To Ashbourne

After Tuesday's thick early morning mists which lasted well beyond midday and Wednesday's heavy rain and strong winds it was lovely to get out for a longer walk in a little bit of sunshine.  We parked near the old railway tunnel at Ashbourne and walked for about an hour along the Tissington  Trail.

The fields were looking green even though the trees were still in want of  their leaves.  It was cold enough for the horses in this field to be wearing their coats.

After about an hour we turned round and came back again and then walked into the town to pick up some sandwiches for lunch.  There were some lovely old troughs full of spring flowers.  

I love the selection of shops along this street.  Even though Thursday is market day the town seemed very quiet.

I was glad to see this bookshop still open as the other bargain bookshop on the main road had closed down.  What a shame!  There are still lots of books in the Oxfam shop too.

After a quick visit to Waitrose we headed back to the car to eat our sandwiches.   The poster on the newsboard below caught my attention.  Of course I had to look up 'George the Psychic Peasant' when I got home.  Apparently he was infamous amongst locals in the village he lived in and the local postman was more frightened of him that any dog.  He did though, succesfully predict the result of this year's Shrovetide football match  which is held each year in the streets of the town. 

Still on a pheasant theme on our way back from Ashbourne we diverted through the pretty village of Snelston and as we were leaving the village we saw a blue pheasant crossing the road.  Luckily we were moving quite slowly as it was a very narrow lane so it safely reached the other side of the road and ran up the bank.  Of course my camera was in the boot of the car!  I also looked up blue pheasants when I got home and found that they were still quite rare with some sightings in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Lancashire reported so far.