Monday, July 25, 2016

Monday Miscellany

Just a few things from the past week gathered together for today's quick miscellany post.

After our visit to the Longshaw Estate and the walk around the kitchen garden (see my last post) the friends we had met there for coffee took us back to their home for lunch and a walk around the village where they live.

 St Swithin's Church, Holmesfield
 A lovely view from the village across the Cordwell valley.

 In the Millennium Gardens a Well Dressing by local children of the Great Fire of London.

 We then went down to the next village of Millthorpe where their well dressing was also of The Great Fire of London.


It is the 350th Anniversary of the Great Fire which swept through the city in early September 1666.

 The fire was a great inspiration for these two lovely well-dressings.

Back at home at last a butterfly in the garden that isn't a large white or cabbage white.  A Tortoiseshell butterfly on marigolds just outside the back door.

 An early Sunday morning walk, boots on, slightly damp from the morning dew

 Hat and bottle of water were needed as was the seat where we sat overlooking the view.  We had just climbed up the hill from below.
Looking down over the Consall Country Park where we started our walk.

The day was warming but it was lovely and cool under the trees as we meandered back to the car there were spots of rain. We made it back just in time.

20 comments:

  1. Simply beautiful. Love the well dressings - and that's a cracking shot of the tortoiseshell.

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  2. I've suddenly noticed more butterflies in my garden. Maybe they needed the heat. I love your 'well dressing' in your part of the world. I taught the fire of London for so many years, so it's lovely to see that this special year. B x

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    1. We've had loads of white ones in the garden but the tortoishell was the first brightly coloured one I'd seen:)

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  3. Do they get together to decide on the theme, or was it just a coincidence that they all dressed their Wells with the Great Fire of London? Great to be out for a walk in all that leafiness. :-)

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    1. I think they do get together and use themes relevant to the year in question like anniversaries etc. This year's dressings have also been Shakespearian in nature and also celebrating the Queens 90th birthday too:)

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  4. Lovely bits of miscellany. The butterfly shot is beautiful.

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  5. Gorgeous shot of the butterfly!
    I like your photos of where you walked. It's the sort of walk I love on a not-too-hot summer day.

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    1. The weather was just right for a long walk, early enough in the morning before the sun was at its height:)

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  6. You always find such pretty places to explore. I'm sure we have them round here too, but somehow they don't feel like 'days out' if we only go a couple of miles!

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    1. We had intended twice recently to go further away for a day out but baulked at the heat and also the busy roads. NE Derbyshire was the furthest we got:)

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  7. A wonderful walk through the woodland trees. I really wish I had somewhere cool to shelter! x

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    1. It was lovely under the trees and great to get out of the sun for a while:)

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  8. So interesting to see the well dressing photos - I've read about the Derbyshire custom in the past and often thought I would love to visit and see some of them.

    Lovely shot of the Small Tortoiseshell - I think we had one on the garden wall at the weekend but my son managed to frighten it off before I could get outside!

    Looks a beautiful walk and a great place to explore.

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    1. I'd never seen the well dressings in these villages before. When we were children, every year our village school would have an outing to the Well Dressings at Tissington, it always seemed to be the day when Spring turned to Summer and we would all return home on the bus hot and bothered, I still remember the smell of egg or tinned salmon sandwiches in brown paper bags:)

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  9. I've also been interested in the well dressings in Derbyshire. This one looks very special. Lovely sighting of the butterfly - I haven't seen a small tortoiseshell in the garden this year.

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    1. The well dressings are fascinating and different areas of Derbyshire seem to have them at different times throughout the spring and summer with differeing themes too:)

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  10. You were practically on my doorstep in Holmesfield:) It's a lovely area and lots of the villages round here do well dressings. The one at Millthorpe is really splendid.

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    1. It is a beautiful area isn't it, you are lucky to live there or nearly there, such a wonderful part of the country:)

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