Ashbourne

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OK
Its been a while since I updated, and this is the 2nd time Ive written it. Bloody computers!
Not been up to much, just go to work & then come home via either the supermarket or the pub depending on the day. Fridays are usually work drinks, theres been somebody leave every week since Ive been here so theres always drinkies going on! Saturdays are usually spent hungover or shopping/site seeing. Still not finished the war museum yet for crying out loud. My English mate Craig has decided that he’s moving to Oz in a couple of weeks, so this weekend will be a goodie no doubt.

Went up to Ashbourne again last weekend, starting to really fall for that place. About the same size as Kerikeri, with 6000 people, about 30min drive from Derby, which is East of Manchester.
Me and Hamish conviened at Kings Cross Station on Friday after work, grabbed a couple of Carlings for the trip and we were off on the train. Two hours later, we rolled into Derby and got picked up by Gordie and Lizi in the BMW (riding in a car is such a treat over here). Into Ashbourne quick smart to drop the bags off at Robbo and Liz’s place, admire the new kitchen swiftly before heading into town. Just down the path, through a tunnel and down the road. A whole 3 min into the Green Man. Good session of catching up with people, couple of quiet beers and general talking shit. Everyone headed home and Paul, Hamish and I headed up to ‘Vegas’ the only nightclub in town. Every small town nightclub Ive been to has been just like the Lighthouse in Paihia and this was no surprise. Apart from when they started line dancing, that kinda made my mouth fall open!

Up early the next morning when Duncan and Matt arrived on the doorstep, breakie in hand for the day of site-seeing. Nothing like local knowledge. Matt drove and Duncan gave the history lesson. All around Ashbourne we went, then off into the hills along old Roman Roads, up through the Peak District. Stone walls as far as the eye can see. Duncan giving us landscape history as well as stories of Knights and Kings gone by.
Ended up at a house/castle owned by the family that basically owned the entire area. I mean they have enough land to stretch from the middle of England to Paris, 1 mile wide. Now that’s land ownership! They have a family colour and they paint all their buildings in it, (sound familiar Dad?), so you drive into a village and all the cottages have teal spouting, the store has a teal signboard and even the church has a teal door! This palace was enormous though, 5 or so levels, massive footprint. Complete with multi-tiered water feature running right down the side of the hill, it was pretty cool. Up into Eyre we went, a little village that in 1665 had 350 residents. After a year of being infected with the plague, 269 people had died. Freaky shit. The houses all had lists of people that had died inside. The church grave yard had gravestones in it from as far back as the 8th century for crying out loud, this place is dead old! Wended our way a bit further into the countryside until we found a pub as you do. Nipped inside for a quick pint, (Orange for Hamish, poor lad was feeling a bit worse for wear from last night!) Paul and Liz came up and joined us there and we headed off for Castleton.

Castleton. Funnily enough, there was a castle ruin on top of the hill above the village. Found another pub, (not hard here) and settled in for some proper English pub fare. Not disappointed. Sitting by the fire, big solid meal in front of us and a pint to hand, started to feel a bit sleepy pretty quickly. Piled back in the car and we were off to a local stone circle. Ahparently more powerful than Stonehenge due to the fact that more lay lines run through it, but without the upright stones. Was pretty cool to be standing in such an ancient place. Back to Ashbourne for a couple of vids and some Zzz’s.

Ashbourne on a Saturday night. We were feeling a bit worse for wear from the night before, but after the first couple of drinks we got into the swing of things. Went from one tiny bar, down to the Green Man where the crowd was starting to grow. For a small town this place really fills up fast. We went from the Green Man down to the Wine Bar for some Tequila’s, then managed to stumble back to the Green Man where they were starting up the Disco Evening! Partyed on there till close then headed back to Sammy and Darrens place with a box of beers. Darren dropped the beers after about 5 min, so we salvaged what we could and rolled in the door. He was asleep after about 20min and Sammy had headed over the road to another party. So we shot over there to find her curled up asleep on the lounge floor! Dropped her home and headed back to Pauls. Now Paul and Lizi’s, as mentioned, is best accessed by the pathway through the tunnel. Me and Hamish found what we thought was the tunnel and up we went. Hhmmm, theres a door here that must have been open before… through we go, make sure we shut it properly behind us. Oops, this would appear to be somebodys back yard and we just locked ourselves in! After a bit of a wander through the brush, scaling a fence and climbing down a wall, I was pretty sure we were headed in the right direction. Into bed and a few well earned Zzzz’s. ;o)

Bit of a relaxed Sunday. Went down to the shop to get supplies for a roast dinner in the new kitchen, just to get home and find the oven making an odd noise. Scrap that, watch some vids, then head down the park with Robbos stunt kite. Wicked fun! 3.6m wide, basically a parachute with ropes. It was cool fun. Off to the pub for dinner, another fine spread of English kai. Bit of a dosey ride down on the train, quick hop on the tube and home in bed before 12.
Great fun once again, heading up again in a fortnight for another try!!

Peace, Barrie

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