Feeling Peaky

A dry and non windy day means a  good opportunity to give the boat a run and warm up all the various systems again. Once more our track resembled a drunken snail:

and we cannot blame waterbus Steve this time. One less than pleasant issue - where we are moored at the end of the marina is pretty shallow and it looks like we have some weed that has grown around the rudder or become tangled around it as we get on / off the berth. Once underway in the bay, there was a horrid vibration from the rudder - reversing and turning and generally getting annoyed with it seemed to clear most of the debris but of course we could easily have picked up more getting back into position. Time will tell.

A little trip up north by road followed. We didn't know the Peak District at all well and so a few cheap hotel days allowed us to become better acquainted. Buxton was everything that we expected. Even Patrick would have been happy here as this was the window of a local shoe shop:

A veritable smorgasbord of penguins for him to enjoy.

A lunch at the Old Hall Hotel was highly amusing as they managed to mess up the order, delivering the food, the drink and the bill. It was all done in a very nice apologetic way though and the food tasted good so they were forgiven. The hotel is supposed to be the oldest in England - see their website history .

We met up with the "Northern connection" (John and Irene) for a day and explored the Hope Valley.  Glorious area:

Some snow remaining from earlier in the month too and of course some of us (i.e. Irene) cannot resist snowball fights:

The captain was happy that he had the camera out and so was relatively safe.  However, they all seemed to end up as friends:

By luck, we completed the day in the George Hotel at Hathersage. This was simply because all the coffee shops in the village were already closed and so we parked ourselves in their lounge area and partook of the most excellent late afternoon cream tea. Truly indulgent and a great spot to spend an hour or so. It was quite a shame that we had cars outside as the temptation to settle in for a few drinks in the cosy lounge was strong.

After the foodfest, we went and did some cultural stuff. First was Bolsover Castle. Our knowledge of Bolsover was limited to "The Beast of Bolsover" a pretty left wing MP who likes defying conventions and getting removed from parliament by being rude about people. We guess he does some constructive stuff for the locals too as he always gets re-elected. Anyway, way way better than him is the castle. Have a look at  English Heritage website for more information. The castle has the most amazing indoor riding school and stables block:

Apparently William Cavendish who established this was the father of modern dressage training for horses. The "Little Castle" is quite something considering that it was completed in the early 1600s:I

Yes, the interiors are quite something considering their age, this we were told is around the oldest wall / ceiling painting that survives of such quality and hence importance:

The fireplaces are impressive too:

Continuing the culture theme, we also had a look at Hardwick Old Hall - this pic shows the ruins of the old hall looking towards (yes, you've guessed it) the New Hall:

A great trip, loved the area and we have plenty more to explore there.

Back afloat we tidied up the poor neglected boat and just prepared to be invaded by friends. The remaining winter maintenance will wait until they have gone and our week of ditch crawling is completed.