Blogs from Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 22

We arrived in Derby around 4:00pm and quickly checked in to our apartment and then set the GPS to take us Roy Hampton's home in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. Roy and his wife Carol had kindly invited us for dinner. Roy is my Grandmother's nephew. And what a dinner it was ! Three courses, four if you wanted cheese and biscuits. We were looking forward to a home cooked meal but we were well and truly stuffed. Roy showed me some old photos and he caught up on the news from our family in Australia. It was a lovely evening, and left at around 11:00pm. We were very well looked after. The next day, we walked into the city centre of Derby to have breakfast. It's an old town with quaint architecture and arcades. The Derby Cathederal can ... read more

Today is All Hallows Eve. Suzy is parked up still on the drive. We are still in the United Kingdom counting the time down to our next big adventure. We hope to get away for a few days this side of Christmas and the plan is to spend the darker nights inside now working out a plan of action for next years holidays. Dates are booked. I have managed to get 28 days off work in both April/May and in September. I had not expected to so it was a much needed boost on these dark Autumn days to realise that next years holidays are no longer just dreams in the back of our imaginations. But what to do today? The days are cold. The rain has been falling incessently over the last few days. The ... read more

the 5th was a day of rest - or just no pictures or anything to report so moving onto the 6th of September. Today, I am heading off to Hardwick Hall. The Elizabethan country house created by Bess of Hardwick in the early 1500's. Bess was one of the richest and remarkable women of Elizabethan England during those times. it is renowned for its tapestries and wonderful gardens. Off I drive in my little vehicle with my little travel buddy, Dobby, along the roads from village to village. Arriving at Hardwick Hall, I could not believe the magnificence of the new Hall. Driving up the road, seeing a herd of cows, then toward the car park. The new hall is standing across a road from the old hall that was just a shell now. The new ... read more

The sun was shining. It was the first day this week we had the chance to get in the car and ride. We headed across country through some of the most pretty Derbyshire countryside. Anything to the west of the A61 is pretty . Through Matlock with its busy bustling High Street , Shoppers thronging the streets . Matlock Bath with its seaside atmosphere, its fish and chip shops and its signs inviting visitors to its Venetian nights . The town miles inland with just a small river running through hosts a month long celebration of its history. Illuminations abound and it is popular albeit not quite on a Blackpool scale . We drove ever onward through the hilly village of Cromford with its canal and its famous Arkwright Mills. Now a heritage site full of ... read more

Suzy has been pampered. She had a well deserved addition and modification last week. For some while we have pondered on whether it would be worth upgrading her suspension to give us a better ride, better handling in the wind and not so much rocking and rolling going round roundabouts. Having parted with the best part of £600 on the upgrade we hoped it would be better and not another white elephant . Ok Woolly Sion knows that mammoths are not white. He has told us so and we have to believe the sheep who knows everything. We took Suzy out for a short trip - a sort of road to nowhere type of trip to test her out. 20 miles down the road to Derby to pick up some building materials that would not fit ... read more