More Derbyshire

Kev and Sue at home

The Crescent Buxton Derbyshire Style

The Pavillion Buxton

Arbor Low

The Indian Buffet on Thursday night was unbelievable. The restaurant was huge and there were so many things to choose from. A lot of the food was cooked in front of you. Wish we had something like this near us - don't even think such a thing exists in Australia.

Friday morning was spent shopping with Sue in Derby. The men decided not to come and stayed home and watched the Rugby World Cup. Sue and I had a lovely time in the Co-op, a store where other minor stores rent out space and then we went to Boots. What a paradise that was for me! There were so many different types of perfume and all the brands of makeup. We had arranged to meet the men at a pub called the Spotted Cow in Holbrook near Belper. at 1pm. Naturally we were late. We had a lovely 2 course lunch for €15 per couple. We then took a long scenic tour home through Kedleston before returning to Derby to finish off our shopping (sans men of course).

This morning after a shower overnight the sun came out and we headed for Buxton. Buxton is a spa town (another place in the 1800s where people went to take the waters) located in Derbyshire’s Peak District. It has a Pavilion like Brighton and a Crescent and Bathhouse like Bath. The Pavillion now has indoor craft stalls and the Bathhouse has been converted into shops – some of which still contain the baths. The Pavillion also has lovely gardens.

We then drove to Youlgrave near Arbor Low (see below) for lunch at the Farmyard Inn another typical English pub. Had another nice lunch and Phil continued his investigation of English pints of beer.

Next we drove to Arbor Low, a prehistoric site in Derbyshire. It is said to be similar to Stonehenge (we didn’t get to Stonehenge but Kev and Sue say it is a smaller scale Stonehenge). It is situated on a farm and we had to walk through a cow paddock (with cows in it) to get to the site. It does differ from Stonehenge because Arbor Low has burial mounds. Anyway it was worth the visit and the view of the surrounding countryside was fantastic. We would have lingered but as is often common in these parts it decided to rain.

On the way home we went via Tissington another charming English village before stopping for supplies in Ashbourne a large town close to Shirley. Ashbourne is where Sue and her sisters went to school.

We have had a fabulous time here in Derbyshire and have been amazed at the amount of things there are to do. Sue and Kev have been wonderful hosts (even though Kev was cheering for Ireland in the Rugby today).

Off to Heathrow tomorrow where we will stay the night before our flight to KL at midday on Monday. We will arrive in KL at about 7.30 am Perth time.