Walking from Surprise View above Hathersage

Today is our last full day in the Peak District and one on which we have

Pretty mosaic sign on house near Aston 

been able to spend an hour or so sat out on our comfortable chairs soaking up the sunshine with a good book in between bouts of packing and stowing. Tomorrow our UK tour continues northwards to York where we have four nights booked at a Caravan Club CL that is within cycling distance of the city. Neither bike has had much use here in Hope as the walking has been so fantastic. One walk about which I have not yet written began in the Surprise View car park on the road between Hathersage and Sheffield.

We had noticed yet another variant on local scenery while driving to and

Setting out uphill from Surprise View car park 

from Sheffield for the two great gigs we attended at The Greystones. Both Chris Smither and Slaid Cleaves were on good form and I am so glad we got to see them play. I'm not sure I would return to The Greystones if an alternative venue was a possibility though. The almost continuous stream of people going to the bar is very distracting, especially on the night when we were sat with the door exactly to our left, and both gigs were plagued by chatterers! I digress. The path from Surprise View is an easy clamber over tumbled stones and through wide expanses of heather to a ridge up above the road. Once there, the view is spectacular out across the valley and there are amazing huge stones too. They are described as cairns on our Ordnance Survey map, and looked naturally eroded rather than man-made.

Huge rocks above the valley 

Once up, we continued walking out through heather following a well-worn path that gave the impression of having been there for centuries.

Dave eating his ice cream in a stream - as you do 

We ended up at the head of the valley, fording a stream after taking advantage of a conveniently parked Peak District Dairy ice cream van! The vans were out in force until about 4pm when cold rain started to fall. Unfortunately, we were not far after our half-way point at that stage so got drenched and chilly on the return leg. The sheer cliffs of Higgers Tor to our left did look particularly dramatic against the dark sky, but I didn't want to risk my phone getting soaked while taking a photo. We did cut our planned circuitous route short, but still enjoyed seeing more of the wonderful variety offered by this part of the world.

I also did get to visit the Go Outdoors shop in Hathersage. It has quite a lot of stock, albeit crammed into a pretty small space. They only had a single pair of convertible trousers in a small size though so I was disappointed not to be able to get my new pair. I also tried the shop opposite and the sporting section of Manchester Debenhams to no avail as well. There were choices in men's convertible trousers, but not women's and the men's ones don't fit comfortably. We have googled ahead though and there is a Blacks and a Weird Fish in York so fingers crossed for success there. It would be just my shopping luck that fashion has dictated against me! I might have to resort to separate trousers and shorts instead!

Lose Hill to Mam Tor - our iconic Peak District walk

On Saturday we chose to attempt one of the most popular Peak District

Looking out from near the top of Lose Hill 

walks, one which takes in Lose Hill, Back Tor, Hollins Cross and, finally, Mam Tor. Much of the land through which the walk passes is now maintained by the National Trust and we were able to do the whole nine miles directly from Bailey without needing to drive anywhere. This was particularly helpful as, unsurprisingly, everywhere was busy on the first Saturday of half term week with a Bank Holiday thrown in too! This was our first walk with lots of people around, we think, ever. It was nice to feel part of 'something' and the majority of walkers exchanged smiles and hellos.

The hardest part of the whole walk was definitely the long, steep ascent

Looking up Lose Hill wondering if
turning round already would be wiser 

up Lose Hill from Hope. We both needed to pause a few times to catch our breath although it was encouraging that we didn't look in any more distress than others doing the same ascent. We even overtook a group of teenagers! The uphill had started pretty much from our campsite - all our best walks start with ups - but with a gentler gradient, and then it got steeper and steeper. This photo is of the final incline, presumably paved to help against erosion, and I was considering calling the whole thing off! But, as you can see, Dave (in the white t-shirt) was already ahead of me and I wasn't going to let him beat me to the top! The views once there were outstanding and almost made the effort worthwhile. As you can see, we didn't have a perfect day so I guess we might be able to see even further without the haze. There is an engraved metal 'compass' which gives the distances to other hills and significant local places.

Compass on top of Lose Hill 

The walk from Lose Hill to Back Tor was gentle by comparison. We managed to outpace to the toddler who had made up almost entirely under her own steam. The path here is unevenly rocky and sandy again. The descent from Back Tor slowed me down again. It was nowhere near as scarily scree-ey as such paths can be in Spain and I noticed that my feet didn't slide inside my North Face boots in the same way as they had in my worn-out Karrimor ones so I felt far more stable.

It's Dave again!
The Back Tor descent 

I don't know why Hollins Cross is called that. There wasn't a cross at the top so maybe it is like Hope Cross and indicates an old crossroads here rather than a religious site. We were being joined my more and more walkers as we continued. Goodness only knows how busy it must get up there in July and August! Mam Tor was our final of the four hills. The name translates as Mother Hill and apparently this is due to one disintegrating edge which has fallen away to create a number of smaller hills at its base.

Mam Tor 

When the light is right, we can see this view from our campsite and have been looking up here for a week, looking forward to standing on the top but I forgot to try and see Bailey from up there. I doubt I will return to rectify this! In the ground on the top, I saw what looked like a metal bangle embedded in concrete, but it was so busy I didn't take much notice. On the way down though, I saw this metal reproduction of a pot fragment also embedded in concrete so I think they must be National Trust commemorations of archaeological finds. I don't know if there are any others.

Pot fragment on Mam Tor 

We passed Treak Cavern, one we haven't visited yet, on our walk to Castleton. We weren't tempted to stop but I did see this poem inscribed onto a bench seat beside the path just beyond the cavern gift shop. Thwe words are by Judy Meetham, about whom I haven't been able to find out anything, and I think the bench was installed to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Peak District Ranger Service in 2004.

Bench with poem by Judy Meetham 

The day trippers in Castleton made the hills feel positively secluded. We joined in the fun by queuing at a shop doing a roaring trade in Bradwell's dairy ice cream. I can recommend the Rum and Raisin flavour and Dave enjoyed his Midnight Mint. The sun had come out by now and it felt like a proper Bank Holiday weekend. Wearily, and with still an hour's walking to go, we wended our way home to Hope for a well-earned Lamb Pie dinner!
I took this final photograph on Dave's proper camera, rather than overtaxing my phone which doesn't cope well with big views. Dave is on top of Lose Hill with our path to the three remaining peaks stretching away into the distance.

Gorgeous! - and the view is nice too ;-)

We see a hare and a Roman hill fort and a Yellow Wagtail - in that order!

We saw a hare yesterday evening nonchalantly running across the

Edwardian footpath signpost 

campsite field, under gate and then - sticking to the footpath as signed! - down the neighbouring meadow until we lost sight of it by a stream. I think this was the very first hare I have seen, other than on TV, and Dave remembers seeing one only once before, back in the 1970s. We were both pretty excited, but of course had no cameras at the ready!

Today we've been walking from Hope to Bradwell and back. Bradwell has a very different feel to the touristy villages like Hope and Castleton. Several shop fronts were empty and the houses didn't have the same cutesy picturesque quality. It would be interesting to know if Bradwell feels run down because it's not on the main tourist route, so receives less revenue than its neighbours an hour's walk away. It certainly has potential with the centre having lovely old stone bridges and mill streams. We were pleased to watch a Yellow Wagtail on one bridge for a while. Perhaps the inhabitants prefer their peace to having muddy booted tourists everywhere!

Edwardian footpath signpost 

The Anavio Roman hill fort remains are near to Brough and the footpaths to the site are still indicated by the elegant Edwardian signposts pictured. Both are from 1909. The hill fort is less well preserved. There's a bit of a slope around the relevant part of a cow field and these stones are lying in the very centre of the raised area.

Roman hill fort ruins 

I can tell you're impressed!

After an early tea, we're off to Sheffield this evening, not that we will be wandering around much of it on a Friday night! Chris Smither is playing at The Greystones and, if you're a local fan too, we might see you there? If not, we will be back at the same venue on Tuesday for one of our favourite singer-songwriters, Slaid Cleaves. And the arty culture doesn't end there. Thanks to Gemma's glowing review of the Matthew Bourne production, The Car Man, which she has just seen in Bristol, Dave pootled online and saw that its tour is coming to The Lowry in Manchester next week. We loved his Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake productions and there were still good matinee seats for the Thursday so now we're going to the ballet as well! Woo hoo!

If you'd like to celebrate our good fortune at home, why not take advantage of this new offer from the English Heritage shop: 6 bottles of their wines or meads for the price of 5. I do love a mead! The offer runs until the end of May.

The Devil's Arse is quite a sight!

Now that title got your attention, didn't it?! 

Path to the Devil's Arse 

Today we enjoyed the second part of our Castleton caves joint ticket by paying a visit to The Devil's Arse, also more politely known as Peak Cavern. The more interesting name apparently came about due to local folks in historical times believing that the sound of gurgling water that sometimes heard from within the cave was actually the Devil himself farting. Although no water gurgled today, our guide did imitate the sound and I could understand why superstitious minds made the connection! The renaming was a hasty decision for Queen Victoria's first visit, a question of decorum!

The mouth of Peak Cavern is massive, so massive in fact that I couldn't get far enough back to capture its expanse in a photograph so you've got the dramatic cliffs overshadowing the path instead. Within the entrance cavern, we were treated to a demonstration of ropemaking - from fragile flax to sturdy rope - which we both found fascinating. Parts of Hailsham are named for the ropemaking industry there, but I had never thought through its practicalities before. I now understand just what that statue outside Hailsham Tesco is doing! Troglodytes lived and worked in Peak Cavern as ropemakers from the 1600s until 1915, amazingly, and we saw what I presume is a replica of one of their tiny dwellings

Peak Cavern does have some low overhangs, but is far less claustrophobic than Speedwell Cavern and is completely walkable - no boat rides here. We were shown rock formations including flowstones and unusually dark coloured little stalactites, the result of water trickling through volcanic rock above. Another change for Queen Victoria, this time for her second visit, was the blasting through of a short bypass tunnel at one point, high enough for her to walk through. Previously visitors had lain individually in a 'boat' that looked suspiciously like an unlidded coffin and been shoved through a very small aperture along a short stream. It looked horrifying so I was glad of the manmade alternative. Most of the Cavern is still natural though.

Approaching Peak Cavern through Castleton 

Speedwell Cavern and Peak Cavern could easily both be visited in a single day, although it is possible to book a joint ticket that lasts six months. This is what we did, taking advantage of the early bird discount which didn't actually require us to get up especially early. Booking is advised for Speedwell and we got lucky with Peak Cavern today as there were only six people on our tour, but a whole school party arriving as we left! Do allow time to appreciate the pretty walk to Peak Cavern. From the car park, we walked along narrow streets between extremely cute little cottages and alongside a small river with arched stone bridges. All very picturesque! There were even Shetland ponies in a field (with the obligatory sheep).

On a different note, an urgent 38 Degrees appeal for action:
Our bees are in danger again. Toxic chemical companies are trying to get

their banned pesticides back on UK fields. On Tuesday an application was submitted to the government asking them to lift the ban on bee-killing chemicals for some crops planted this autumn. A huge petition will make it clear to the environment minister, Elizabeth Truss, that she still needs to protect our bees, not the toxic profits of bee-killing chemical companies. Please sign this 38 Degrees petition.

From Bakewell to Eyam: two museums, new boots and a pudding

The Peak District town of Bakewell has been on our bucket list for years,

Bakewell Pudding! 

mainly due to Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells being one of Dave's favourite foods - ever! We wanted to see if the genuine article was indeed better so we bought ourselves a traditional pudding and a can of custard today. I'll let you know Dave's Official Decision after our Tamarind Chicken dinner ... (and, while I remember, if you forget to buy fresh tomatoes, it turns out that a tablespoon of tomato puree is a fine substitute.)

In the meantime, it turns out that there's more to Bakewell than pastry confections. The town is the capital of the Peak District and has an abundance of outdoor clothing shops, cute cafes and estate agents. It is very touristy which must have destroyed much of its original charm, but there are still lots of old buildings to admire from street level. The oldest house in town, dating back to 1534, is now the Old House Museum - see what they did there? A little away from the commercial centre and up a hill that's not a patch on Calver Edge, the Museum houses a hotch-potch of domestic and industrial artefacts, tells the stories of local residents, and has an interesting short film about the history of the town. Apparently the name Bakewell is likely derived from Scandinavian language roots with early names being Badeca's Wells in Danelaw times and Badequella in the Domesday Book.

Bakewell's Museum showing its age on the outside 

We spent an hour or so exploring the varied exhibits and I thought it was all good value for the £4 per person admission charge. My particular favourite exhibits were the inlaid table top - want one! - and the massive wooden Tudor cupboard - it will never fit in Bailey! Architectural details are also highlighted such as very early windows and a huge Tudor fireplace that had later been walled in for a pantry. Outside, we could see the sagging walls. On show were also recycled battery cases from a defunct local battery factory, now functioning as planters. They reminded me of this fun planter we saw in Castleton - I should have kept hold of my worn out Karrimor boots!

Recycled planter in Castleton 

We lunched at Bean and Bag, a lovely cafe in Bakewell, before wandering around some shops and then heading to Eyam in time to beat last admissions at the Eyam Museum by fifteen minutes. The ticket seller didn't seem best pleased - apparently we should spend longer than 45 minutes there, but it's quite a compact presentation and we skipped the war section. A little local history includes a great model of a leadmine and some archaeological finds. Eyam is famous for being a village that isolated itself during the Great Plague of 1665 in order not to pass the disease to neighbouring

Present-day Eyam 

villages. The museum doesn't actually say whether their sacrifice worked and hardly mentions the whole isolation and how it worked. However, there is lots of information about the plague year - the volume of deaths, historic plague remedies and preventative measures, most of which are ludicrous by current thinking. I was shocked to learn that bubonic plague is still with us. For some reason, my school teaching that the Great Fire of London's wiping out of the last vestiges of the plague had led me to believe it no longer existed anywhere. Not so. An estimated twelve and a half million people in India died of plague in the fifty years prior to Independence and, in certain areas of the USA, people are warned against coming into contact with local wildlife as rodents there carry bubonic plague. Scary stuff!

Eyam Museum is another great value visit at just £4.50 for both of us. Plus, if you're in the area around the middle of June, there is a production of Roses Of Eyam to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the first plague victim in the village. The play is on from the 17th to the 20th June 2015 and tickets are on sale at Eyam Museum.

On a happier note, let's talk shopping! There's a dangerous shop on the

My new Gabor boots 

way back from Eyam to Hope. It's called the Peaklander Factory Shop and they have lots of outdoorsy shoes and clothing. I popped in hoping they might have some convertible trousers, but instead I bought these Fabulous Boots! I love boots! Dave gets the credit for spotting them and they are by a German brand called Gabor. Super comfy and they look great with black jeans. Oops!

We are doing well for local shopping having walked into Hope twice from the campsite, once even In The Rain although we sweltered on the way back uphill in all our waterproofs. The cheeses below are from the excellent Watson's Farm Shop and, further afield in Castleton, the bakery shop whose name I forgot is Peveril Stores and they also have their own honey and jams.

Buying Local 

You will notice a few petitions creeping into these blog pages from now on as I use a bit of the space to raise awareness of issues that are important to me. My friend Sally Willow commented on Facebook that we're going to be signing for a lot more causes since May 7th. So true! I will be promoting campaigns from SumOfUs, Compassion In World Farming and 38 Degrees. If you agree with any, please click through and sign. If not, just scroll past. It's not like I'll know!

Last month, a SumOfUs petition helped convince Yum! Brands, owner of

Pizza Hut and KFC, to announce a policy to only buy 100% deforestation-free palm oil. However a new report shows that one of Pizza Hut's largest international franchisees, Jardine Matheson, is responsible for massive destruction of rainforests and endangered elephant habitat. Pizza Hut cannot claim to be deforestation-free while its franchisees are cutting down the rainforest. Please sign this new SumOfUs petition to convince Pizza Hut to honour its public commitment.

Walking Derwent Valley: afternoon wandering and a picnic hike

First up, I must say a big thank you to Jacqueline and everyone at

Mill at Bamford 

Tideswell Cinema for letting us join them for NTlive's screening of Man And Superman on Thursday. What a brilliant production! I'll be honest. I was expecting it all to be earnest and serious, but it's a very funny play. Over 100 years old yet still so cuttingly relevant that it could have been written this year. If you missed it, do try to catch an encore screening if you can. One of NTlive's best I think. Emma Freud was talking about their forthcoming Everyman production too, and the trailer made it look like another not to be missed. Only trouble is that I have no idea where we will be on the 16th July!

We have been making good use of Northern Rail trains for our last two

Bamford sculpture trail 

walks. The Sheffield to Manchester line runs through Hope so we can see (and hear!) long goods trains and diddy passenger trains from Bailey. On Friday afternoon we took ourselves for a wander from Hope to Hathersage, a route that went along part of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way. We both loved the view of this now repurposed mill in Bamford. The weir across the front is striking. I also saw another sculpture similar to that one on the Thornhill Trail, but this time with a helpful plaque. Apparently they are part of the Bamford Sculpture Trail! This trail consists of four touchstone sculptures illustrating earth, air, fire and water. Installed to mark the turning of the millennium, the project was realised by artist Jenny Mather who worked from lots of clay models created by local families.

The footpath leads through the grounds of the mill and over the stream

A far-too-narrow bridge 

below the weir. When I saw this extremely narrow bridge that I had to cross I felt just like Jim Nelson, Michael Palin's character in the powerful TV series GBH. (We're watching a borrowed DVD boxed set in the evenings - thanks Dad! - and it's also available via Amazon Instant Video) There were planks and stepping stones later on too. All good fun!? We stayed walking alongside water for most of the way to Hathersage and it became more of a nature walk than a heritage walk as we spotted several different species of waterbirds including dippers, mallard ducks with cute ducklings, wagtails, canada geese, a moorhen, coots, mandarin ducks and a goosander. We did have to google the mandarins and goosander. The latter was fascinating at first sight. It was swimming along under the water almost resembling a penguin with its speed! Then it surfaced for a few seconds to shake its wings out before diving underwater again. We had to practically run along the high bank to keep up with it!

We caught a train back from Hathersage to Hope - only £2.50 each - and

Footpath through Frogatt Wood 

enjoyed our afternoon so much that yesterday morning we caught a train again for the reverse journey, this time equipped with picnic to attemp a challenging walk for us: a total of about 11 miles from Hathersage up to the Calver Edge, then back around and down to Grindleford for the train home. From Hathersage station, we went back to the same riverside point we had left on Friday afternoon so there was a nice sense of continuity. An unexpected diversion from the Derwent Valley Heritage Way - I do wish people wouldn't erect fences across footpaths! - took us into Froggatt Wood which is National Trust owned and has an almost fairytale stone paved path weaving through it. I saw huge boulders deposited beside a tiny brook that couldn't possibly have the strength to move them but must have done once upon a time. Makes you think!

Sheep fields led away from the wood and Dave suggested I should

photograph one of these narrow stone 'gateways' which, like the stone stiles, are a common feature of footpaths hereabouts. There is just enough room for a walker to squeeze through, but presumably not a sheep. Or a particularly rounded walker actually, and we haven't seen any of those yet! Does anyone know if the 'gateways' have a special name or if they are solely a Peak District feature?

We stopped for lunch on a patch of grass outside Curber Primary School. We had already seen the children's efforts on signs in Calver Marsh where they were helping with a regeneration programme that is encouraging rare wildlife such as brook lampreys and newts to return to the area. After several miles of mostly flattish walking, Calver was the start of an uphill which led to a Really Steep Uphill and then a glimpse of this view ahead.

Yes, we are really going up there! 

Calver Edge and Froggatt Edge are popular places for climbers and we saw several being taught the techniques. I wasn't tempted to book a course! The path levelled of at the base of those sheer rocks pictured so we could walk under them for a while. This area is wooded and sprinkled with tumbled boulders. When I could get a sightline free of obviously human creations, the landscape felt truly ancient. Then the path climbed again so we were right up on the top, buffeted by a brisk wind, and with fantastic views over the valley one side and across the moor the other. We were tempted to carry on away across the moor! A treat was our sighting of the remains of this stone circle just alongside the path. The surface was surprisingly sandy. I had assumed it would have been worn down to rock.

Stone circle remnants on Frogatt Edge 

Feeling somewhat weary but proud of ourselves nonetheless, we just got

Hiking pendant on Etsy UK 

to Grindleford station in time to catch the hourly train back to Hope. Had we just missed it, there was a popular cafe right by the platform but we had no excuse to linger and undo our day's efforts by devouring cake! Later on, back at home, I came across this lovely Hiker Pendant made by HandsAndFeetJewelry on Etsy which I think I could rightly wear. The boot print is a fun idea and, together with the metal circles and the bootlace cord, makes it an attractive piece for a woman or a man.

Now I have soup to blend and bread to toast for lunch. We are having a lazy day today! And I must look at Kiva later on. The 17th is repayments day so I am looking forward to making more loans this evening. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a photo of some cute lambs.

Oh look. More lambs! 

Our Ladybower Reservoir picnic walk and underground boat trip in Speedwell Cavern

Dave planned us a great walk for yesterday's glorious sunshine. Starting

Sunken road 

from our campsite, we started off with a gentle uphill along the single track road. The road is probably very old as it has now sunk several feet from the surrounding fields. Tree roots of several species can be seen all through the banks and there are bluebells and cow parsley flowering too. We thought the road part of the walk would be dull, but it was one of the highlights! There was practically no motorised traffic, just a few cyclists and a couple of women on horses. I liked how rivulets of water frequently came tumbling down the mossy banks from the ground above and wonder if they are from springs that flow all year round, or if they will dry up when summer comes?

We followed footpaths signposted towards Yorkshire Bridge and joined

the Thornhill Trail which is a traffic-free walking/cycling route alongside Ladybower Reservoir. The Trail is popular and was busy compared to the rest of our walk. I liked this (pictured) sculpture but am not sure what it is commemorating. I am not sure if the woodland is big enough to be forest, but it was wonderful to be walking with a great expanse of water one side, and trees as far as we could see up the hill the other side. Building began on the reservoir in 1935 and apparently it took eight years to complete and then another two years to fill. The bridge across is especially elegant and the reservoir has two huge stepped plugholes which are overflows to be used in times of heavy rain. I am not sure if the Ladybower dam was one used for training by the Dambusters squadron in the Second World War but it looked similar to those in the film! The even trail surface makes for fast walking so we actually extended our planned walk and continued to the far end of the reservoir where we ate our picnic lunch on a grassy bank by a much smaller metal bridge. The spot had been recently vacated by a couple of pairs of Canada geese with their goslings.

Suitably refreshed and refuelled, our footpath then took a steep uphill course for a hundred metres or so, completely changing our environment again. Now we climbed through dense pine wood which was actually much darker and eerier than the photograph suggests.

Our footsteps were completely muffled by a thick carpet of dropped pine needles and these needles coloured everything pale brown except for where vivid green moss grew on exposed rocks. The contrast resulted in an otherworldly effect and, at first sight, the rocks did appear to have been painted!

Gasping a bit at the top of the hill, we were greeted with the sight of Hope Cross - which isn't actually a cross shape, but marks a crossroads. The ancient waymarker has a different town name on each face - Hope, Glossop, Edale and Shefield (sic). The pillar is dated 1737, but the marker is believed to have stood here since at least medieval times and indicates the old packhorse routes. We took the Roman Road back in the direction of Hope. It's not quite dead straight but nicely level and wound around Win Hill giving us gorgeous views across the valley. The goods train from the cement works looked like a toy set from this height! I'm not used to seeing long goods trains at all. I don't think there were any on the line through Polegate - I certainly never saw any in the hours I spent waiting at Polegate level crossing. However, the line here passes close to our campsite and it seems there are almost as many goods trains as passenger trains.

Again, on this walk, I was glad of my North Face boots which didn't allow a single drop of water to get to my feet! I am considering buying another pair of walking trousers though. My Berghaus ones are ok, but are getting a bit thin in places and there's a small hole in the back, ripped when falling on scree in Spain. Hathersage, nearby, has a branch of Go Outdoors and I like the look of these Craghoppers trousers. They can convert into shorts too which I always find very useful. Perhaps I should wait until we have walked more first though. We have both put on some weight over the past couple of months and there is No Way I am buying a size 18!

This morning we went on a journey of a different kind - boat trip underground at Speedwell Cavern just outside Castleton. A former leadmine which was first worked in 1771, it is now a tourist attraction and quite a different experience to the Vall d'Uixo in Spain. For a start, we were issued with hard hats here, and there wasn't any gaudy lighting! I didn't get vertigo, but was a little claustrophobic at times. Our guide-boatman gave an interesting talk and both Dave and I are sure we would have been hopeless lead miners. I enjoyed the visit, but was glad to get back to daylight again. We did get a good deal on the tickets: by ordering advance joint tickets online yesterday afternoon (access to a printer needed) and choosing the earlybird offer, we got the Speedwell Cavern boat trip and a visit to Peak Cavern at-any-time-in-the-next-six-months for £24.20 for us both.

And this evening, we have another treat lined up. We are going to the NTlive broadcast of Man And Superman which is being screened by Tideswell Cinema at The George Inn in Tideswell.