After meeting at Reg's, the 7 of us (after collecting Mike) set off for Hartington in Derbyshire in beautiful strong sunlight. Perhaps a little glare, but whose complaining. On route we saw ample evidence of the remains of the snow. As a boy, in Ashbourne, we called these remnants in the corners of the fields 'Snow Bones' and I was quite keen to seek some out.
Success came during our trip from Hartington after the chaps had had their walk, when we veered off the main road to Winster and drove to the top of a rise on a farm road. Picture 1 is the sort of view, as is the snap on the right.
When we emerged from the car the temperature was icy. The farmers wife, on her way out in a 4x4, far from wondering what we were doing on their farm road stopped to see if we had broken down. She wasn't at all grumpy and suggested that when we had finished our photographs to drive down to turn round in the farmyard rather than risk the grass.
Hartington is now a sleepy Derbyshire village. If you open the link you will see that in the middle-ages it was a market town. An excellent centre for walking because they have provided a useful amount of parking. The chaps found me a good parking spot in the market-place from whence I ventured to the Cheese Shop, the duckpond, and enjoyed my flask of coffee etc., unfortunately though, the spot seemed too remote for my vodafone dongle. Maybe because I was in a valley or simply out of range of a suitable mast but I couldn't receive a signal.
For our chip-cob we returned to the Miners Standard at Winster . Lovely chips and a wholemeal baguette all for £1.85p. Much enjoyed by all present.By the time we left the pub the light was starting to go but, as Helen pointed out it was probably the onset of dusk. Dusk seems to start around lunchtime at the moment.
In the northern hemisphere I think the shortest day is 21st December but I'm willing to give way to an expert.
When I arrived home a pleasant surprise awaited me. David was visiting having called in for a cuppa on his way back from a 'teaching day' at Ripley. It had been about the presentation of Maths as a subject. He said it has been good and useful.
This evening Y and I watched Andrew Graham-Dixon on BBC 4 in his latest Art series. The programme was about the Medici family's influence on Art. WoW-ee I'm so glad we have a decent telly because pictorially the programme was superb and he really knows his stuff.
Comments
bungus ....... Re the 'misty photo'. Best stay with your dream image. As you say, the picture was mundane. But so are many of my pictures. Record Shots to illustrate the Blog - nothing more pretentious than that.
Re lametta/lamella. As Jill confirms, the former has been around ages. I had never heard of the latter until you introduced it.
Thanks for reminding me of the stage-death of Shirebrook Writers at Wentworth Castle. And the piece in question was actually quite good I thought ! Ah well.
anonymousKevin ..... when we went, we didn't realise it was bargain time at McArthy/ MacArthur Glen/Designer Outlet Village/East Midlands Designer Outlet etc. The case which Y bought was £19.99 instead of £30. Good for you with your hiking boots.
Jill ...... Re 'ankles and BP' - My GP is indeed hoping to pitch it just right between the 2 extremes. AnonymousJBW helpfully e-mailed his experiences with the same problem and suggested tablets which I am more than willing to discuss with Dr.Latimer. She wants to see me again when the reduced dosage has had time to take effect.
Your story about the closure of Ro's C &W club was so sad. You did the right think by going with him to offer support. I hope he feels he can manage the trip to the one in Harrow. Google tells me it's around 7 miles, but I suppose in the winter, as you say ....................
Quotation time ......
"What's another word for Thesaurus?"
Steven Wright
Y at BJ tomorrow. A rest-day for me. And I'm giving EPS a miss tomorrow evening because it is a 'judged' competition. And although my blood-pressure is very low I don't want to run any risks. I shall catch up on reading, radio, and kip.
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"Sleep tight - catch you tomorrow"
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Your photos make the countryside look very attractive - liked the look of where you stopped for lunch (even if it was a chip cob - somehow the fact that it was a wholemeal one makes it worse somehow!). Shame about your dongle....
ReplyDeleteI saw the Medici prog. too - fascinating. And I watched the second in Boris Johnson's two-parter about Arabs/Islam - it was the Crusades last night, very good. And the penultimate part of Little Dorrit - one of the few episodes I found very moving. I shall miss the last part tonight, (Xmas party with Secret Santa in a knitting group) so shall have to watch it Sunday. I lost a bit of the plot somewhere in the middle, hopefully all will be explained at the end.
R's club that has closed was also around 6/7 miles, but straight down the M4 almost all the way, our road bisects the M4 so it is a very easy run, whereas Harrow is very cross-country, would take longer. But think he will try it in the spring, when he can at least drive there in some sort of daylight - as you say, dusk now begins before I have washed up after lunch!
Your second picture reminds me somewhat of Hamilton Hill at the Sutton / Mansfield border. It is reputed to be the spoil heap of earth excavated from the King’s Mill Reservoir (a Duke of Portland financed project to provide work for the unemployed in some 19C recession?) although some fondly wish it to be a prehistoric barrow or similar earthworks that gave its name to Mansfield (Mam’s -feld) because on the ordnance survey map it resembles a huge breast.
ReplyDeleteCould that account for Jayne Mansfield…?
AnonymousKevin:
Now you’ve set me off. The boots sound an excellent buy.
I haven’t been to Macarthur Glen for some time and the need for bargains craves satisfaction.
I am tempted to go there (perhaps G would consider shooting up the motorway for a coffee?) and, on the way home, call at Lidl’s (then I shall be able to see what I am buying) plus the Bargain Shop in the same little complex at Sutton (there is also a Matalan which I do not like being in at all), then Morrisons for cheapest petrol and perhaps another coffee, and possibly The Bold Forester for a meal.
I like Steve Wright’s "What's another word for Thesaurus?". I can only think of ‘wordsasmeannearlythesameastheoneasyou’vealreadygot” which isn’t very snappy., is it.
Jill:
Strange about ‘lametta’ or, rather, strange me never having heard of it!
Perhaps if I’d consulted that happy medium…? (You asked for it; you got it.)
A real shame about Ro’s C&W Club. It is such an effort to start again.
I agree that the wholemeal baguette / chip cob sounds incongruous – rather like a lowcal pork pie. Suggested garnish ‘deep-fried heart of lettuce’?
RG, and a few others, may be interested to know that last night Elaine and I met up with Andy Wilson and his wife Christine. They are over from Spain for this week only, returning on Monday morning. When they left Spain on Sunday it was 15 degrees C.
ReplyDeleteThey are both well and happy and looked it. Andy has some pictures on Alamy (blog passim) and hopes to earn some income from them. He is now in receipt of a pension. Christine was made redundant in February and is claiming the Spanish equivalent of unemployment benefit. She goes to 'sign on' once every three months, no one asks her about job seeking activity, and not only does she receive more than she would in this country, she gets almost as much as her salary was when working. They are looking to move out of their apartment and back into a house though how long that will take no one knows. Our property market seems positively bouyant compared to the situation in Spain.
Andy asked to be remembered to anyone who knows him. He gave me some photos to show around EPS and elsewhere on a suitable occasion.
Rob