This is a very quick post to record some images of a short stay in the English Peak District enjoyed by my wife, myself and a couple of friends.
As countries go, the U.K. is relatively small and England itself is even smaller but I never tire of enjoying its many riches to be found in both in its natural landscape and its historical architecture.
The Derbyshire Peak District has an abundance of these riches and the following photos are only a very small example of what it has to offer.
As I say this is only a short post but hopefully it will encourage readers to discover more about this wonderful area either by visiting it in person or by reading the many books and websites dedicated to the area.
As countries go, the U.K. is relatively small and England itself is even smaller but I never tire of enjoying its many riches to be found in both in its natural landscape and its historical architecture.
The Derbyshire Peak District has an abundance of these riches and the following photos are only a very small example of what it has to offer.
As I say this is only a short post but hopefully it will encourage readers to discover more about this wonderful area either by visiting it in person or by reading the many books and websites dedicated to the area.
Buxton - Gateway to the Peak District National Park
We stayed in the Lee Wood Hotel, Buxton and found it to be a very comfortable hotel with friendly and helpful staff and a highly recommended restaurant.
Buxton is an elegant town that came into its own, as a Spa centre, in the late nineteenth century. Many of it most notable buildings are from that period. You could spend at least a couple of days just wandering around the town itself and its immediate environs savoring its architecture and the natural features. Here are just a few examples -
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| The Crescent, currently being refurbished. |
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| An old lamp and mounting |
Old Hall Hotel from the Crescent
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| Drinking Fountain at St. Anne's Well |
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| Water fall in Pavilion Gardens |
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Carved tree trunk in Pavilion Gardens being held up by your writer :-) |
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| View from the Tower 1 |
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| View from the Tower 2 |
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View from the Tower 3Well Dressing
From the middle ages and maybe even before that, it has been a tradition in some of the 'Peak District' villages to 'Dress the wells' during the Summer months. This started as a religious practice, to give thanks to providence for the supply of fresh drinking water.
The custom has waxed and waned over the centuries but is now as popular as it ever has been because people have more time to devote to the labour intensive preparation and because of the benefits that may arise from attracting visitors.
There is now a 'Well Dressing' calendar which shows the separate dates of each village's festival. It starts in May and ends in August.
I wanted to show our group an example of this 'Well Dressing' and by good fortune found that a village close to Buxton, 'Tideswell', was having its well dressing event on 21st June and that the preparation would take place during the preceding week, the time that we were in Buxton. So off we set on Thursday morning 19th June. Here are some photos of the displays being put together. It is intricate work using natural materials. -
      Saturday 21st June 2014, kindly forwarded to me by Elaine Chapman. St John The Baptist Church 'The Cathedral of the Peak'
An additional benefit of visiting Tideswell to see the Well Dressing panels being created was being able to visit this magnificent church. here are a few photos that I took. -
            
I hope that this short piece, with the accompanying photographs, will inspire your to visit England's 'Peak District' or at least to read more about it.
Nick
Here is an interesting website which explains more about 'Well Dressing' -
http://welldressing.com/extra.php
For other 'Travelling with Nick' posts click here - http://travelling-with-nick.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/traveling-with-nick-index.html |
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