30th June 2024

 

Dear All,

The Swimming Pool on Monday was unusually empty which was great and I followed by helping Kate with a couple of rounds of the Village quiz which is not until October but it nags a little if left too late. Richard Cox reported the results of the Garden Club “Grow a tuber of Maris Bard – Potato Contest “which was held while we were away. I left my entry with him and got a 1^st for most tubers (50) and 2^nd for yield (1.58 kg).

 

 Maris Bard

 

On Tuesday Rob, Lawrie, John and I had a trip to Chelmsford to watch the cricket: Essex v Durham. It is always an event and this time we saw 315 runs and 15 wickets but it was the hottest day of the year so far so we gently roasted!

 

 

Chelmsford Cricket

 

 

John, Rob & Lawrie

 

Gardening this week included removing old Pea and Broad beans and harvesting Shallots, Elephant Garlic, Cucumbers and a few Tomatoes. Kate has picked a good crop of Strawberries and Raspberries but currants are poor this year, Cherries are beginning and look promising. Winter Brassicas and Sweet Corn are coming on well in the allotment

 

 

Shallots and Elephant Garlic

 

 

Winter Brassicas

 

Sweet Corn

 

Our Thursday Walk started at Cowlinge south of Newmarket and took in Wickhambrooke, fortunately it was not as hot as the previous two days. The most noticeable feature was the number of Oat crops – enough to keep the whole country in porridge for a few weeks! Also, several large swaths of wheat had been sprayed out to control black grass.

 

 

Sprayed out Wheat

 

 

Meeting Green

 

 

Oats

 

On Friday I gave our pond a spring clean removing a large amount of weed meanwhile Kate has been painting a garden bench a fetching shade of green!

 

 

Rejuvenated Pond

  

 

Furniture Makeover

 

On Friday afternoon we received the sad news that our good friend Glynis Fenwick had passed away. She was diagnosed with intestinal cancer about 3 years ago and was initially given 6 months to live but she was determined to be as positive as possible and enjoyed a decent period of remission. However, it returned aggressively 6 weeks ago and the end came rather quickly. I worked with Glynis at NIAB for a few years and Kate actually tipped them off when a house in Over came available when she and husband Richard were looking to move from Cambridge.

On Saturday I was judging Stapleford Fruit and Vegetable Show – as usual the standard was not that high and judging was over very quickly.

 

 

Stapleford Show

 

In the afternoon we removed the electric fence from around the fruit cage. It has been a success in protecting the strawberries and the plan is to re-erect it at the allotment to protect the Sweet Corn. In the evening, we were invited to Lyn and Roger Hetherington’s joint 70^th birthday celebration at the Community Centre. There was a large crowd and we were entertained by live music presented by a Cambridge folk/rock band “Fred’s House” who were very good.

  

Fred’s House

 

Regards

 

Mike & Kate

 

23rd June 2024

 

Dear All,

We packed quite a lot of action into our week in Derbyshire with Kate’s sister Sue and husband Bill, after a shaky start. The journey up on Friday afternoon was not the smoothest with many stops and starts on the A 14 and M1. When we arrived Kate discovered that she had failed to load her luggage which contained all her clothes and medicines! The offending bag was still in the bedroom. She always travels light but this was going as bit far!

 

 

Offending luggage.

The clothes were not a great concern but the medicines were. Fortunately, the local hospital provided a temporary prescription and we were able to collect at Boots in Matlock on Saturday morning. Sue had loaned some clothes but we did a round of the Charity shops in Matlock to top up her trousseau for a bargain price. The heavens opened while we were shopping but we were fortunate in that this was our only rain during daylight hours although one night there was a violent downpour. In the afternoon we headed for Edensor, the village which a former Duke of Devonshire had moved over the hill from his sight at Chatsworth. They had an open gardens day and although the gardens were not spectacular the architecture is. The churchyard has famous graves including Sir Joseph Paxton and Kathleen Kennedy – sister of the President.

Edensor

 

 Morris Dancers

 

Garden Gnomes

 

On Sunday we attended the Wellspring church in Wirksworth which is made up of two congregations – the Baptist where we were married and the Methodists. They raised a lot of cash selling the Baptist church and have created an excellent building at the Methodist site.

They have a restored Railway station site in the town and were holding an 80-year D-Day event with numerous military personnel and a Spitfire on site. After lunch in the Heritage Centre, we visited one of Kate’s old friends who has been struggling with cancer for some time. We then walked through Ash Farm to the house and met up with Natasha, Phil and Mandy. The farm depresses Kate as it looks run down and Phil is never the most optimistic soul and currently is waiting to have his heavy goods vehicle licence renewed following and eye test. Also, his current batch of cattle are Galloway X Angus and are very lively so that he has been kicked four times and is wishing he had never set eyes on them!

 

 

Wirksworth Well Dressing

 

 

Spitfire

 

 

Military hardware

 

 

Ash Farm

 

Over grown Farm House

 

Monday is always Bakewell Market Day via Chatsworth Farm Shop and restaurant. Kate and I sat and watched the cattle market for a while which is always interesting for the assembled characters as much as anything then walked round the street market. In the afternoon we drove up to the Plague village of Eyam via Monsal Head and after a walk round discovered an excellent tea shop hidden up a long green lane.

 

 

Chatsworth Pedigree Jerseys

 

 

Bakewell Cattle market

 

 

Padlocks on the Bridge over the River Wye

 

 

The Vintage Tea Room, Eyam

 

On Tuesday Kate and I started with a walk along the River Derwent from Darley Bridge to Oker then we met up with the Bolehill folks and Bill and Sue for lunch at The Gate, Tansley as recommended by Esther. In the afternoon Kate and I drove up to Froggatt Edge which is a spectacular millstone ridge and walked along the trail.

 

 

Darley Bridge & River Derwent

 

 

Phil, Mandy & Natasha enjoying themselves?

 

 

 

 

Froggatt Edge

 

We started each day with a swim in the heated Darwin Forest Pool. On Wednesday Kate and I visited Kedleston Hall ancestral home of the Curzon family – one of whom became Viceroy of India. It is a very interesting house built to show off the family’s wealth. The so-called Marble Pillar room is spectacular (although the pillars are actually alabaster). After touring the house, we walked round the park which has some excellent viewpoints.

 

 

Kedleston Hall (back door)

 

 

Front Entrance

 

 

Marble Hall

 

 

View from Circular Walk

 

On Thursday we all caught the bus in Matlock to Wirksworth and walked through Bolehill, Ash Farm, Breamfields and Gorsey Bank so that Kate and Sue could relive childhood memories and discover places on their doorstep that were new to them!

 

 

The Smith family portrait

 

 

Wirksworth Old Quarry site

 

 

Black Welsh Mountain Sheep

 

In summary an action packed and enjoyable week with no disasters on our return apart from a leaking fish tank.

 

 

Regards

 

Mike & Kate