Dear All,
It has been a fairly busy week. On Monday after the warmest swim
this year, Kate accompanied me to Bishops Stortford where I was addressing
their U3A Garden Group. It is quite a large group and I have been a couple of
times before. After we walked along the river and explored the town a little.
In the evening a small group of us had training on how to update the
chapel web site with Stan our Bulgarian computer man.
Bishops Stortford Castle Mound
On Tuesday I joined some ex NIAB colleagues for a regular meal and
catch up at Girton. NIAB have just taken over the fruit work at East Malling.
The grass at the allotment had dried out enough to allow an early
trim on Wednesday and I harvested the last of the Brussels sprouts. The mild
winter has meant that rots came in early, last year they stood until mid March.
Thursday’s walk was much easier than the previous week. We were at
Revensden just north of Bedford – much less mud and water with nearly 100%
sunshine.
This was followed by my 5th
and hopefully final trip to the dentist for a bit so am now the proud owner of
a newly capped and root filled tooth with a much lighter bank balance!
In the evening we had a chapel conducted tour of the Sedgwick Museum
in Cambridge. It has an extensive collection of minerals and fossils which can
be overwhelming but with an enthusiastic guide it is much more palatable.
Sedgwick Museum
Our Friday Biography featured John Churchill, later the Duke of Marlborough.
He was awarded Blenheim Palace by a grateful nation after leading a coalition
of Dutch, German and British against the French. In the afternoon Esther joined
us and we travelled up to Derbyshire to help celebrate Natasha’s 18th
birthday. Natasha has grown immensely in confidence and happiness partly due to
helpful school teachers and a lot to do with Esther who has spent time entertaining
her and showing her the ropes. The party was held in Alderwasley Village Hall
which is a renovated old stone chapel building. There was a meal followed by a
disco which drowned all subsequent conversation, so grumpy elderly relatives
did not quite make the end!
Before that Kate, Esther and I walked to Alport Stone which included
some very boggy fields. We then joined Bill, Sue, Helen, Emma and Alfie for
lunch at their cabin in Darwin Country Park, north of Matlock. On the way back
to our residence at “The Bear” we stopped off at Scarthin’s Book shop at Cromford
which is a local highlight.
This morning we explored Wirksworth before returning.
Challenging Walk
Alport Stone
Party Girl
Middle Peak Quarry
Love
Mike & Kate
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