Friday, June 25, 2021

Out and About

Yesterday we had arranged to visit friends who live in the North East Derbyshire village of Holmesfield which isn't far from the National Trust's Longshaw Estate.

We were awake quite early and set out a lot earlier than we had thought so had extra time to meander around the pretty town of Bakewell which is one of my favourite things to do.

We spent a couple of hours in their lovely garden, unfortunatley Ian gets very tired as his illness progresses, so we said our goodbyes, promising to visit again before the end of Summer and drove home past the Longshaw Estate and through Hathersage down to Hassop and the bookshop and cafe at Hassop Station.

 It was very busy!  Notices said to take a seat under the outside canopies and then order on line.  We assumed that one had to have a smart phone to do that so, as we only wanted a drink of tea or coffee, we moved on.

 The Hassop Station cafe, gift and book shop is on the Monsal Trail.  Just a little further up the trail is another place we have visited before, Thornbridge Hall.  We realised that we weren't that far away so decided to try there.  Oh, how different it was from previous visits.


We had been here before a couple of times.  We first visited on a friend's birthday and had a tasty lunch in the coach house and a wander around the lovely gardens and extensive plant sales area. 


Later the same year we met up with the friends I mentioned above and visitied the gardens for a second time. 


How things had changed.  The coach house is now only open for special events and weddings.  There is a new car park which takes you to a newly built cafe called Quackers and the plants sales area seemed a lot smaller.  


I expect the gardens are still as lovely as they were but we didn't go in this time as we still had about an hours journey ahead.  

There is a path up to Quackers from the Monsal Trail with some lovely views of the trail and the surrouding countryside from the old bridge.






At the moment I'm struggling with my smaller camera as my Fuji bridge camera keeps telling me to take the lens cap off, even though it is off, and won't let me take photos.  The smaller camera won't accept the date and time and wants me to put it in every time I switch it on so the only way to take photos is to leave it switched on but then the photos are all over the place and not in the order they were taken. All very irritating.  I may eventually have to look for a new camera.  I've had a look online but they are so expensive.  I'll eventually go and look at some when things feel safer.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

22 comments:

  1. That arched bridge is a delight to see.

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    1. It was a lovely bridge one of several along the trail which used to be a railway track:)

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  2. Replies
    1. It was busy but so good to get out and visit friends, I was tired the next day:)

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  3. Great photos of a lovely day out. Similar over here with lots of places still closed, shorter operating hours & only allowed small numbers. I've a Samsung camera, which I love, but not sure they make them anymore & I've a "little" older camera which I keep in case I don't want to lug the bigger one around. It needs charging more often. How about any EOFY sales that may be around? Take care, stay safe & hugs.

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    1. My bridge camera is a Fuji and my 'little' pocket camera is a Canon. I'm looking for something a bit bigger than the little one so I can still carry it easily but I want it to have a much better zoom facility than 4x the Fuji is 30x. I've spotted a Lumix on line but would like to look at it and hold it before I buy. I will look around for end of line ones. Take care:)

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  4. What an excellent trip around the countryside, so interesting to see all the changes due to covid and in nature too. When we were holidaying in Buxton a few years ago, we took a bus to Tissington and walked along the Monsal Trail, great fun. How annoying to have camera issues, I hope you find a good replacement. 😊

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    1. It was lovely t see or pass through all the places we love. The refurbished spa hotel on the Crescent has opened up in Buxton recently, it's been under wraps for ages so it will be lovely to see it. Both Tissington and Monsal trails are lovely to walk along. Tissington was always the venue for our village school's yearly outing to see the well dressings:)

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  5. Lovely photos despite your camera problems. We noticed lots of changes due to covid while we were away. Eating out or even drinking in a cafe is such an effort. Hope you have a lovely weekend Rosie. B x

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    1. The new wooden cabin and the quick food it has to offer at Thornbridge Hall is ideal for keeping covid rules and regs and also for families with children but it lacks the elegance of the coach house setting. I don't know if it is a permanent fixture or not. I'm missing having a camera at the moment:)

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  6. We go over the county border into Derbyshire often as we enjoy the beauty of the Peak District National Park. It must have been good to meet up with friends and spend some time in the area. We're finding the fact that you have to book a table in advance if you want a meal or even light refreshments rather challenging. I hope you can sort out your camera problems. I take my little digital camera with me everywhere as recording our outings is part of my enjoyment of the trip.

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    1. Like you we love Derbyshire especially the Peak District and it was great being back there. We don't have smart phones so couldn't order from the outside tables, we didn't bother to see if there was another way to order as we only wanted a drink. Hope I can sort out a camera soon as I really miss taking photos:)

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  7. Lovely photos Rosie despite camera problems. Hope you can get a new one soon. We bought the Canon SX50 bridge camera as a new model came out and saved quite a bit of money that way as old model price was much reduced. Glad to see you are getting out and about and managed a brief trip to Bakewell too :) Prebooking meals etc if you need a smart or i phone is a pain as I only have a cheap inherited from OH smart phone and to be honest it is just for emergencies and I never use it!! OH uses his a lot though to pay for car parks etc. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and take care and stay safe.

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    1. I took the photos with the little Canon camera but had to OK an empty date and time thing each time I switched it on and off as it asks you to put in date and time each time it is switched on. We haven't got smart phones either although as things are going we may have to get one or we will be left behind. I've had the same'pay as you go' number since our first mobile phone which was huge in comparison to those now, three handsets later, my latest cost 29p plus £10 top up. We too only use them for emergencies and contacting people if we are meeting up somewhere. Takecare:)

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  8. Beautiful photos despite your camera issues. We have found trying to book things ahead and everything now on line quite difficult at times, a sign of the changing times. My worry is that my sense of noral will never return.

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    1. Thank you, yes it is trying sometimes to have to book on line, some websites are easy others not, hopefully thingss will finally get back to normal at some point, let's hope so:)

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  9. Such a nice day out even with the restrictions (and the camera acting out). I am also enjoying the longer days, getting a lot done.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. It s good to have light evenings for travelling home, I don't like travelling on dark autumn and winter evenings, great as well to be out in the garden on a warm summer evening:)

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  10. All in all a rather mixed day!
    Your post sent me off to look at cameras online and I am immediately overwhelmed with not-understanding. I'm glad I don't have to be buying one at the moment. Whenever I need a new camera I have to start from scratch in working out what everything means.

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    1. It was a mixed day but enjoyable, except seeing how ill our friend was after not seeing them for about eighteen months. I'm not good with new equipment, I learn how to use a phone, computer or camera as best I can to give me what I want but if things change it throws me:)

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  11. It looks like a good day, so many things have changed over the past year haven't they, it's good to get out more but sad when you see something isn't quite what is was.

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    1. The elegance of the coach house cafe with its balcony, high ceilings and glass windows has been lost. I can see that the wooden cabin offering quick food on disposable plates and cups is right for present times and the child friendly area is good for families and walkers from the trail but I hope the other areas are going to be used too once things get better:)

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