On Wednesday we had a lovely day out when we met up with old friends from Beeston, Nottingham at the village of Cromford in Derbyshire. (I mention Nottingham as there is also a Beeston in Cheshire, not so many miles away) Cromford is a great place to meet up being about halfway between their home and ours.
Cromford is most famous for its industrial history and heritage. It's two mills - Arkwright's Mill and the later Masson Mill - both are open for visits, although perhaps seasonal in the case of the latter. The village is also known for its canal side walks and I've taken you to these places many times over the years I've been writing this blog. In fact my very first post was about Dab Chicks on the Cromford Canal.
On this visit we stayed in the centre of the village. One of it's main attraction is, of course, Scarthin Books - link to their website. Again I've written about the shop before. I love its higgledy-piggledy rooms, creaky stairs and overloaded bookshelves also the café hidden behind them.
After morning coffee there we spent ages looking at the books. Our friends bought some books but this time we didn't make any purchases.
When we visited earlier this year I bought a Persephone book. Here is a link to the post I wrote in January. I always love their bright window boxes.
After a leisurely lunch at The Boat Inn went in search of the basket makers - link to their website.
They are based at the Water Mill on Water Lane across the mill pond from the bookshop.
There were lots of lovely baskets in the retail area.
Our friends wanted to enquire about basket repairs as they had an old beloved basket that had a broken handle.
All too soon it was time to say farewell and set off for home.
That looks like a lovely place to visit, especially that book shop. I could get lost in there!
ReplyDeleteThank you Granny Sue, it is a great village with lots to see. The bookshop is well known and much frequented. You can easily get lost for ages, we all went different ways to search out our favourites:)
DeleteA lovely day out. X
ReplyDeleteThank you Jules, it was a lovely day made special by being with dear friends:)
DeleteBaskets and a wonderful book shop what more could I person ask for :) B x
ReplyDelete
DeleteThank you B, all the years we've been visiting we'd never been in the willow ware shop, the bookshop is always good to visit but often we end up down by the canal:)
A lovely day out and the book shop looks superb and a great place to browse. I like the basket work shop too. Cromford looks a wonderful place and I remember you mentioning water voles on the canal :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Caroline. The bookshop is wonderful both new and second hand books plus a super café. One of the Derbyshire pages I follow on face book had a photo taken recently of a water vole on the canal, I haven seen one there for ages but there is always a dab chick or two. Hope you are well:)
DeleteA lovely day together as you write. Lovely photographs too. To think we have been visiting the bookshop on and off for fifty years! I have never seen so many wicker hampers in one place before and when I said this to the elderly man to took my money for a lovely wicker basket he replied with one word. ‘Christmas.’ ❤️🐰
ReplyDeleteThank you Robert, all those posh picnic hampers made me think of summer picnics at outdoor events. I'm glad you found a useful basket. It was a lovely day:)
DeleteThat is just the perfect place to visit, it's got everything! What a great bookshop, you could stay there for hours. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you CK, it is a super place to visit and a favourite place too:)
DeleteWhat a lovely day out. The bookshop would be a real draw for me, too. I have a weakness for baskets and the ones pictured would be very tempting.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorrie, I have three baskets, I used to use them all the time for shopping but now they are used mostly for storage, I wouldn't want to part with them:)
DeleteOOh...........what a great place to visit and I'm slack with commenting on this new system, but I am reading everyone's blogs. Must catch up on mine soon too. Take care & hugs.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan, it is a lovely place and always a favourite to visit. I haven't clicked on the new system yet - I see it lurking at the side of the blog writing page. You too take care:)
DeleteWhat a wonderful place ❤️ Beautiful photos. Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada 😊 🇨🇦
ReplyDelete