A Riverside Walk

 On Thursday we ventured just a little further afield for a walk.  It sounds as if we drove a long way but in fact it was just less than forty minutes away from home.

The village of  Ilam was our destination.  We parked up near the Youth Hostel.  The estate is maintained by the National Trust.  

It's one of my favourite local places to visit.

The views are amazing.  Above and below the Church of The Holy Cross.  Over the other side of the hills is Dovedale.

We walked by the Manifold river which runs through the estate.

We stopped to watch the Dippers displaying.

After a visit to the second hand book shop it was time to pop inside the tea rooms.

It was very quiet but after we settled down a few more people came in.

It was tempting to try this month's NT scone flavour which was pear and caramelised biscuit.  The scones were huge so we shared one.

  I'd been saying for ages that we didn't seem to have had any post for days and I knew I was expecting one or two things from my Haematology doctor.  On Wednesday a huge pile of post arrived with about fifteen items in all.  The usual seasonal catalogues, charity letters and junk mail but also two letters about my next hospital appointment a letter about my pension and one from the dental practice about changes happening there.  Luckily I knew about the hospital appointment from PKB (patient knows best) but it is a worry for those people who rely on the postal system to receive important letters.  Not everyone has access to a computer or a smart phone.

Not too many fireworks on Thursday.  The foxes visited early just as if they knew they needed to get back to their den to hole up before dark and the noises began.

Apologies, the fox photo was taken in low light through a not so clean kitchen window so it's a little blurry.

All for now, have a good weekend.