Thursday - an odd day. I don't shop on a Thursday do I? Not normally . Wednesday or Saturday . Regular as clockwork. We were feeling a little down after our visit to Wales . We always feel that way. We had had our fix but that fix just makes us want more . It sets off the travelling bug. The itch that won't go away. The itch that at the moment you cannot scratch properly. It is shopping day and work day . I wondered if the shop would be busier or quieter than on a Wednesday. I was soon to find out. The weather was marginally better than yesterday. And Boris is giving us a big announcement today . That is something to get excited about . I did not walk this morning . ... read more

It is Wednesday - Ok - lets have a bit of a change. Let us do something different . It is not a walk around the area where we live. It will be our first trip out to Wales since lockdown. For weeks, 4 weeks in fact we could not really go anywhere. We were locked down confined to barracks . No going out unless absolutely necessary. It was awful with all planned trips cancelled including holidays. Imprisoned within our own four walls. Walks up the same old road. Quietness. Will we ever go back to normal. Looking back - was it a blessing or a curse? It depends which side of the fence you stand. Schools closed apart from classes for the children of key workers. Education on hold. . Working from home normal. Daily ... read more

So where in the world are the intrepid travellers ? Not far. We are standing on a patch of scrubby ground on Hassocky Lane . Glenn is leaning against a gate which proudly tells us not to park there as access is needed at all times. It does not look from the state of the rusty chain and lock that anyone has used that gate for some while. I stand at the side of him pacing back and forward . We have a view across the field . The colour of late summer yellow. The path runs down the field into trees and beyond that we see the crooked spire of Chesterfield church . You cannot miss it from this height . Not that this part of Derbyshire is high but it is slightly higher than ... read more

Week 15 - the start of another week . I think it is week 15. Days 107 and 108 are upon us. I read my quote off the calendar this morning and it was one I had read before . A walk of a thousand miles starts with one step . I guess when you produce a calendar every year eventually you run out of new things to write . It is a good one though and I really did not mind reading it again. My walk starts and ends at the back door at the moment . I have walked nearly four times the route of Hadrians Wall . I must be heading a long way across France in my imaginary walk. I suppose my back door is as good a place to start as ... read more

Facts and figures - do you love them? I do . The driver does too. Fact 1 - this is the 156th blog I have written about Derbyshire . I never imagined I would write so many about Derbyshire and Chesterfield whilst still sitting at home. It is Day 105 of lockdown or partial lockdown . I have probably walked 103 days and still counting. I have lost count of so many things . I bet you have too. Staying at home has that effect. Losing track of days, dates , events . It is Saturday . The weekend and the 4th July . Our American friends and relatives will be celebrating their release from the British yoke . For us the 4th July has a very different meaning . Today no doubt Independence Day means ... read more