Before Dewi and I left Berkshire on Wednesday morning, I enjoyed a lovely chat to my family - it was Dad’s 61st so a perfect way to catch up with everyone. I left Bodra waiting for his taxi- he was off to Turin yet again, to perform a customer upgrade. Dewi and I were feeling rather anxious as we had the rain and clouds tagging along with us, however it eased off slightly by the time we reached Herefordshire.
We began our adventures in Kington, visiting the Small Breeds Farm Park and Owl Centre. Bundled up in our jackets we shared pellets and corn kernels with mini Goats, drooling Llamas, friendly (hungry) sheep and nibbly Chipmunks. We petted all these creatures as well as the many varieties of Owls and an Owlet too! Pics & vids
We were kept lovely and cosy for the night with a fizzing fire at Caradoc House B&B, a late Georgian three storey house in Leintwardine, Shropshire. The owners really know how to make a space feel like home- it was kind of like visiting your Grandparents where they have their family history laid out, very tastefully, and then everything you need is within reach. When we arrived Sue prepared tea and lemon drizzle cake for us in the sitting room, where we spent the rest of the noon and evening reading by the fireside. Sue treated us to a gorgeous spread for breakfast using locally grown and organic fare, and I experienced my first ever baked egg- really delicious! Pics
The next morning we pottered around the medieval town of Ludlow, before meeting my friend Jenny Chandler at a 17th century building called Berry’s Coffee House in Church-on-Stretton. We had planned on visiting my mother’s home town of Stockport, but I was enjoying catching up with Jenny and soaking up the sunshine in Berry’s garden, so I have postponed Stockport until ‘next time’.
Having spent most of the day travelling along tranquil country roads, we reached the Peak District in Derbyshire that evening. After a challenging hairpin corner, we found the Crowden YHA which provided us with meals, great company and a magnificent view. Really good, clean, comfortable facilities there, but we weren’t as cosy as we had been at the B&B. The following morning we went for a short ramble along the Penine Way and then down to Crowden Brook, enjoying the sun and calm air. Pics
We met Dewi’s friend Dan, from Leeds, at Hathersage station and together we made our way into Eyam to stay at the Beech Hurst YHA. Eyam is a village which was named and founded by Anglo-Saxons. The Domesday Book records it as Aiune- which strangely enough means ‘an island’. The YHA was located on Hawkhill Road, overlooking Derbyshire’s historic Plague Village. Beech Hurst is quite an impressive building with its tower. It was built over a hundred years ago on a steep hill surrounded by beech trees. Unfortunately we weren’t in the main building; dormitory accommodation was located in the coach house which was pretty scummy- I’m sure I heard rats scurrying about in the night. They always make the bunk beds like cots now, so I was grateful Bodra hadn’t accompanied us as he would have had difficulty squeezing into the framing.
There are several mines in the area around Eyam for lead, fluorspar and Barytes. By lunchtime we were wandering around Eyam village, going past the village stocks and cottages on Church Street which had plaques declaring who had passed on from the plague. At the end of August 1665, the bubonic plague had arrived in Eyam via the village tailor receiving parcels of clothes from London, where the plague was raging. The cloth was damp so he hung it out in front of the fire to dry, thus releasing the plague infested fleas. George Vicars, the tailor, soon took ill. He died on 7th September 1665, and then gradually the plague crept from house to house. As the village did not have a doctor, the rector, William Mompesson dispensed medicine, and also undertook lawyer duties, devising wills.
The more well-off residents managed to evacuate, probably half the population escaped the plague, but those who remained kept themselves in isolation, so as not to allow it to spread to other nearby villages. People buried their dead on their own land, often unassisted. We visited Mompessons Well which is where neighbouring villages would leave food and medical supplies for the Eyam folk, who left money, as payment, either purifying the coins by the running water in the well or leaving them in vinegar soaked holes. The plague claimed 5/6ths of the population- 267 lives, and ended in November 1666. Mompesson survived and wrote at the end of it “Now, blessed be God, all our fears are over for none have died of the plague since the eleventh of October and the pest-houses have long been empty.”
Whilst wandering around Eyam I spotted a sign advertising a Garland festival that evening in nearby Castleton, so we headed over there. Everyone was lined up along the High street, wearing sprigs of oak leaves. People were collecting charity money in exchange for oak leaves, so Dan, Dewi and I donned ours. We didn’t have the foggiest idea what was going on but soon a parade started. Unfortunately it headed off in the opposite direction from where we were standing, so we didn’t see much besides a silver band.
We walked around Castleton trying to locate dinner and ended up at the pub ‘Ye Olde Nags Head’ which was where the parade had started. From there we discovered what the parade was about. The Garland King, wearing/carrying a three feet high garland of flowers- not unlike a multi-tiered wedding cake- and his consort, ride through the village. They are followed by a silver band and a troupe of young girls dressed in white, performing a Morris dance, twirling batons with ribbons. It’s like a pub crawl as they stop at each pub along the way and are given pints (the Garland King, Queen Posy and silver band) and lemonade to the dancers. The Garland King and his consort are dressed in 17th century styled Stuart costumes. The part of the consort used to be played by a man dressed as a lady, but since 1955 they have enlisted a true lady. She rides side-saddle.
The 29th of May is Oak Apple Day, which commemorates the restoration of the English monarchy, in May 1660. The Garland Festival may have originally been a fertility rite as it has been held for hundreds of years, but now it is said to commemorate the restoration of Charles the Second. The garland is made in sections by each of the village pubs, with a separate small section at the top called The Queen. The procession culminates at St Edmund’s Church where the garland is hoisted onto the central pinnacle of the church tower and the Queen Posy is placed on the village war memorial. Lastly the girls dance around a maypole in the village market. Vids
On Saturday we went for a wonderful walk to Stanage Edge. This was an experience which Dewi had dreamed of doing for quite some time, as she wanted to embody Lizzy Bennet from ‘Pride and Prejudice’, searching for her Mr Darcy. We began our walk in Hathersage, the setting for Charlotte Bronte’s novel ‘Jane Eyre’. After filling our backpacks with food (the bakery made us humungous filled rolls- yum!), we found Baulk Lane to take us into the countryside. We passed golden fields covered with buttercups- it was ever so peaceful.
By the time we had reached North Lees Estate, I was feeling pretty ragged due to the walk up the hill (Reading is completely devoid of inclines) but the property is home to two Hairy Coos in the front yard, so their cuteness refuelled me. Charlotte Bronte stayed with a friend in Hathersage in 1845 and used North Lees Hall as her inspiration for Thornfield Hall, home of Mr Rochester in “Jane Eyre”.
I was really surprised and shocked to learn that the Peak District had once been completely covered with trees. In fact, it was home to Bison, Bear and Wolves, bones of which have been found in caves within the area. We only saw woolly sheep, lambs and a solitary pigeon which looked quite bewildered and lost. The landscape in the Peak District is constantly changing. People have had an immense effect on the way the landscape looks: firstly by clearing the hills of trees- which has gradually turned to moorland; then by farming the moors and valley slopes – enclosing the land within walls; and more recently by our leisure activities – walking, horse-riding, climbing and driving.
Once we began to make our approach to Stanage Edge, dozens of rock-climbers came into sight. In all of my travels within the UK, I don’t ever recall seeing an outdoors area as active as this. However, Stanage Edge stretches for 3.5 miles so it didn’t appear crowded at all. Dewi, Dan and I enjoyed our lunch in the sun and then wandered along the cliffs.
When we returned to the YHA, we began to hear sounds drifting over to us, a band doing Beatles covers- not too impressively. A Marquee had been erected in a field near Eyam Hall and it appeared a wedding was going on. From our interpretation it sounded like later on in the night the music had changed to Karaoke as the singing became progressively worse, although perhaps the band had been plied with drinks too. We made ourselves dinner of roast vegetables which we’d acquired from a green-grocer in Hathersage. The vegetables in this area are so delicious, sweet and flavoursome. Country living aye!!
On Sunday morning we dropped Dan off at the Grindleford station to catch his train back to Leeds, and then returned to Castleton to an area in Hope Valley called Treak Cliff Hill. Whilst in Eyam we’d picked up brochures advertising limestone caverns which have been mined for a unique mineral called Blue John Stone. It is a colour banded form of Fluorspar, purple and yellow in colour. The miners thought it looked blue but as they used candle-light their vision was somewhat obscured. I felt it looked a lot like Fluorite. Its name evolved from when the original miners in the 1750s were selling the stone to French people who had asked for the blue and yellow stone- “bleu et jaune”.
I was surprised to learn that the area had once been tropical and completely submerged beneath the ocean. Within the walls of the limestone cavern we could see sea-creature fossils which had been deposited 330 million years ago. The caverns had been formed by rushing water. We passed through the Witch’s cave which homes a shadow baring a creative resemblance to a witches silhouette, as well as deposits of Blue John Stone. We then went through a series of three caverns called Fairyland, Aladdin’s Cave and the Dream Cave. We saw dozens of stalactites and stalagmites and a frozen waterfall. Our guide explained to us that they were formed by the same substance that creates the lime-scale in our kettles.
When we emerged from the cavern we enjoyed watching the many Para-gliders catching thermals above us. We watched one of them land in a nearby field. Vid
From Hope Valley we travelled south to Buxton, where we stopped at the Hydro for tea and scones- yum! We had a wander around their shops and Pavilion gardens, and spent a few pounds in the Pavilion Gift Boutique which had gorgeous local arts and crafts for sale.
I had a wonderful time with Dewi and Dan, and feel really blessed to have had such good weather too! An experience like this really makes me feel like staying in England a bit longer, especially as I know there is so much more to see! Here’s hoping we have some time spare upon our return from Canada and the USA.
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