Heading north

The day of our long awaited trip to Derbyshire had arrived and it was an early start with the alarm disturbing our slumber at 6 a.m! A bit of a shock as we have finally happily become accustomed to sleeping till 8 or 9 a.m! The train from Kings Cross St Pancras departed at 9.55 and after what seemed like a very quick trip to Matlock we arrived at about 12 noon to be greeted by our friend Richard Bunting. It was great catching up with Penny and the girls, Izzy and Millie after four years. The girls have grown up such a lot. Their home is in an elevated position overlooking the valley in the distance and on the opposite side of the valley, little villages which at night are lit up like fairyland.

Izzy in Whitworth Park on the way to the river. Millie enjoying the climbing frame at Whitworth Park.

Rich and Penny at Ashover

There is a pattern emerging with our arrival in a place and the weather in Matlock was no different to our previous arrivals at a new destination. It was freezing cold and incredibly windy. So windy, one of Penny and Rich's doors nearly blew in. The next day saw us tripping off to one of our favourite places, the Chatsworth House farm shop. We've been to Chatsworth before so enjoyed the drive through the beautiful park-like property - no fences of course - where you slow to allow the sheep to cross the road and their leisure! The farm shop is full of produce sourced from the property. Home made preserves, bread, meat grown on the property etc.

We also took a lovely walk through some little rural lanes and down to the Derwent River. It's quite a large river (which was running quite fast,) with a very deep river bed, that is quite a drop to the water from the river bank. The sheep grazing in this area seemed totally at ease with people wandering through their paddock. We also found the steam train line which we thought might be a good idea for a ride on another day.

The lovely view across the valley from the family's cottage before and after rain during the night

The second night the wind flared again and the rain set in. Next morning Laurie led me blind folded to the huge glass window in the lounge room. I opened my eyes to see the river we had walked along the day before in total flood. It hasn't happened for many years so eastern Australia isn't the only place to endure flooding. We were to take the steam train but thought the line was probably flooded and may not be able to. However as the line is raised up so much from the farm land it was just out of the water so off we went. Penny, Rich and the girls came part of the way too which was a delight. The river was really flying particularly at Matlock at Riverside Station where the river bed narrows a lot between banks.

The historic Darley Dale Railway Station where enthusiastic volunteers keep the train working

Laurie, Louise, Izzy and Millie ready to roll on a chilly day

After our train ride Laurie and I decided to walk back to our weekend home from Matlock which is only a few kilometres but up a very long hill. You can't have views like they have without going up first. We were very pleased to see the cottage as we rounded the final corner. Next morning 'moi' had a case of shin splints!

The quaint little village of Ashover

Our final day dawned quite fine and it was time we headed off to Chesterfield via Rich's home town of Ashover which is nearby. It's a lovely old village with beautiful buildings, a very old church with graveyard next to it and the Crispin Inn. After this quick visit we continued on to Chesterfield and reluctantly farewelled Penny and Rich then caught the train back to London which again went very quickly . We had a ripper time with the Buntings. Returning to Kensington is like coming home really. It's so lovely here.