Sunday started out and stayed sunny, a trend that supposedly ends tomorrow with two predicted days of rain.  With the weather so nice, we both took walks, separately, up to the castle and back.  Elaine went early, I went later.  Last year on her morning walk up to Dunstanburgh Castle, Elaine met Dorothy, an English lady from Derbyshire, who does the same walk every morning when she and her husband stay in Craster for a week.  Since we are here for essentially the same week this year as last, we wondered if we would see Dorothy and Geoffrey again.  We both saw Dorothy on our walks, and we spent some time reminiscing.  Elaine and Dorothy will meet up at 6:30 AM tomorrow to walk together (weather permitting).

A little more about Dunstanburgh Castle.  It has a rich history back to he 14th century, originally a State site for defense from invasions from nearby Scotland.  As that need diminished, it passed into private hands.  A golf course, still in use, was built in 1900.  The state took it over again as an observation post and defensive position against potential German submarine landings in WWII.  In the 21st century the castle is owned by the National Trust and run by English Heritage.  Here are some more pictures from my walk.  Yesterday’s picture were by Elaine on her walk.

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Later in the morning we drove back roads north for 40 minutes to get to tiny Chillingham, home to a castle and to a preserve for the Wild Cattle of Chillingham.  We bought a combined ticket for both sites, but we only visited the Wild Cattle today and will use the castle ticket another day.  Wild Cattle, you ask?  Yup.  Here’s a brief blurb about them, visit the link for more information about this unique breed:

“One of the rarest animals on Earth, a visit to the Wild Cattle of Chillingham makes an absolutely unique day out in beautiful Northumberland. Perhaps for as long as 700 years these remarkable animals have inhabited Chillingham Park. Isolated from all other cattle, they are totally inbred yet remain fit and healthy – a unique situation without parallel in any wild animal anywhere else in the world.“The animals are regarded as a scientific marvel; inbreeding throughout history is well known to lead to extinction because of the small gene pool that the animals share. Studies with the most modern DNA technology show that the cattle have a uniquely high degree of genetic uniformity. However, there is still a small amount of genetic variability between individuals. We don’t yet know if this is the result of chance or if it is in some way related to the survival of this unique population; however the Chillingham Wild Cattle have managed to survive in spite of this, and the herd continues to grow.”

“The beasts are also completely untamed and remain untouched since the medieval ages, so their behaviour is entirely natural and can give us insight into the behaviour of extinct ancestral wild cattle. The cattle breed throughout the year, and the bulls adopt ‘home territories’, plots of the land which they assume as theirs. They share this territory, but do not tend to defend it if other cattle graze in it.”

We skipped the castle for today because we had to get back to Craster to change for brunch in nearby Newton by the Sea at the Joiner Arms.  Great feed!  We shared the Captain’s Seafood Platter for starters  (Craster kipper pate, drunken mussels, handmade fish cakes , sweet beetroot relish, tempura king prawns, sweet chilli dipping sauce, north Atlantic prawns and crayfish in sea salt and lemon aioli).  Elaine opted for Roast Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto for her main while I stuffed myself with the Trio – Sirloin of Beef, Roast Chicken and roasted Loin of Pork with homemade pork, apricot & sage stuffing & salted crackling.  It was all accompanied by an Italian Pinot Nero wine.  Needless to say, we skipped dessert.

After that a quiet afternoon at home, cocktails on the front patio as we toasted the tourists walking by on their walks up to the Castle.  No dinner needed!  Bed early.

We awoke Saturday morning to beautiful clear skies and very pleasant temperatures.  After Elaine’s morning walk up to Dunstanburgh Castle while I did a shorter walk around Craster Harbor and posted the blog for yesterday, we set out in Pierre Peugeot for some sightseeing.

Click Pics to Enlarge

Having spent a week here last year, you’d think we would have seen everything close by.  Not so, and we have several destinations in mind for this week.  Our first stop today was at Warkworth Castle run not by the National Trust, but a sister organization called English Heritage.  Alas, we are not members, so we had to fork out £5.60 each for admission.  We were the second people to enter the castle when the doors opened at 10:00 AM

Started in 1149, Warkworth Castle became the home of Roger fitz Eustace and later of the powerful Percy Family.  Part of its importance lies in its role as the chief residence of the powerful Percy family in the late Middle Ages, as well as the exceptional architectural quality of its late 14th-century great tower.

Warkworth was, in the late Middle Ages, the main residence of the Percy family, the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland, one of the most powerful families in northern England, particularly in the border area with Scotland. While Alnwick Castle, which they bought in 1309, boasted large estates and greater prestige, Warkworth was their favorite residence.  (The Percy’s still reside at Alnwick Castle, which we visited last year, headed now by Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland.)

As the Percys played an important role in the life of the court, the castle was the setting for historically significant events. These included, in the early 15th century, the conspiracy by the 1st Earl of Northumberland and his son, known as Harry Hotspur, to depose Henry IV.  Even after the castle later fell into decline, it was still sufficiently celebrated to be used by William Shakespeare as the setting for several scenes of his Henry IV plays, written in 1597.

Upon Leaving Warkworth, we drove just three miles down the road to a town called Amble.  It’s a pleasant enough town, crowded with visitors for the weekly boot sale (rummage sale), but it has a forlorn air of a spot past its prime.  We just missed the Amble Puffin Festival by a week (Sorry, Debbie Wicks!), walked (ambled in Amble) amongst the endless vendors at the boot sale, stopped at the Northumberland Seafood Center for a look at their breeding program for European lobsters (almost microscopic in size as they begin their life), and ventured out and back on the L-shaped breakwater.  The lasting memory was of the microscopic baby lobsters, one of 20,000 of which will grow to maturity.  We passed on an hour boat ride round Coquet Island to view puffins as we had seen thousands of them last year on the Farne Islands near here.

Then we went another eight miles down the road for a stop at Druridge Bay Country Park for our picnic lunch – sandwiches, chips, and beverage of choice (Diet Coke or water) under still sunny skies by the water.    After lunch we took an alternate route back to Craster through Boulmer, the home of a large RAF Boulmer Base.  We may be back to Boulmer for a lunch someday soon.  By the time we were back in Craster, the fog rolled in and you could just see the ocean from our cottage, Craster Rocks.

After a nap, the fog had lifted in plenty of time for drinks on the small front deck.  Dinner tonight was at home prepared by Chef Elaine: Chicken Tiki Marsala (or is it Tikka Marsala – seen it both ways) with green beans and bread.  (We must buy some naan for the leftovers!)  Wine was New Zealand Oyster Bay Pinot Noir.

Night, night!

It’s Saturday morning as I write this.  Yesterday we had an uneventful drive from Blore in Staffordshire to Craster in Northumberland (about four hours).  Part of it was on the dreaded British M1 Motorway, often congested with long traffic jams.  Clear sailing yesterday though.  We made a few stops along the way since we couldn’t check in to our new home until 4:00 PM.  We stopped at a rest area on the M1 just to stretch our legs.  We stopped at a Costco near Newcastle to pick up a couple of things.  Elaine was enticed by a very old olive tree on sale for £399, but we demurred. Tough to check it in for the return flight.  And finally we stopped at Sainsbury’s supermarket in Alnwick for groceries.

We arrived in Craster just after 3:00, parked, and went to the Jolly Fisherman for a celebratory beer to mark our return to Craster.  We stayed here last year in the same cottage for a week and liked it so much, here we are back again.  At 4:00 sharp we parked the car outside Craster Rocks, our cottage.  It is located just inside the gate for the one mile walk along the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle, an old ruin administered by the National Trust.  As I write this Elaine is off on her morning walk up the castle, a tradition started last year.  I will do it once or twice as well.

Dinner last night was at the Jolly Fisherman, booked weeks in advance as it is very popular.  Spectacular views here as you eat extremely good food.  The wine was a Shiraz from Australia.

• (Elaine) Crab Soup, Shetland Mussels, and a hot brownie with vanilla ice cream
• (Joe) Lindisfarne Oysters, Grilled Local Mackerel, and the same brownie and ice cream.

The oysters are local from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne that we visited last year.

Then it was home to bed under clear skies as the sun was just setting.

I took these as I arose at 5:30 AM.  It gets light early here, starting around 4:15 and stays light until well past 10:00 PM.

On our last full day in Derbyshire, we enjoyed another perfect sunny day.  In the morning we drove about 15 miles to the small village of Lea to visit Lea Gardens.  It is noted as a wonderful venue to see rhododendrons when they are in season (March-June).  It seriously lives up to that reputation.  There are also azaleas, kalmias, and lots of trees.  The gardens were built by John Marsden-Smedley.  Skilled craftsmen from his estate used the abundant stone littering the area (originally an old quarry site dating back to Roman times) to fashion paths and verandas in the local style of dry stone walling. Soil was brought from other parts of his estate to top up beds of sand. In some cases ash was brought from the furnaces of his woolen mill to add to this topping-up process.

The garden is huge with meandering paths much like a maze.  Pictures tell the story best, so I will let them.  On completion we each had a cup of tea and split a delicious scone with clotted cream and strawberries.  (I reiterate a previous comment that clotted cream should be illegal!)

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Rhododendron pictures need no captions

Then we drove on to Carsington Water.  Owned and managed by Severn Trent Water, Carsington Water is a large reservoir. It boasts a range of wildlife habitats from ancient hedgerows, species-rich wildflower meadows and native woodlands, to pond and scrapes, reed beds and carefully-managed islands.  Since its construction, there have been over 215 bird species over 30 mammal species recorded. There is a large visitor center on site with a restaurant, cafe and shops, including a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) shop. There are extensive outdoor activities including cycle hire, picnic areas, a climbing wall, adventure playground and sailing club.  There is also an exhibit by the water authority on reclaiming water from sewage.  (Frankly, it’s a pretty shitty subject! – literally)  We had a walk through the grounds and then enjoyed our picnic lunch at a picnic table near the water.

Then we drove off to visit another site.  We ran into a couple of road diversions and never found it, so we ended up with a leisurely afternoon home at Dovedale Lodge.  We enjoyed the obligatory five o’clock cocktails under bright sunshine on our lawn.

Dinner tonight was at Whites of Ashbourne.  It was a triumph, worthy of any restaurant we have ever been to anywhere.  We started with Chambord Kir Royales.  The wine for dinner was a Chilean Pinot Noir.  A Selection of House Breads with Beef Marrow Butters preceded Starters: (E) Twice Baked Cheese soufflé with Tomato and Coriander Dressing, Tomato Chutney, and a Parmesan Crisp; (J) Crispy Whitebait with Tartare Sauce (simple but elegant).  Mains: (E) Chicken Supreme with Jersey Royales, Chestnut Mushrooms, Local Asparagus,and Peas; (J) Lamb Rump, deliciously medium rare, with Lamb Belly, Ratatouille, Black Olive, and Potato Terrine.  Dessert: (E) A Pana Cotta Supreme; (J) Vanilla Parfait Supreme.  OMG!  France in Derbyshire.

As the vacation approaches its halfway point, tomorrow morning we will be off to Craster in Northumberland for a repeat week from last year’s trip – we enjoyed it that much.  More from there!

So, we have been staying at Dovedale Lodge, our delightful cottage, for close to a week now and have yet visited Dovedale.  It’s just three miles up a road that we had not yet been down.  We didn’t want to go on Saturday, Sunday, or the Monday bank holiday because we were warned it would be jammed.  Yesterday was cloudy and we wanted to visit on a sunny day, the more to enjoy the walk around Dovedale.

Wednesday broke sunny and clear as forecast, so today would be the day.  First off, though, we drove into Ashbourne to buy those elusive game pies at Mark’s Butcher Shop.  Alas, Mark doesn’t sell game pies.  We bought two other delicious pies for tonight’s dinner, and also visited Waitrose for more wine and some other groceries.

Then by 9:30 we headed down the road in Pierre Peugeot to Dovedale.  Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England.  The land is owned by, who else, the National Trust, and annually attracts a million visitors.  The valley was cut by the River Dove and runs for just over 3 miles.  In the wooded ravine, the most famous feature is a set of stepping stones that cross the river.

When we arrived, there were only a handful of cars in the parking lot (£3).  We decided to walk the trail from the parking lot to Ilam Rock and back – 1.75 miles each way.  Elaine started off as I was securing the car.  Problem!  The car wouldn’t lock.  There seemed to be no way to lock it, and locking was important as Elaine decided to leave her purse (and our passports) under her seat.  The solution to the immutable locking problem was simple.  I took Elaine’s purse out from under the seat, and the car locked up normally.  I put it in the back seat under some stuff – the car would not lock.  The answer: Elaine had the second key fob for the car in her purse.  Pierre will not let you lock the car if you leave the key fob in the car.  Who knew?

The stepping stones across the Dove River were just a ten minute walk from the lot, and when we arrived, we basically had the place to ourselves.  The walk on from there was pleasant, through the woods, over and down one hill, and finally we arrived at Ilam Rock.

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As we headed back the other way, we encountered more and more walkers: serious hikers, families, and dogs galore.  The Stepping Stones had a long line of people waiting to cross.  We were so lucky to have arrived early and have the place to ourselves.  The parking lot was a madhouse, and there was a jam of cars waiting to get it.  Had we got here at noon, we would have u-turned and left.  We had a bit of bother negotiating the narrow entrance/exit road with all the incoming traffic, but Pierre made it through unscathed.

On the way back towards Blore, we stopped for a brief look at Blore Pastures, and then headed to Mappleton for lunch at the Okeover Arms.  We sat outside and enjoyed wine (E) and beer (J) with lunch:  fried chicken sandwich for Elaine (it was blah) and a Ploughman for me (it was OK).  It was enjoyable just for sitting outside and enjoying the warmer temperatures (upper 60’s).

Back at home, we went back down the road to St Bartholomew’s Church for a look inside.  There are services every Sunday with a congregation of 10-12.  The organ is very interesting – like an organ in a box.  Then we started cocktails on the lawn before joining Roger and Victoria, our landlords, and we met their lovely children, a daughter age 18 who will start Oxford in the fall and a son age 16.  Both attend boarding schools near London but are home for mid-term break.  Delightful polite kids!

Our pies for dinner were great, and we watched Britain’s Got Talent where the son of our friend from Dingle was competing in the semi-finals.  Alas, he didn’t make it through.  Bummer.  Last full day in Derby/Stafford shires tomorrow.

So Tuesday was overcast with high clouds but dry and warmer.  We had a single destination for the day – Kedleston Hall – for a walk and a visit to the house.  It’s only a 30 minute drive away.  The grounds open at 10:30, the house opens at 12:00.  So we had a leisurely morning at home before setting off at about 10:00 am.  Sometimes you think “what, another country house to visit, maybe we should just skip it”.  But every one is different and magnificent in its own way.

Kedleston Hall, administered by the ever present National Trust, is another English country house and the seat of the Curzon family.  The current house was commissioned in 1759 by Sir Nathaniel Curzon (Baron Scarsdale).  He put a relatively unknown architect, Robert Adams, in charge of the construction.  Adams eventually became one of the most successful and fashionable architects in England and created the “Adam Style“.  He designed the outside, inside , and the extensive grounds and gardens which are still referred to as the Pleasure Grounds.  The gardens and grounds today, over two hundred years later, remain mostly unaltered.  Interestingly, parts of the estate are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, primarily because of the “rich and diverse deadwood invertebrate fauna inhabiting its ancient trees”.  Ah, OK.  Also in the garden is a hermitage – originally  a hermitage was a small hut lived in by a religious man or woman. It was usually built away from other people’s houses. But in the 18th century, a hermitage was one of many small buildings landowners added to their parks and gardens.  Like the other garden buildings, a hermitage was used for entertainment or as space to get away from society. A landowner might also advertise for a hermit to come and live in the hermitage as an attraction for visitors.

As usual, click on pictures for an enlarged version in a separate window or tab

Kedleston Hall played an interesting role in WWII.  In 1939, it was offered by Richard Curzon, 2nd Viscount Scarsdale, for use by the UK War Department.  Kedleston Hall provided various facilities during the period 1939–45 including its use as a mustering point and army training camp. It also formed one of the Y-stations used to gather Signals Intelligence via radio transmissions which, if encrypted, were subsequently passed to the codebreakers at Bletchley Park for decryption.  There’s your WWII history lesson for the day.

Before touring the impressive house, we did a 3.2 mile walk around the Pleasure Grounds.  The walk was easy and nice and level – no climbing!  We stopped by the artificial lake near the end of the walk to eat the picnic lunch we had brought along.  The Pleasure Grounds are a popular picnic spot.

Then we did a self tour of the house, an impressive edifice with a beautiful interior.  Some of the collections inside are quite amazing.  Two highlights come immediately to mind:

• An impressive Tiger rug (that would be (or maybe is) very politically incorrect today, but it is impressive none the less displayed right in front an equally impressive Howdah (elephant saddle).  Not many places to see a tiger rug or an elephant saddle at all, let alone right beside each other.

• The Peacock Gown worn by Lady Mary Curzon (who was from Chicago) was assembled in India from panels of chiffon that had been embroidered and embellished by Delhi and Agra craftsmen using the gold wire weaving method. It was shipped to Paris where the dress was styled with a long train edged with white chiffon roses. The panels were overlapping peacock feathers that each had a blue/green beetle wing at the center. Over time, the metal thread in the dress has tarnished but the beetle wings have not lost their luster.  The ill-fated Lady Curzon (she died at 36) wore the dress to celebrate the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII at the second Delhi Durbar in 1903.  The Delhi Durbar was held to celebrate the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India.  That, of course, would also be the King or Queen of England.

Some pictures from the rest of the impressive Kedleston Hall:

After the house we did a quick visit to the All Saints Church on the grounds (Yes, the same as the church at Sudbury Hall that we saw yesterday.)  Then it was back to Pierre Peugeot for the ride home for a late afternoon at leisure.  Cocktails were outside on the lawn.  Our landlord, Roger, joined us for a glass of wine and invited us to join him and his wife tomorrow night for cocktails.

Dinner tonight was at the Bowling Green Inn in Ashbourne.  Elaine picked off TripAdvisor, a site we use often and contribute reviews to regularly.  It is noted for its steaks, something I usually avoid in the UK because they don’t live up to US standards.  It was very good.  I started with sweet and spicy chorizo while Elaine enjoyed smoked salmon with asparagus.  I went with a steak – a 9 oz. fillet, ordered medium rare, and it was very good and cooked perfectly.  Elaine had sea bass with more asparagus.  The portions were large and we skipped dessert.  Instead we had dark chocolate coated ginger cookies at home before calling it a day.

Dull dreary day with off-and-on rain (what you expect in England).  The day started off badly as we drove into Ashbourne to buy game pies from the butcher shop, but the butcher was closed for the bank holiday.  The Waitrose super market was open and we bought a few supplies.  Then we headed to Sudbury to visit Sudbury Hall.

Sudbury Hall is an old country house, the ancestral home of the Vernon family, which is administered by the National Trust and currently serves as the home of the National Museum of Childhood.  A woman named Betty Cadbury, now deceased, had this huge collection of childhood memorabilia which her estate has loaned indefinitely to the National Trust.  They display it in this museum.  Full of families with little kids who seemingly love the place, it brought back childhood memories.  It is quite interesting and brought back lots of memories.

The Sudbury All Saints Church is next door, and we stopped in for a visit. It is a surprisingly interesting place, and we enjoyed a good look around.  Some of the Vernon Family of Sudbury Hall are entombed here.  After our visit we wandered a short way down the road for lunch at the Vernon Arms.  It was built as a coaching inn in 1671.  A BLT for Elaine and Steak and Ale Pie with chips for me.  Very good.  I had a traditional English pale ale, Gold EPA from Marston Breweries.  It was good, but almost all non-lager beer and ale is served at room temperature in England.  If you want a cold one, always order a lager.

One the way home we stopped at the closest pub to our cottage, the Dog and Partridge Country Inn, to check it out for dinner tomorrow night.  We had a beer and decided after checking the menu that we would give it a miss.  Once home Elaine did her TripAdvisor thing and picked out another place for tomorrow night.  I called and made a reservation.  (Once in England I swapped out my US phone sim card for a UK sim that I have had for several years.  I topped it up before leaving home and it works great for the occasional phone call we need to make.)

Dinner at home was lamb meatballs with peppers and onions and a side salad.  The wine was a pinot noir.  A little TV and then off to bed.

Mostly cloudy day today with some rain but generally pleasant.  This morning we drove the nearby tiny town of Tissington, a quintessential little English village.  It, like other towns in England, is celebrating their annual Well Dressing Festival this week (Good timing!).  Well dressing (also once known as well flowering) is a summer custom practiced in rural England in which wells, springs or other water sources are decorated with designs created from flower petals. The custom is most closely associated with the Peak District of Derbyshire and Staffordshire.  (I’ve been saying we are in Derbyshire.  All the sights we have seen are indeed in Derbyshire, but Dovedale Lodge is in fact over the border in Staffordshire). We parked just outside the village, and walked through town viewing the six well dressings located here.  Tissington is the most famous of all the well dressing villages in England.

Click on Pictures to Enlarge (Lots today!)

From here we drove back up toward Bakewell to visit the ancestral and current home of the Duke of Devonshire.  Chatsworth House is located on a huge estate, and it was very busy on this long weekend Sunday.  We went through the magnificent house, and then ventured into the lovely gardens.  Parts of the house are currently displaying an exhibition of British style.  The gardens were huge and we did only a short walkabout there.  You could easily spend a whole day here, and families had spread blankets on the vast lawns and set up elaborate picnics.  Apparently the current Duke’s mother, the Duchess, used to come down and greet visitors who came to view the house every day until she died at age 84 a few years back.  The current Duke, the 12th, took over on the death of his father in 2009.  His grandfather, the 10th Duke, had an older brother who was married to Kathleen Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy.  He was killed in WWII and never assumed dukedom.

After an abbreviated visit in the gardens, we headed back home to change for Sunday afternoon brunch at the Duncombe Arms, a short drive from Dovedale Lodge in little Ellastone.  Service wasn’t great, but the food was good.  As our only meal of the day, I started with a delicious chicken live pate while Elaine had citrus salmon with avocado.  I had traditional English roast beef with Yorkshire Pudding and potatoes while Elaine enjoyed chicken and mushroom pie.  For dessert Elaine had sticky toffee pudding with ginger ice cream while I indulged in a strawberry trifle.  All yummy with a nice bottle of wine (French Bordeaux).

Fully sated, we headed home for a rest.  We had cocktails on the lawn again as a hot air balloon floated by, and we had a nice chat with our landlord, Roger.  This tiny village of Blore has only four resident families. (Well, five if you count us!)  Then it was early to bed after a busy day.

The forecast wasn’t good for our first full day in Derbyshire with rain and thunder showers predicted throughout the day.  Nonetheless, we set off from Dovedale Lodge for nearby Ashbourne to check out the town.  It’s comfortably small but bustling and full of shops.  It was market day, so it was quite busy.  Today is also the start of a long weekend as Monday is a bank holiday in the UK as well as the beginning of mid-term school break week.

We wandered around for awhile before visiting St Oswald’s Church.  St Oswald’s is the parish church for Ashbourne and is one of the most beautiful and most visited parish churches in England.  It is named after Oswald of Northumbria and was dedicated in 1241.  It is a very nice church with lots of stained glass.  We also stopped in at the associated St John’s Church on the opposite side of downtown.  Both are Anglican.

We found a great bakery in Ashbourne and bought a loaf of country sourdough bread that turned out to be amazingly good.  You don’t get bread in the UK like you do in France, but this loaf was damn close.  We also discovered a butcher shop where we will return to buy game pies for dinner one night this week.

As we walked around, it was sprinkling off and on with the sun sometimes sneaking out.  No rainbows though.  Back to the car we decided to drive the 15 miles to visit Haddon Hall.  I was afraid it would be teaming with Brits out on the long weekend.  And the gardens, supposedly beautiful, wouldn’t be very enjoyable in the rain.  But luck was on our side.  It wasn’t crowded at all, the clouds cleared, and we visited under bright blue skies.

Haddon Hall, famous for its tapestries and gardens, is often described as the most perfect house to survive from the middle ages. Set in the heart of the beautiful Peak District National Park, parts of the house date from the 12th Century, sitting like a jewel in its Elizabethan terraced gardens, and overlooking the River Wye.  Film-makers flock to Haddon Hall to use it as a location. The house and grounds have played host to no less than three versions of Jane Eyre. Screen credits also include Elizabeth, Pride & Prejudice, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Princess Bride, the cult classic movie in which Haddon Hall becomes Prince Humperdinck’s Castle and village. Haddon Hall is recognized as one of the most romantic houses in Britain.  The gardens were lovely, full of blooming flowers that sparkled under the beautiful sunny skies.  It lived up to its reputation.

We then stopped in nearby Bakewell for a walkabout.  It is known as the ancient capital of the Peak District.  The River Wye meanders gently through the center of this beautiful old market town.  It is famous for its Bakewell Puddings.  Bakewell grew up around a cluster of thermal springs and wells that attracted Iron Age settlers.  The town has a long and fascinating history; mentioned in the Domes Day Book of 1085,`Badequella’ meaning Bath-well.  Bakewell was hopping as it was the day for the monthly farmer’s market, second biggest in the UK.

Then we headed home to Dovedale Lodge for a rest and for cocktails.  We waited too long to make reservations for dinner in White’s Restaurant in Ashbourne, so we made a reservation there for Thursday night, our last night in the area.  For dinner we ate the leftover steak burgers and potatoes served with that delicious bread we bought.  The clouds were back and it rained periodically with the occasional thunder claps.

And tomorrow is another day.

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We loved our stay in Swanage.  Rowena Cottage was perfect.  The restaurants, save one, were excellent.  The scenery was outstanding.  And the weather was as good as it gets.  But on Friday morning at 9:00 we packed up Pierre Peugeot and set out for Derbyshire, a four-and-a-half hour drive pretty much due north.  The drive, mostly on British motorways including the infamous M1 and a short stretch on England’s only toll road, the M6 near Birmingham, was uneventful although stressful (because the traffic in England is always heavy on the motorways).

We arrived in Ashbourne, the closest market town to our next cottage in England’s Peak District, at about 1:30.  It’s a very pretty town.  We quickly found our way to Sainsbury’s, a supermarket chain, to stock up for the week.  We bought a week’s allotment of wine, some makings for sandwiches for picnics, water, bread, Rose’s lime juice (an essential), and other odds and ends.

Then we drove the additional 8 or 9 miles to the small village of Blore and to Dovedale Lodge, our home for the next seven nights.  We arrived around 3:00.  It’s a lovely cottage with all the amenities including washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, fridge, etc.  We rented this one from Rural Retreats, the same broker that we used for Rowena Cottage.  We unloaded the car and set up shop.  The WiFi works just fine.

The weather was perfect once again for the drive, and the temperatures reached the low 80’s, unheard of for England in May.  We took a very short walk to and around Blore’s St. Bartholomew’s Church and Graveyard.  I changed into shorts and we enjoyed cocktails in front of the cottage on the peaceful lawn.  Dovedale Lodge is in a remote area, but there are two other homes nearby.  We waved to one of our neighbors as they drove off into town.

For dinner was had steak-burgers with potatoes and a salad and a nice bottle of Chilean pinot noir.  Then early to bed.  No plans yet for tomorrow but there are rain showers predicted for late morning.  In fact, it looks like a pretty cloudy week.  No worries, we will soldier on.

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