Come and explore....

with me. We'll walk

Along the path under the oak tree...

over the stile, past the friendly horses.....

down by the canal, where the smell of woodsmoke lingered in the air...

and up the back alley way, past the old mellow brick wall, into

the lovely village of Brewood, near Stafford.

Here we will find so many things to look at and admire, like pretty cottages.....

The cottages in the photo above were called The Old Smithy, and Smithy Cottages. Across the road were two more little cottages one called 'the old lock-up' and next door was 'policeman's cottage'.
There are two churches, the one below is the Parish Church, at the other end of the village is a Catholic church.

In the centre of the village is the very ornate Swan Hotel, apparently now housing flats. It was always known as Speedwell Castle from an unsubstantiated legend that it was built from winnings following a bet on a horse called Speedwell.

I hope you have enjoyed your walk around Brewood, pronounced locally as Brood, it is a delightful place, but it is time to move on to the village of Acton Trussell; I'll tell you more in another post.

Ashford in the Water

Ashford is a very pretty village just off the main Bakewell to Buxton road. We had visited once before a few years ago when we were doing some family history research but we decided to drop in again today to have a walk round.



We passed Holy Trinity church where, on our last visit, we had found some of Paul's ancestors in the churchyard. Then we popped into the village shop for a newspaper and a bottle of water. Outside the shop were racks and boxes full of fruit and vegetables.



The shop is fascinating inside, selling all sorts of things like newspapers, greetings cards, ice cream, gifts and there is also a deli counter with meats, cheese etc. There was hardly any room to move around as every available space was full of goodies.



The back of the shop was covered with this lovely russet coloured vine, growing all over the walls and up to the roof.



We crossed the sheep wash bridge over the River Wye. The people on the bridge were feeding the swans and ducks on the water below.



By now the mist had cleared and the sun light was glinting on the water.



The cottage behind the old market stand is next to the bridge and has a wonderful garden spreading down to the river.

When we left Ashford we drove up to the village of Sheldon and then walked across the field to the Magpie Mine, an old lead mine whose workings and disused buildings are still in situ. From there we drove back towards Brierlow Bar and spent some time browsing in my favourite bookshop - I will write more on the mine and bookshop next time, as there is a connection between a book I've been reading and the mine.