24 October 2023

It was our last full day in the Peak District today and with the “Pub Local’s” suggestions mapped out, we headed off once again, criss- crossing the countryside. We had thought we might drive the 1 1/2 hours to York but the forecast for more heavy rain in that area and the look of total disbelief on the “Litton Locals”faces last night when we voiced the idea, convinced us otherwise. A bit of a shame really. Maybe we should have followed our gut! Oh well next time!!

Our first port of call was on my list. Some more Neolithic stones and a barrow, smack bang in the middle of a sheep paddock. It’s lovingly called the “Stonehenge of the North” (by those in the north who might be a tad jealous of the “Stonehenge” of the South).

Arbor Low Stone Circle was built about 4,500 years ago and consisted of 40 upright slabs of limestone, all now fallen. The sheep have since moved in and they loved showing us this ancient monument.

Across the paddock was Gib Hill, two prehistoric mounds, or barrows, built on top of one another, a thousand years apart.

Poor Grahame is not a lover of cold, wet weather, nor of traipsing through sheep poo infested paddocks to see a pile of rocks and a little hill, but I loved it.!

The Litton locals had suggested we visit the market town of Ashbourne. So we did!

I’m sure that on two particular days of the year, Ashbourne is THE Place to be. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We were driving towards Ashbourne when I saw the sign to Tissington Hall. “Turn left quick!!!”

According to their own brochure Tissington Hall is “the gem at the heart of the Peak”. Owned by the FitzHerbert family, the latest incumbent inherited the estate from his uncle and now runs the whole show as a wedding venue. The other highlight of the estate is the annual “Dressing of the Wells”, but that’s a rabbit hole I’m not taking you down just now.

Tissington has one more claim to fame. It’s on a cycle rail-trail. Once a train line, from Ashbourne to Buxton, it is now part of the national cycle network. Being much more interested in cycling than wedding venues, we gravitated down to the cycleways and found, much to our delight , a little shop selling hot chocolate and toasties. The vendor was happy to see us and engage in a little bit of local gossip. Apparently Sir Richard owns the whole estate EXCEPT for three houses. He lost them to his ex-wife when they divorced!! Love a bit of goss!!!

Anyway, back to Ashbourne.

Ashbourne is host to the annual Shrovetide Football match. There are two goals a distance of three miles apart, played between the Uppard’s and the Down’ards (depends wether you live in the Up side or the Down side of the river).

The game goes over two days and is played wherever the ball goes. The river bed features regularly. There is no limit to how many players are “on the field” at any one time, in fact, the more the merrier!

There is a whole lot of tradition about the painting of the ball both before and after the game. All of which was explained but way beyond my pay grade. Apparently it’s a whole pile of fun and probably more fun than the Tissington “Dressing of the Wells” parade.

“Turning Up”, or the throwing of the ball into the players to start the game, has always been prestigious and the highest accolade – equivalent to the person being given the freedom of the town. Members of the Royal Family have been the “Turner Upper” on various occasions throughout history and as such the game has been awarded it’s very Regal name of The Royal Shrovetide Football Match.

We had parked almost outside St Oswald’s Church so , of course we made a quick visit.

It’s claim to fame was the remnants of an Anglo Saxon cross shaft dating back to around 920 AD. But my favourite, was this moving monument of a sleeping child.

Our next recommendation was Leek. Not sure why!!! Other than spending a whole pile of £’s for parking and buying a pork pie and 2 bread rolls for lunch, I saw not much worth reporting. Not even a Leek Pie or Leek Soup.

I’m not a lover of big towns and after a not so successful visit to Leek, I was in need of some country side. Poor Grahame tolerated my less than positive mindset and found me a picnic spot worthy of photographing. Rudyard Lake was just the antidote. The Lake was built two centuries ago to supply water to the canal system!!! Thanks Rudyard Lake! I probably putt putted on some of your water over the last two weeks.

The locals added”The Cat and Fiddle”, the second highest pub in England, to our list. But alas, limited opening hours ( and days) meant that we had to settle for the “New Inn” in Flash instead. It claims to proudly be “Britains Highest Village Pub” ( a matter of semantics methinks) and it too was on our “locals recommendation list”.

We checked the opening times for this little gem. 4 pm. We arrived a little early and did a lap of the “Main Street” and a circuit of the church yard.

That took 3 minutes, so we found a public footpath and went for a little countryside toddle. It really is a stunning area. The hills, the rocks, the fences, the stone cottages. All a treat for the eyes!

4 pm arrived and we made our way back the The New Inn. The lights were out and nobody was home. We waited! Some thirsty cyclists turned up. We all waited. The cyclists gave up. They still had some ground to cover and it was getting darker. We waited a bit more! And then we drove back to our Red Lion at Litton. The question on everyone’s lips? How was the New Inn??? I think they were more disappointed than we were.

So, all in all, it was a good day, but not our most successful.

We had an early dinner and went home to pack our bags one last time. Tomorrow we are off to Manchester and the airport.

Definitely Peaked out!!!