Nigel's tomatoes

Head of Beresford Dale

A short bus ride took us to Hartington and the head of Beresford Dale. Isaak Walton's fishing cottage (of The Compleat Angler fame) is just hidden by the wood nestled in the valley.

Gatehouse garden, Tissington Estate

The weather forecast for Thursday was mixed but we went ahead with our planned walk in Dovedale anyway. In order to avoid retracing our steps, Nigel devised a circular route starting and ending near Tissington, where we parked the car. The garden of the Estate's gatehouse included some boots used as flowerpots - I presume they belonged to some long past occupant of the gatekeeper's lodge,

Darley Park

Nigel often takes his dog Billy for a walk in Darley Park on the River Derwent just north of Derby, and that's where we went on Wednesday afternoon after I arrived on the coach from Heathrow. Several squirrels for Billy to chase and a good opportunity to stretch my legs after thirty something hours cramped in Virgin airline seats.

Cromford Bridge Chapel

From Darley Park we drove up through Kirk Allerton, where Nigel used to live, and still has a cottage, to Cromford.These are the remains of a bridge chapel,adjacent to Cromford Bridge, on land which Grandpa inherited from Charles Vincent, and gave to the Derbyshire Archaeological Society in the early 1950s. It is one of only five left standing in the whole of England. Immediately to the left is a fishing lodge, built in the late 1700s/early 1800s by Richard Arkwright, and I believe probably modelled on one built for Isaak Walton and Charles Cotton at Beresford Dale in the early 1700s. The  motto inscribed above the door reads "Piscatoribus Sanctum," as does the one at Beresford Dale.

Bow Wood Farm

On the left bank of the Derwent, not far below Cromford Bridge and the chapel, and adjacent to Lea Hurst, the property formerly owned by Florence Nightingale's family, is Bow Wood Farm, another of Charles Vincent's properties. We drove in to see if anyone was at home but all was quiet so we took a photo and moved on.