Tuesday was a quieter day at our peak district cottages, feeling warm in the sunshine but with a few hefty showers.  Went to Matlock in the afternoon to get some bits from Sainsburys.  The forecast for Wednesday was similar but with more showers.  I hoped the showers would stay away as we had our WI outing in the evening.  This year we had chosen Shardlow, a village just the other side of Derby for an evening walk followed by a tea hosted by the WI.  We collected Joanna and Lynne, her neighbour on the Over Haddon side and set of for Shardlow.  Luckily we had a good run there bearing in mind we drove during the ‘rush hour’. Shardlow gained its importance as an inland port on the Trent and Mersey canal, which connected with other canal networks in the midlands and as such a lot of warehouses were built and this then attracted other business to the village which quadrupled in size in 50 years in the early 19th century.  The coming of the railway changed its fortune again but it still has many fine buildings (and pubs!) remaining.  After our (shower free) guided walk led by a couple of WI ladies we had supper at the village hall.  Enjoy the photos.