I made a card

Hello. What a miserable day it's been outside, overcast and dark all day. We had extra food at Crafty Club this morning, it was our Christmas Party. I took a bottle of sherry, only one other person, and me, had some, the rest were happy with coffee and tea. Our club Christmas Tree which we made for the charity exhibition is now installed in our village church. I didn't get to see the exhibition, so I'll take a photo some time this week when the post office is open in the church. 

I stopped sending Christmas cards a few years ago. The postage is so expensive now, it costs more than the cards. There is one exception, I do send one to my friend Carol, this one will be going to her new home. I don't like using glue on cards, in fact I hardly use glue at all for anything. I prefer to stitch pictures and messages onto blank cards. A scrap of fabric frayed at the edges, a piece of sticky back silver foil, and two pieces cut from old cards. 

Neat stitching on the inside.

I put a blank piece of paper inside to hide the stitching and to write the message on. It's held in place by embroidery thread tied into a bow inside. 

People are getting their Christmas lights out now. I posted a picture of this display last year, and I see a few more characters have been added. I like this one because it's not over the top, and doesn't look quite so tacky as some of them. It's the best one in our village. 

No news on Bugsy tonight, he is comfortable. I had arranged to have lunch with my sister on Wednesday but I have cancelled that. I don't want to leave him.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Willersley Castle, a very nice hotel

Hello. And here we are at the last of five posts on my mini break in Derbyshire. As well as fabulous walking, I also stayed in a fabulous hotel. The special offer of £39 per person per night for B & B plus evening meal is still on, it finishes on the 21st of December, so still time to grab yourself a two night getaway deal. 

The Willersley Castle Hotel is one of five hotels under the Christian Guild umbrella. You can check them all out here. They all have the same promotion so if you are down in the South West you can still take advantage of the offer. I always book my accommodation on the phone. 

Here are a few pictures. The Christmas tree decorating the entrance lobby.  

Down the corridor. Lounge on the left, dining room further down, lift to the upper floors on the right.

Check in at Reception. The staff are friendly and helpful.

There are two staircases, one at each end of the building. First floor looking down into the lobby.

The domed roof is beautiful inside. 

The iron railings on the second floor.

Looking down from the first floor. Love the carpet. 

Looking straight across on the first floor. 

Looking down from the second floor. 

Lots of choice for breakfast. The hot food was in warming pans on the other table. 

Table set for the evening meal in the dining room.

Retire to the lounge when you have eaten.

My room was a single en suite shower, hand basin, and toilet, crisp white cotton bedding, big fluffy towels. It had a TV, and tea and coffee making facilities. The food was excellent, freshly cooked and plenty of it, with a vegetarian option. Willersley Castle is a great hotel.

This is not a sponsored post, as you know, I don't take freebies for money. I paid £78 for my two night stay. I wasn't asked to write this.

So, thank you for popping in. It's been a dull day today, I managed to get a load of washing done but it isn't all dry so it is draped around the house. The heating is on, and my oldie boy ginger Bugsy  has two hot water bottles in his bed. I'm not sure how much longer he has here, we've been to the vet twice, I now think nature will take it's course.

Catch up soon. Toodle pip

Cromford to Matlock and back

Hello and Good morning. I'm catching up slowly. These photo's are of the last days walk, on Thursday. It was drizzling as I looked out of the window at breakfast, but once I got underway it stopped. It turned into quite a nice day weatherwise. The front of the hotel looking splendid. There is a lodge with a swimming pool, and another building with extra rooms, up a path behind the main hotel. 

 This is the view of the hotel from the other side of the river. Shame the tree blocks a lot of it out

There is a path alongside the river which cuts the corner and bypasses Cromford Mills. It comes out on the A6 close to the village. Here is the Community Centre. The roads through Cromford are very busy with mainly tipper trucks which are making their way to and from the nearby quarries.

I walked up a narrow street next to the pond and found the footpath to take me high up towards Matlock Bath. The object being to gain height today and get some nice pics looking down. Quirky log seats next to the pond.

There are quite a lot of stiles to pass through. This one, like many others, is very narrow, and the gate can't be opened. I ended up climbing over it. I don't know how hefty blokes go on. 

Not so much mist today, so the view looking down on the town of Matlock Bath is quite good.

 The tarmac roads only allow for cars to pass through. I stopped to chat to a chappie in his garden, and a delivery driver walked up with his parcel, having abandoned his transit van further down.

The Heights of Abraham is not open today. Have a look at the web site, it looks quite exciting.

At this point the path goes up those wooden steps and across a bridge over a private road. 

Most of the walk is through the woods. Here we are passing underneath the cable car wires.

From a distance if you look up from the road below you can see a large white building. This is it.

You might recognize this view from the previous post. I joined up with the Limestone Way footpath to come into Matlock. Much better view today, the wind has blown away the mist.

No need to linger in Matlock, I'm at the halfway point and need to make my way back. From the Church I followed the signs to High Tor, it goes high up and gives wonderful views of the river and road below. 

It started to get windy, and drizzly, which masked some of the views across to the other side. Good views looking down if you don't mind heights. I tend to take a quick snap then back off.  There are several vantage points, with signs everywhere advising not to get too close to the edge. When I got up there I remembered I had walked this path before several years ago.

Across there among the trees is the white house where I was walking earlier.

The sun tried to shine through the mizzly rain and made the wet rocks underfoot glisten. I love this atmospheric picture.

A bit further along the A6 road goes into the distance, and the rain has stopped. 

The cable car station is under renovation, looks like they are extending it by adding a new section to the side.

Almost down now, that's the main street in Matlock Bath down there.

The Grand Pavilion. It's an Edwardian building, built in 1910, and is now run as a charity by the local community. More info here.

I decided to follow the road back to Cromford, as time was getting on and I didn't want to be late back. This is the weir near Massom Mills. I did go inside and have a look round the shopping complex, masquerading as a customer so I could use the lavvies. The prices were well above what I would pay. Lots of very expensive clothes, a bit like a posh department store.

I was back at the car, still parked in the hotel car park, by 4pm. Traffic through Clay Cross, and on the motorway, was a bit heavy on the way home. Pussies all fine and snuggled up in their beds.

That's the three days walking all written up. 7 miles done today, 24 in total. I have some pictures of the hotel which I will post tomorrow. Until then I'll say, have a nice weekend, and we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Middleton back to Cromford

Good morning, it's Friday morning and I'll post the second half of Wednesdays walk. The National Stone Centre is on the High Peak trail to Middleton Top, when it turns into The Pennine Bridleway. Here we have the restored Steam Engine House built in 1829, to haul wagons up the steep incline. It has a visitor Centre and cycle hire, which were closed, it is only open weekends throughout the winter. Check out the Derbyshire County Council web site for more info. 

I didn't go into Middleton village, this is the view as I left the Engine House. I skirted around the outside, following footpaths. The fog is lifting a bit.

Heading off along a track I walked through Slinter Wood. It was quite steep in places, careful not to slip off the edge.

I was a bit confused at one point as the track seemed to go off in a different direction from what was indicated on the map. It also gave the impression that it should have been a wide bridleway, when in fact it narrowed down to single lane and went through a couple of fields. I heaved a sigh of relief when I caught a glimpse of the pond at Via Gellia Mill. Yes, I was going in the right direction and here is the mill. 

Crossing over the main A5012 trunk road, I took the minor road to Bonsall Village. Boy was it steep. Luckily there was a bench half way up to sit for a few minutes and eat, and cool off a bit. By this time I was sweating buckets.

Lovely olde worlde stone buildings.

The Village Cross. There are more pictures of Bonsall here.

From Bonsall it was a long trek on the Limestone Way, passing Massom Lees Farm. Matlock looks a bit misty in the distance. 

Then as I descended towards the town it became clearer and more details came into view.

I had a little bimble around Matlock, I have been here many times, even bought a car once from the Ford dealer. The market was packing away, daylight was fading, and people were doing a last bit of shopping before they made their way home for the night. I decided that the safest way to get back to the hotel would be to walk along the main A6 trunk road, as it would be well lit and has a footpath alongside. There was an alternative route to follow the river, but a bit risky in the dark. I asked a local man and he confirmed my decision to keep safe, saying there could be an encounter with undesirables, (drug users) along the path. He said he had just finished work and was going to get the train back to Matlock Bath. As I was passing the railway station 20 minutes later, who should I see but the man I had spoken to.

Matlock Bath is famous for their annual illuminations, a bit like a mini Blackpool. The river runs alongside the main road and reflects the lights making the place sparkle. I was sort of hoping there would be some Christmas lights, but apart from the ones on the shop fronts, all I saw were these lights across a bridge. They changed colour every few seconds.

Still on the A6, Masson Mills is the last building on the left between the road and the river, before you get to Cromford. This is an old Richard Arkwright Mill, now home to a shopping complex. 

Five minutes and I was back at the hotel. A couple of night time shots. The Christmas tree decorations were a bit disappointing, nothing to rave about. In fact there was a much better tree at the back of the building which could be seen from the meeting room. 

Dinner was lovely, freshly cooked, plenty of it, served by friendly staff. Couldn't ask for more. I was half way through uploading the pictures when I decided to retire to my room.

Come back tomorrow for the third and last day of my mini break in Derbyshire. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.