As promised in my previous post more on our walk at Ilam which was nearly a week ago. The last week has just flown by. We've been busy writing and posting cards and parcels with the inevitable queue at the post office and shock as to how much the special Christmas stamps cost. We've travelled across Derbyshire to visit relatives in Chesterfield and a couple of days later along the busy A50 and A38 to visit relatives in Mansfield. I find these trips quite tiring now especially coming home in the dark but we did see some lovely festive lights in Alfreton, Matlock, Matlock Bath and Cromford on our travels.
Back to beautiful Ilam. My camera seemed to behave itself this time so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Having said that the area is very inspiring making it hard to take really bad photos.
It was very cold but bright and sunny.
The courtyard around the visitor centre was looking quite festive.
Very unusual to see no one on the bridge playing pooh sticks.
The river was quite high and the water racing along at quite a pace. I bet it was freezing.
The tearooms which looked warm and busy through the steamy windows as we walked past. We didn't go in as we had flasks of coffee in the car.
The church of the Holy Cross in Ilam. I can see from the clock that it was a quarter to one when we visited.
We walked past the Youth Hostel which you can see in the photo below and down to the church to see if it was open.
To the right one of the Saxon crosses in the churchyard.
Another part of a Saxon cross.
In spite of the cold air the door was propped open to welcome all.
We just had a quick peek inside.
The thing I noticed most was the glorious scent of pine and spruce from the sprigs of foliage hanging on each pew end.
Such a festive aroma.
A closer look at the Saxon font.
Below are a couple of links to previous posts on the church and village
January 2012
On our walk we discovered a reindeer trail we easily found Rudolph, Donner and Blitzen also Vixen and Prancer but we didn't find Dancer and Cupid. It would be no hardship to go back and seek them out.
Lovely photos, especially the inside of the beautiful church.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
Thank you Briony, the church is lovely inside:)
DeleteThe church interior and that bridge are my favourites. Beautiful shots!
ReplyDeleteThank you William, both are very photogenic:)
DeleteA lovely post with all that beautiful countryside. In the sunshine too! I suppose that building behind the crosses is the youth hostel, it looks really grand. It's no fun travelling a distance these days, if there weren't so many cars it would be wonderful. Aren't stamps sooo expensive. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. Yes, the building which was Ilam Hall is now a youth hostel. I'd forgotten how expensive stamps are now:)
DeleteLovely photos Rosie and interesting posts of Ilam. I'm glad your camera function is back to normal. It sounds as if you had a busy week, but it's good to get the mail off and some travelling done. The snow here hasn't arrived, but it's deceiving weather because today it looks sunny as I look out of the window. I'm sure it's cold out there. Take care and have a good Sunday and week.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda, it is a relief when all cards have been posted and visits made. No snow here but yesterday was so very cold, windy and wet. Today it was much warmer. Hope you too have a lovely week ahead:)
DeleteLovely photos and a beautiful landscape. The church looks so interesting with the Saxon Crosses and font and it is great to see the foliage at the end of the pews.
ReplyDeleteThe reindeer trail looks fun. It sounds as though you have a good, if tiring week!
Thank you RR. It is an interesting church both inside and out and I always love to see it in its setting with the hills around it. The little decorations on the pews were just right. The reindeer trail was fun although there weren't many children around to enjoy it but I expect there will be when they finish school:)
DeleteLove the floor tiles in your first church interior photo. The reindeer trail makes me smile, I wonder how easy it would be to do something like that in our village next year?
ReplyDeleteThank you Jayne. I expect the trail would be quite easy to do around a village with a small leaflet or map to help and to tick off when found, you could add in other festive figures too to make it longer if needed. I'm sure the young ones would love it:)
DeleteThanks for taking us along on your lovely walk & I'm with Jayne on loving the floor tiles in the church, probably both of us thinking 'quilt pattern'. (giggle). Take care.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan. Of course it's a definite quilt type pattern:)
DeleteI like the reindeer trail, it's cool when there are things like that to look out for on a walk :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam. I expect there will be lots of families following it this coming weekend:)
DeleteSuper photos, Rosie. I do love Ilam, it's so picturesque and your post has brought back lovely memories. My friends used to be the keyholders for the church. x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely collection of photos :)
ReplyDeleteAlways a lovely place for walk.