Did it!
Stunning views – who knew???
And despite all the warnings, Strava timed it at 11 minutes to the top from the car park – admittedly quite steep.
Back at our house by 10.00 for a well deserved coffee. And then a visit to a working mill
And that is it. Repeat visits to Ilam and Kedleston and enjoyed some cold beers on our terrace.
And another one – not NT this time.
It’s getting seriously hot outside – finding places in the shade to sit is a problem!
But then luck really hit us – looking for a shady place to have our picnic and completely by chance found Monsal Head – benches in the shade with quite a decent view.
And a bit of a walk on the old railway line.
Discovering lots to do – and much of it National Trust which is great. Today Kedleston Hall which, of course, we’d never heard of.
Chatting to Jo
And a nice walk round the grounds.
It was one of the drivers for the holiday – can’t believe neither of us had ever been. Definitely worth it.
Firstly Eileen managed to source a discount – sign up for Arts Society Membership ( £20) and get half price entry (saving £32). Happy Days!
And the inside
And for the rest of the visit the biggest challenge was to find a bench in the shade (which we don’t think is often an issue in this part of the world!).
Beginning to get a bit of a feel for Matlock and its surrounds, but still can’t be quite sure what we’ll find. For instance, when a walk is described as “moderate ” that could have quite a different meaning when you’re surrounded by all these hills.
Anyway, DoveDale was a really nice surprise
.. including the balancing act …
And Ilam describes itself as NT and a Youth Hostel. Both true, but still fabulous.
And back to our own wonderful view
The NT membership cards are ready to go this week. Decided it’s probably going to be busy everywhere on a lovely June weekend, and that NT property might be best placed to cope.
It’s huge.
and so copes with what seemed to us like a lot of people.
Also get the chance to see the old ruin before this one was built 450 years ago – looked pretty similar to me.
But we can’t compete in the glamour stakes this week
… although some of us tried!
The forecast is pretty good, so a few days ago we chose to discard Slovenia ( it’s all planned, so will probably appear here one day soon) and try Derbyshire.
Beautiful house about 10 minutes from Matlock – decent view from the conservatory.
However, much as we might try, we can’t compete with the glamorous A – Listers in the Cayman Islands!
But back to the more mundane Derbyshire. Calke Abbey was a decent stopping off point.
Liked the modern shower
And the gardens
