16th December 2012

16th December 2012.

Dear All,

Kate and I have been to Derbyshire for a couple of days this week to reccy a walk for a U3A trip next March and deliver Christmas presents. It was very cold but the combination of mist and frost produced some beautiful scenery. The March trip is staying at Hathersage but we are stopping at Wirksworth on the way up so Kate has been invited to lead a walk on home territory.

On Wednesday we started at the railway station where a conservation group have taken over the line and done a magnificent job renovating engines and coaches. We were given a long talk by an enthusiastic local so we were rather late setting out on the walk and consequently finished in the dark. We had a meal at Ash Farm but as the house at Bolehill is rather cluttered and dominated by a far from docile dog “Rex” we stayed at the village pub “The Malt Shovel” which was basic but cheap. We checked out some alternative routes on the Thursday including walking one of the large disused limestone quarries.

  Wirksworth, Derbyshire

Brother-in-law, John Bailey stayed on Monday night as he was visiting some local farms next day. His mother died recently so the family are currently trying to sell her house in Swindon.

The U3A film on Tuesday was “Le Havre” about an illegal immigrant which was well done and amusing.

I fetched a Christmas tree from Richard Fenwick’s plantation yesterday – still the best value around at £1 per foot!

It was Christmas “Messy Church” in the afternoon. Attendance was a bit down but still enough to be enjoyable and worthwhile.

Kate reported that her car was smelling of burnt coffee so we opened the bonnet to check the oil and water etc. The cause was soon identified as some animal: mouse, rat, bird, squirrel? had built a large nest, mainly from onion skins on the cylinder head. How and when this had happened, and who was the culprit remains a mystery.

Kate’s Engine

Love

Mike & Kate