13^th June 2021

 

Dear All,

We have just enjoyed a sunny week in Derbyshire – are words you seldom hear, but in this case are true! Kate and I stayed in Darwin Forest near Matlock with Kate’s sister Sue and husband John, who own a log cabin on the site. This is rented out most of the year and they use it for a couple of weeks. The site is 30 years old and well blended into the forest. It is a bit like a less intense Centre Parks with a swimming pool which we used every day, restaurant, shop, bikes, putting course etc.

 

 

Darwin Forest

 

We travelled up Sunday afternoon when it was raining on and off with a particularly heavy downpour on the M1. On Monday we all visited Bakewell market, had a picnic by the River Wye then discovered Arbor Low which is described as the “Midlands Stonehenge”. It is a large circle of stones, now all fallen over, surrounded by a trench. In the evening we met up with Kate’s brother Phil, partner Mandy and daughter Natasha for a meal at the Hurt Arms at Ambergate. We hadn’t seen the females since Esther and Emma’s wedding and Phil for some time before then.

 

 

River Wye, Bakewell

 

 

Picnic in Bakewell

 

Arbor Low

 

 

Phil, Mandy & Natasha

On Tuesday Kate and I went to Chatsworth to view the gardens which we had seen featured on a recent Kew lecture. They are very spacious and some areas outstanding apart from the well-known Cascade and Emperor fountain. The Kitchen Garden is very impressive. After we climbed up to the Tower and lake above the estate which was rather further than it looked!

 

 

Chatsworth House

 

 

Candelabra Primulas and Polygonums

 

 

Emperor fountain

 

 

Chatsworth Tower

On Wednesday Kate wanted to explore home territory taking in Scarthin Book shop in Cromford, her parents graves, Black Rocks and the backstreets of Wirksworth. We met up with Mandy, Sue and John for lunch in Wirksworth then Kate and I did a walk round Alderwasley. The flower meadows were particularly impressive. This was followed by an exploration of the farm and a cup of tea at Bolehill. Kate always finds the running down of the farm and surroundings rather depressing and not quite matching childhood memories.

 

 

Black Rocks

 

 

Ash Farm - overgrown

On Thursday we ventured north to Renishaw Hall beyond Chesterfield, but on the way, we called in at the Red Lion at Kelstedge, where we had our wedding reception 50 years ago. It was the first time we have been back and it had gone upmarket, very smart now with a hotel built on the back. Renishaw Hall is a vast edifice home to the Sitwell family for over 350 years. The gardens were well maintained and certainly worth a visit featuring a Laburnum tunnel, a large lake and endless box hedge borders. In the evening we had a meal at the “Remarkable Hare” in Matlock.

 

 

Renishaw Hall

 

 

Laburnum Tunnel

 

 

Renishaw Hall, Bottom Border

 

We left just after 8am on Friday and were home by 10.30am just in time to prepare the cricket pitch for Saturday. The garden had changed a good deal in a week with mange tout peas, carrots, broad beans and cucumbers all ready for harvest and everything needing hoeing.

 

 

Produce

Kate had been suffering for a week or more before we went away with painful joints which were particularly severe in the mornings. She had been treating the symptoms with pain killers hoping they would go away. Being Kate, she had resisted going to the doctors but after it was obvious that it wasn’t going away and some nagging, she phoned from Derbyshire but when asked if it was an emergency she replied “no” was given a phone appointment 9 days hence. When we arrived home, she was clearly suffering so I phoned the surgery and told them it was an emergency and they arranged a telephone conversation the same day followed by a face-to-face examination. The upshot is that she has been diagnosed as almost certainly suffering from Polymyalgia Rheumatica and been put on steroids. She has to have blood tests tomorrow for confirmation. The tablets are working after only 2 days which is a relief but of course steroids come with their own side effects so she is to be closely monitored.

With love

Mike & Kate