Friday was a quiet day at at our peak district cottages with one cottage out but none back in.  Down to Bakewell for weekend provisions. In the afternoon Andrew came up and helped fix the top cattle grid.  The handyman was also up and apart from helping with the cattle grid helped Chris with log chopping.  I spent most of the afternoon planting on some of the plants I recently acquired and chatting to some of the guests.  Saturday was busy and a nice spring like day. Four cottages out and five back in.  Three cleaners up and a speedy turn round achieved.  A chance to do some inventory checks as well as replace a TV.  Need to replace one of the fridges too.  Guests arrived between 3 & 6 pm.  Three have been here before.  After the last arrival Chris and I set off for Tissington to see the well dressings.  During well dressing week Tissington can expect up to 35 thousand visitors so we always go in the evening when it is less busy.  We thought the dressings this year were very good – their standard is always high – and we enjoyed our walk around the village with the dogs to see the six wells.  Pictures to follow.  On the way back we called into the farm to collect Fay’s computer which does not seem to be working so Chris is going to see what he can do with it.

Thursday dawned bright at our peak district cottages but cool but with the risk of showers.  Nevertheless we set off for Castleton with a pleasant six mile walk planned.  We parked in the main car park by the visitor centre from where we headed out along the pretty back streets and took the footpath that headed to the Speedwell Cavern.  Here we stopped at the foot of the Winnats pass and took some photos looking up the pass and there was also some classic cars there too.  We followed the path on towards Treak Cavern and then the Blue John Mine.  The path then curved uphill and we had some nice views up to Mam Tor. Just as the path reached the farm at the top of the Winnats Pass we then followed the path round Windy Knoll where there were a number of para gliders getting ready to take off.  At the road the path forked and we took the green path rather than the track featured on most walks.  Our views then changed as we left the Hope Valley behind and could see towards Buxton.  Up on the moorlands we were surprised at how noisy it was – all those sheep!  Where this path met the next track we followed this to pick up the Lime stone Way back to Castleton.  At this point we thought it was about time we had lunch so we left the Limestone Way after a short distance and picked up another footpath which we decided would give us some nice views with lunch.  We were right. After lunch we retraced our steps to pick up the Limestone Way.  Apart from one rocky steep section (I could see why most guides start this walk with the Limestone Way from Castleton) it was a nice walk back down into Castleton with views up to Peveril Castle.  We had enough time to visit Peveril Castle, the only thing was it was a long walk up to the Castle.  Credit to English Heritage, we could take the dogs (on their leads).  It has only been 17 years since we first came to Castleton and said we must visit the castle!  We stopped at one of the tea rooms before heading back home.  And it stayed dry. Pictures to follow.

A quiet day on Wednesday at our peak district cottages, mainly spent in finishing off accounts for the month.  It was a cold start again, some of my plants have been garaged overnight, and when I took the dogs for a walk I could see the clouds rolling across the hills Youlgreave way and when they lifted there was a layer of snow on the ground!  It had gone within the hour and there were reports of other snow showers in the area.  One of our guests had got caught in snow on Kinder Scout on Monday!  In the afternoon I went down to Bakewell and got my hair cut and in the evening I picked up Joanna and we went to Over Haddon for the monthly WI meeting.  This month no guests speaker instead we had our usual business then we had a discussion about the resolution to be discussed at the WI AGM.  As this does not take the whole meeting we also had a quiz which we always enjoy. One thing we id discuss during our business is trying to get more members but we do feel hampered by the ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ image.

Maybe part one will be the last part but you never know.  A much brighter day with showers threatened but they seemed to pass us by.  Up early as it was Chris’s turn to have a training day.  One cottage out of our peak district cottages this morning and after they departed loaded the car up and went to Buxton.  First stop was the recycling centre before heading back into Buxton.  Did a few chores in town then raided Waitrose before stopping off at one of the electrical suppliers to pay our bill.  Once home a cleaner came up and turned the cottage round in time for the guests who arrived just before 5pm, just as Chris returned from his course.  I had been doing accounts and some odd jobs.  Just before that Ian had turned out the cows into our front field.  Within an hour some had walked over the cattle grid and into the car park and were munching on my plants.  Chris got them out but a few more times in the next couple of hours so in the end we called Andrew up and got them moved to to an adjacent field.  The trouble with the cattle grid at the entrance to the car park is that it is an older style, the grids are closer together than newer ones and also flatter so easier to walk on. Earlier in the afternoon an emergency ambulance flew over and we heard there had been a serious accident on the road locally referred to as 13 bends.

Here are some pictures from Sudbury Hall, my purchases at the auction and Smudge rounding up cows, taken from or around our peak district cottages, although you may not be able to make him out.

Friday and Saturday saw a complete turnaround with four out on Friday, but with none retuning and thee out on Saturday with five back into our peak district cottages.  Three have been before.  Two cleaners up on both days to keep up with cleaning.  No cleaning problems encountered but time to do a number of jobs on Friday.  Went down to Bakewell on Friday and finished planting up the hanging baskets.  Just a couple of dozen spares to pot on as emergencies!  Friday was quite a pleasant day although you could feel the NE wind.  Saturday was a different scenario with it being cloudy with a few showers and noticeably colder.  It’s supposed to be getting warmer!  Three cottages arrived between 3&4 pm and one just before 5pm and one just before 6pm.  Little chance to do much else!

With another dull day forecast we trawled our list of things to do and decided to visit the Potteries.   When I looked at the map I realised how close they were, there are always leaflets available on the various factories.  We set off for Stoke via Leek but en route to Leek stopped at a tea room by the Roaches for a coffee.  We haven’t walked at the Roaches for a couple of years.  From the tearoom we could see the Titesworth reservoir despite the gloom, but on a clear day you can see the Black Mountains apparently.  At Stoke our first port of call was the Potteries Museum which I decided was as good as any place to get acquainted with the history of the area. In addition to information on the processes of making pottery there were displays of pottery through the ages and ceramics from the various factories.  There was also a Spitfire on display – the designer originated from the area but the most interesting display was some of the items from the Staffordshire Hoard   http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/   which are still on display following a recent exhibition.  There are plans for some of the Hoard to be on permanent display at this museum.  There was also an exhibition on a local Methodist chapel which was featured in the 2003 Restoration TV series and has undergone a dramatic restoration since the programme was aired.  After a light lunch we walked through the centre of Stoke in search of one of the other museums.  This was the Dudson Museum which is housed in the bottle oven of the old factory.  This was a fascinating way of displaying the history of the company and of various ceramics.  We then drove a little further north in the town to visit a couple of the factory shops.  When we left Stoke it took us 50 minutes to get back home. Chris was able to put together his new toy, a spreader, which can also be used for salt as well as for fertiliser.  Chatted to some of the guests about the events of last night at our peak district cottages and of course exercised our democratic right and went down to Bakewell to vote.           

A catch up morning for me at our peak district cottages while Chris borrowed one of Andrew’s tractors to do some log splitting.  Had planned to pay bills etc in the afternoon but the last of my hanging basket plants arrived so I planted up a few more baskets, will finish off on Friday.  Just need the nice weather to put them outside!  In the evening I collected Joanna and we went to our WI President’s house for our monthly committee meeting.  When we were coming back we could see there was a blue flashing light on our drive but as it was dark I didn’t know which emergency service it was.  As I was dropping Joanna off Andrew came out and said there had been a lot of police cars and the police helicopter at our property because of a drunk driver.  I had to drive up the field to get to the car park, there were two police cars and a recovery vehicle on the drive.  When I found Chris he said that a vehicle had driven up the field into the back field (the gate was open) followed by a police car, but as the officer was alone he called for back up which arrived in the form of the police helicopter, another police car and some police dogs but the driver had already escaped.  All this excitement and I wasn’t here!