Wednesday 1st October was a fine day at Bolehill Cottages near Bakewell (see link).  We decided to visit the Brailsford and District Ploughing and Hedge Laying Match, an annual event, held on the first Wednesday of October at different venues around the area.  This year it was being held on the Kedleston Estate just outside Derby.  We drove over to Kedleston via Ashbourne with the dogs after coffee.  Joanna and Andrew had gone along earlier and despite the crowds we saw them a couple of times.  Have always wanted to go to a ploughing match but was not sure what to expect.  The event was like the Ashover Show minus animals but with a number of fields divided into strips and being ploughed with anything from a horse drawn plough to modern tractors with ploughs.  The whole event, which was much bigger than I thought, took a few hours to walk around and it is one of the premier matches in the Midlands Region.  Apart from the ploughing and hedge laying competitions there were various trade stands and craft and produce tents.  We left mid afternoon and by chance came across a garden centre with tea room as the navigator (me) had taken us down the wrong lane. The Meynall Langley Trial Gardens are open during the spring/summer months when the trial work they do is on display.   The attached garden centre and tea room are open most of the year.  By the time we reached Ashbourne the sky was looking very foreboding and by Monyash it was raining.  In the evening I collected Joanna for this months WI committee meeting. Enjoy the pictures.