, when it's so crowded with cow parsley that it feels like you're fighting your way through a very English country jungle. It's a feast for the senses to walk here; it looks so beautiful but it smells divine too, and the sound of the birds singing their little hearts out is incredible.
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This beautiful, quiet lane between the villages of Grindleford and Eyam is a wonderful place to wander in every season and at every time of day, but I felt so incredibly lucky to chance upon it in the summer mist, with the sun shining through those magnificent beech trees beside the gate. Everything had a slightly ethereal, magical glow.
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The hardy sheep on Stanage Edge really do seem to love their time on the moor, bounding around from rock to rock, grazing among the heather, and always enjoying those incredible views! This little crew were exploring together on a summer evening but they were very happy to pause and stand, posing perfectly for me against the sunset sky.
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This beautiful girl is one of the Highland Cows that live on Baslow Edge in Derbyshire. They're perfectly suited to grazing the rough ground and heather on the moor and are very well equipped against the harsh winds with those wonderfully thick coats. I love the flash of sunshine that picks out her highlights!
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Poppies are such beautiful flowers, with their poignant symbolism and their fragile, delicate, tissue-paper petals. They're also very fickle about when and where they grow. The seeds can lay dormant in soil for up to 100 years and need light to flourish, so you'll only find poppies in ground that has been disturbed. This might explain why this Peak District field in Bubnell was an absolute sea of poppies one year, yet had not a single bloom in the years to follow. It made me feel even more privileged to have seen it, and to have been able to watch the sun set over these crimson petals.
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Poppies are such poignant flowers, with their delicate, paper-thin petals. To see so many in this beautiful field in the Peak District village of Hassop was an incredible privilege, and the storm clouds above just added to the drama and colour of the scene.
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The sight of wild poppies growing amid ripening corn is becoming a common sight again in countryside fields, which I'm very glad to see. I'm sure it's more inconvenient for the farmers but it's so good for the insects, and the sight of those bright scarlet blooms instantly makes you feel summery! This lovely countryside scene was captured just outside the Peak District town of Bakewell.
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Just how beautiful is this nosey cow, huffling at me over the wall through the cow parsley, the morning sun brightening the highlights around her ears?! The thing that really makes me laugh though, is the shy one behind, just peeping through the gap so as not to miss out on the portrait.
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Darn it, you know that feeling when you've got your best outfit on, you've done your hair beautifully, and then you only go and spill your dinner all over yourself with the first mouthful?!
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This beautiful little footbridge over the River Wye at Haddon Hall dates back to the 16th Century. Legend has it that in 1563, Dorothy Vernon, then heir to Haddon Hall, met her forbidden lover, Sir John Manners, on the bridge and the couple rode off into the night to elope. Like all great love stories they lived happily ever after, and inherited Haddon Hall only two years later. The same family still live in the Hall today. This is always a wonderful spot in the grounds of the Hall, but on this bright summer morning, surrounded by wildflowers, it was like a scene from a fairytale.
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This is Moat Low, a Bronze Age bowl barrow and Scheduled Monument near Tissington in the Peak District, visible for miles around and easily recognisable because of its distinctive trees. Excavations here in 1845 revealed a grave with two skeletons and further cremation remains, as well as a bronze axe. It's fascinating to think of the history of these places and our ancestors who perhaps walked the same paths we still walk now. I'm pretty sure I'd be happy with this as my final resting place.
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Sometimes everything you need is right there in front of you. Nothing more complicated than an old stone barn in a summer field, surrounded by trees as the evening light falls golden on the grasses. I stayed here until the sunlight faded, the air chilled and the owls began hooting.
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I feel lucky beyond measure to live in this beautiful place. Even though I know it far better than the back of my hand, and I have seen it in all weathers and seasons and moods, it still has the ability to take my breath away on a regular basis. Rosy dawns on quiet lanes, the dew on the fields sparkling in the soft light? All the money in the world can't buy mornings like this, nor the gift of seeing them and revelling in them.
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I was very, very happy to spend a ridiculously long time with these stitchwort flowers, covered in dew and sparkling in the early sun. There’s so much beauty in tiny scenes. When you move your gaze from the big views, you’re richer for noticing the thousands of delicate details.
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Every time I walk in Padley Gorge, even though I tell myself sternly, "Stay away from the bridge, walk past the bridge, do NOT photograph the bridge" - I just can't resist it. And on this misty, shining morning, with the early light glowing on the midsummer green, it looked pretty darned perfect.
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Is there a better way to spend a sunny day than wandering along an English country lane, grass growing in the middle, sheep baaa-ing over the stone walls on all sides, and endless blue skies above?! This is one of my very favourite lanes in the Peak District, although admittedly I do have many. It offers the most beautiful White Peak views, it's a little haven away from the hustle and bustle - and it ends at a pub.
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I hope you can FEEL the sunshine oozing out from this beautiful Peak District lane in Hulme End?! I'm always slightly in mourning when May has gone - as usual it seems to zoom past way too quickly in a sweet blur of hawthorn blossom and cow parsley. Before you know it, the baby birds have fledged, the lambs are mini sheep, and June is swaying in with her arms full of foxgloves and poppies.
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This peaceful duckpond is in the heart of the Peak District village of Tissington. With a collection of grand stone houses and pretty cottages clustered around a magnificent Jacobean manor, Tissington is one of the most picturesque villages in the area. Explore its narrow lanes to find a 12th Century church, six village wells and this duckpond, home to lively populations of ducks, coots, moorhens and goldfish - who don't always get along as swimmingly as you might think!
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I'm not really a 'big views' person, but this is one of those magnificent vistas that draws you in to look at all the tiny details, which is what I love most. Looking out over Monsal Dale, very early on a hazy summer morning, it's the epitome of English countryside. The little farm surrounded by small fields, the rickety bridge over the River Wye, and then further up, the hamlet of Upperdale hiding in the trees that line the limestone valley. I could look at this Big Little View for hours.
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In the quiet fields on the edge of the pretty village of Hathersage, I chanced upon this beautiful young roe deer. He stood completely still for a few moments, his eyes shining and his ears quivering, watching me, listening, waiting for the click and the whispered 'Thank You'.
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This is the lovely village of Butterton in Staffordshire. It makes my heart a little lighter to know that places like this still exist in our frantic, loud 21st Century world, where the ford trickles past the cottages and over the cobbles on Pothooks Lane, just as it has done for centuries.
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Sometimes you don't need wide views or iconic landmarks; the prettiest sights are often the simple ones that just evoke good memories. Like this one, bringing to mind that feeling of resting in a summer meadow, surrounded by clover, looking up at the blue sky with buttercups waving above your head, the bees buzzing all around. This image makes me feel happy and I hope it makes you feel happy too.
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I was so happy to see this great procession of vintage David Brown tractors chugging along the Peak District country lanes one summer evening - and even happier to see them drive into the lovely village of Hartington and park up in a very convenient row, while the owners nipped into the local pub! I couldn't resist capturing the scene, and I love the wonderfully warm evening light that shows off their gleaming paintwork!
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The summer heather in the Peak District is a truly awe-inspiring sight, with the hills and moors turned briefly into a palette of vibrant pinks and purples. This shot was taken on a perfect summer evening at Millstone Edge, when the dusky colours in the sky matched those on the ground. The bright green of the grasses and those lichen-covered rocks in the foreground just completed the scene for me.
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The vivid pink of the heather on the Peak District moors looks wonderful every summer, bringing brightness and fabulous scents to the hills. I love the way the colours of the ground match the colours of the sky in this image, the early evening sunset turning the whole landscape a candy pink.
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This beautiful lone birch tree on Lawrence Field near Hathersage has to be one of the most photographed trees in the Peak District, which means that I usually avoid it with a vengeance, but in the early morning sunshine, surrounded by heather, I was powerless to resist its charms. I just loved the soft purple of the flowers, the lit gold of the grasses as the sun rose, and the gentle mist providing a perfect backdrop to it all.
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Honestly, between heather seasons it's easy to forget just how incredibly, eye-poppingly purple the Peak District landscape becomes in late summer. This is one of my very favourite spots for heather views, looking out from the huge boulders of the Iron Age hill fort of Carl Wark, towards the rocks of Over Owler Tor. It's particularly beautiful at sunset, when the last light floods over the moors and makes every flower glow. You feel as if you're standing in the most stunning sea of colour.
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The bright purple heather on the Peak District moors takes on a whole new level of POW! as the sun sets and adds in late summer gold to the mix. This is the view of the distinctive hill of Higger Tor as seen from the Iron Age hill fort of Carl Wark, its slopes covered in heather and bracken and sunlight.
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OK, I know I have lots of favourite gates (... doesn't everyone?! ...) but this one is a cracker, and it looked particularly magical when the White Peak fields beyond were covered in layers of soft morning mist. I had to stand and admire it for quite some time. It looked like a gateway to another world, where the trees had become islands in a shallow sea of ever-shifting white.
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This wonderful lone tree is at Sheldon in the White Peak of Derbyshire, an area famed for its gently rolling hills criss-crossed with limestone walls. Its arching shape made a perfect silhouette curling around the setting sun, which lit up the slopes and hollows of the land.
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On Sycamore Hill grows this absolute giant of a tree, perfectly formed, the sort of tree a child would draw if asked to draw a tree. Of course it helps that he stands on his own podium and is approached via a rustic gate in a meadow of wildflowers. He deserves nothing less.
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The rocky outcrop of Higger Tor, high above the village of Hathersage, is one of my favourite places in the Hope Valley to watch the sun set. With the right conditions the whole valley floods with a golden light and the trees cast long shadows over the landscape. On this particularly evening the light was glorious, and I knelt down in the damp heather to capture the view beyond these gritstone rocks. Then, as I did so, a curious little woolly face peeped around the corner and looked at me quizzically, as if to say "what the ...?!" This is one of my own personal favourite ever photographs, as much for the reminder of the laugh as for the image itself.
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This beautiful little footbridge in Padley Gorge looks wonderful in every season, but with the bright jewels of autumn leaves strewn across the tree roots and moss-covered rocks, well, you can see why I've called this image 'Riches'. Material wealth has nothing on sights like these!
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"...Then leaf subsides to leaf / So Eden sank to grief / So dawn goes down to day / Nothing gold can stay." - Robert FrostPerhaps the most precious quality of autumn is its ephemeral nature; of all the seasons, its glory seems to last the shortest time. This always makes me more determined to appreciate every minute of its bright colour, and I certainly drank in the blaze of gold and red and copper and bronze and green along this quiet lane beside Derwent Reservoir. A week or so later, and it was just a memory.
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This entirely natural heart-shaped hole is in the bottom of a beautiful old beech tree in Padley Gorge. You have to crawl about in the leaves to see it, but it's well worth the effort and dirty knees. The area looks beautiful in every season, but in Autumn, when the floor is strewn with the bright jewels of fallen leaves, it's probably at its most inspiring.
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This little lane between Hathersage and Grindleford in the Peak District is absolutely stunning in Autumn, and I mean stop-the-car-and-just-look! stunning, with so many bright colours of different hues that it sends your eyes a bit crazy to take them all in. On days like this Autumn feels like Nature's grand finale, that last huge firework, before we all troop home and snuggle down for the night of Winter.
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Padley Gorge in the Peak District is a wonderful place to visit in the autumn. The foliage is a fantastic spectrum of colours above you, and the ground under your feet is littered with red among the tree roots. This beech tree is a particular favourite of mine and it looked so beautiful decked out in its autumn finery.
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Honestly, sometimes you have days that you wish would never end, when everywhere you look are scenes of the most incredible beauty, you have to stop, put down the camera for a bit and look in awe. The autumn colours along this narrow lane in the Upper Derwent Valley were off the scale, and even better when reflected in the pools of water gathered along the verges.
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As soon as Autumn rolls around I start searching out Fly Agaric toadstools, and I was very happy to find a little cluster under an old birch tree in Bolehill near Hathersage, surrounded by bright fallen leaves. They're such tiny, pretty things, reminiscent of magic and enchantment. And, with a sting in the tail like all the best fairytales, completely deadly.
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This is one of my favourite country lanes in the Peak District, and on a misty autumn morning it's out-of-this-world perfect, the vanishing point hidden in the soft light. I hope you can hear the silence of this photograph, the only sound the occasional patter of a leaf falling down.
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On a misty, still autumn morning, sitting by Burbage Brook as it tumbles through Padley Gorge, you can't help feeling that you've somehow fallen into a different world. Here there's no haste or pressure, no noise but the constant rush and bubble of water and the occasional fall of a leaf. I find that I always stay long, long after I've taken the shot, losing track of time, just watching and listening and breathing it all in, so grateful for such places and the chance to fall into them. It's always a wrench to climb back up to reality.
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In Autumn the ancient woodland of Padley Gorge is filled with soft, muted colours in the trees and underfoot. There's always such a quiet hush here when the air is misty and still; even the birds seem to hold their breath. The only sound is the busy rush and froth of Burbage Brook as it winds around the moss-covered rocks and under the pretty bridges.
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The Peak District has some truly characterful barns, many of them crumbling beautifully in their fields as the seasons pass, perhaps not as weather-tight as once they were but still providing perfect shelter for cattle and wildlife. This one outside the village of Youlgrave is a particular favourite of mine, standing alone in its field with only a tree for company; two old survivors.
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A beautiful moment on the edge of the Peak District village of Abney. The soft, low-lying mists and the movement of the birds contrasted with the solidity of the twisted old hawthorn tree, its branches curved by decades of moorland winds. I love the colour of nature and very rarely edit in black and white, but it seems to suit this very simple, structural image.
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These beautiful woods are above the pretty Peak District village of Hathersage, approached by a narrow path up a hill. Walking through that little gate is like entering a different world. In Spring they're full of bluebells, in Summer the birds sing crazily in the beech trees, in Autumn they're a riot of colour ... and in Winter, well, they're magical. The snow falls so softly amid the ancient trees and the whole place is silent and sparkling.
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Deep in the quiet pine woods covered in snow, standing alone and almost hidden among its lofty proud neighbours, I spotted this perfect little Christmas tree, its branches dusted with snowflakes like icing sugar.
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I stumbled across this beautiful winter scene during a walk in some very pretty woods above the little Peak District village of Grindleford, just after a fresh snow fall. Early in winter, the last of the beech leaves were still clinging to the branches, covered in a light dusting of snowflakes. I love the little 'ping' of colour that they add to an otherwise almost black and white view, and that suggestion of the seasons changing, the turn from autumn to winter.
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My footsteps creaking and squeaking, my cheeks reddening, my breath pluming out in front of me in the freezing air, I revelled in every step of this winter walk through Hathersage. I know this little cottage well, but half-glimpsed through the snow-heavy branches on the quiet lane, I felt as if I'd left the village behind and walked straight into a fairytale.