Little Lost Lambs

Oh oh, not a great beginning to our day at Devonshire Arms. Breakfast is scheduled from 8am til 10am, we came down to find all the doors locked.

At 8:40 one of the managers hurried in apologizing profusely, he made an excellent recovery. It seems that someone did not show up for work.

Another beautiful summer day. An English woman that I had met in 2011 on A Walking Women hiking trip in Turkey joined us this morning.

That is Julie in the middle and her friend Maria who is in training to walk Kilimanjaro next month!

We walked for a bit along the River Derwent.

Julie and Maria continued on with their hike while Spring and I crossed this lovely old bridge into The Chatsworth estate.

Spring and I have 2 manor homes on our itinerary, this is the first one. This property is over 100 acres.

Spring is standing on the lhs.

An attentive momma with her sweet twin lambs.

Just as we were crossing the bridge a herd of sheep ran past.

Unfortunately these 2 sweethearts were left behind. They were bleating for their mom and we could hear the ewe answering but they could not figure out how to reach her. Spring and I attempted to help but it seems we may have just made it worse. We gave up and just hoped either mom or lambs would stumble upon the solution.

Chatsworth manor is huge. Unfortunately my phone battery died (it goes from 100% to 0 in a very short time .. very frustrating!) before I could get a photo of it.

So here is a photo from Wikipedia.

The seat of the Duke of Devonshire it has been home to the Cavendish family since 1549

Some interior photos

The entrance hall.

Wow factor.

Part of me admires this opulent display of wealth but mostly I find it shockingly irresponsible. But here I am, basically a peasant, donating my 22£ for the maintenance of this place.

On the positive side, the history is being preserved

 and it provides employment to many local folks.... 

as it has done for hundreds of years.

A very bizarre piece of Bartholomew holding his skin.

The collection of Delft pottery was very popular with this set.

There were 2 libraries.

Chatsworth is celebrating Dogs this year so there was historic dog art and statues throughout the manor and the grounds.

Oh and a meeting of about 100 fox terriers took place on the grounds.

Dining Room

Room for 45 around this table.

It is topped with a beautiful Irish linen table cloth.

Chip, I will be home soon.

In one of the green houses.

Passion Flower in the green house.

This is unfortunately when my phone died.

The grounds were beautiful, I especially liked the rockery. Well, you have never seen a rockery like this one, for one thing the rocks are gigantic boulders, it takes up a huge amount of space with a deep pond in the centre and flowing water. There are flowers blooming throughout and they are all my favourite colour -- purple.

Gorgeous!

After dinner Spring and I took a stroll around Baslow. We met few people but many friendly cattle who all came running as we approached.

The perfect days just keep coming.

Feeling very grateful.

Great fun to reconnect with Julie again.

A Tale of Two Hotels

Today was a travel day ... but a very enjoyable one. From our Liverpool hotel we took the city bus and got off a few blocks before the train station. We were attempting to find Vienna Bakery Cafe which we had noticed on previous bus trips. After asking many passersby we gave up looking and settled for the Little Shoe. So named for the small piece of bread torn from the slice and used to soak up every last bit of gravy. Anyway, no gravy on my granola but I enjoyed it regardless.

We did not wish to eat at our hotel, did not particularly care for the men (Spanish speaking) who were running it. They treated us with disdain and it seemed to us that 2 men were required at reception when 1/2 a woman could easily do the job. (All of the women working there were great.)

And we are off again 

Non stop to Chesterfield in the Peak District,

a scenic 2 hour journey.

En route we went through busy Manchester. There are building cranes everywhere!

This is more like it...

Quieter Stockport where bicycles are parked right on the platform.

The food and drink trolley on the train.

Every train employee that we have encountered have been friendly, jolly and helpful, especially the women (usually a woman) working on the food and drink trolleys.

A very helpful young man walked with us from the Chesterfield train station to the bustling centre of the charming town, showing us a nice vegan restaurant for lunch and where to catch the bus for our final destination.

First things first on arrival.

Tea and a biscuit.

Loving this hotel

The Devonshire Arms in Baslow

All staff are kind and helpful.

We couldn't wait to get walking.

Can you make out a manor house in the centre distance. That is Chatsworth which we may visit tomorrow.

"There's a horse over there!"

Gorgeous! We are now enjoying beautiful weather. I am very thankful that the good weather has appeared for this portion of our holiday. Rainy conditions would have made it quite miserable.

Back to farmland

❤

We got a bit lost so invested in a map once we made it back to civilization.

A delicious dinner at the hotel, another short walk and now it is the end of another great day.

So blessed!

Behind The Lyrics

It was such a touristy thing to do and not usually my style but come on! It's 

THE BEATLES!

Their music was and still is some of my favourite music.

It has been for 57 years!

It is difficult to believe that they were only together for about 7 short years.

I loved every single minute of the tour

Even when I had difficulty comprehending the Liverpudlian accent of our tour guide.

But before we get to the Beatles..

Here is Queen Victoria

Nicknamed the Three Graces

Royal Liver (think of the word hive to pronounce) Building

Cunard Building

&

Port Of Liverpool

Here we go..

Of course music was played throughout.

Magical Mystery tour to begin the adventure.

Ringo's Home

The pink one down the right hand side.

Can't forget George's home.

"Two up Two down"

Privy in the backyard.

We drove down Penny Lane and saw ...

The barbershop .. "the barber showing photographs..."

The bank .. "banker with a motorcar" 

The shelter in the middle of the roundabout

The fish n chip shop .. " a four of fish n finger pies..."

It's all there!

Strawberry Fields

Is undergoing a facelift and will soon become a school for young adults with learning difficulties. Yoko Ono donated money to Salvation Army for this project.

Our passionate guide Adrian

John Lennon's home with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George from 1945 to 1963.

Spring in front of Paul's childhood home.

The property is now owned by The National Trust.

John used to ride his bike from his home across the golf course to Paul's home where they wrote and practiced their songs.

These following lyrics from "A Day in the Life" are inspired by Paul's runs up this street to the bus stop.

(We walked those very same steps.)

Woke up, fell out of bed

Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Made my way upstairs and had a smoke
And everybody spoke and I went into a dream

The Cavern was recreated in its original location.

Great atmosphere.

This fellow was doing an excellent job singing Beatle songs.

If you have 23 minutes to spare you may enjoy James Corden carpool karaoke with Paul McCartney.

https://youtu.be/QjvzCTqkBDQ

Our next stop was a ferry boat trip on the Mersey.

My camera battery died at this point.

We also went to Tate Modern

Too modern for me

Disappointing.

After a very full day we returned to our

B & B neighbourhood.

This area is made up of huge mansions, most have been converted into flats.

Moving on tomorrow.

A Tale of Two Cities

As we were leaving Shrewsbury we reflected on why we liked this city so much. Shrewsbury has a small town vibe about it, every employee and business owner was warm, friendly and extremely helpful including the post office and the library.
There are no high rises and therefore no construction cranes. Their historic buildings are kept maintained and occupied by vibrant businesses. What is not to like.

We are getting the hang of the English train system. A seamless journey today. Dahv, check out what your Mom is reading.

Liverpool!

We made an error in judgment. The sun was actually shining so in our excitement we decided to walk to our B & B. It was further than expected, we arrived tired and very hungry.

Liverpool is not what I had expected at all! Most of our walk was past large beautiful old brick townhouses, all nicely maintained. We noted several churches but no cafes (we really could have used a cup of tea!).

Later, after checking into The Mountford Hotel we had a delicious vegan lunch at Milo's Lounge. 

Starting at Oxford the manner of food ordering changed. Customers need to order their food at the bar, there seems to be no table service.

After our late lunch and a nap (!) we hopped on a bus that was headed downtown.

Here we are at Albert Dock on the Mersey.

The tide is out.

Look, it is warm enough to remove my gortex jack! 

This old dock has been closed in and is now used for swimming laps. It is a huge area. Some swimmers are wearing wetsuits against the cold.

This is also part of the same sports facility.

The Anglican Cathedral

Some great old buildings

This is Arthur.

We first met him on the bus and then again at his "local". He insisted on buying us a drink, after discussing politics ( Trump, Brexit and Trudeau... quite the talker!) he kindly gave us a list of places to visit tomorrow.

Heading back to the B & B on the bus.

Another great day.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

I hope the sun sticks around!