A weekend in The Peaks

Hi there everyone 😀

The last of my 60th birthday celebrations came right at the end of November with a weekend getaway to Monyash in The Peak District with our good friends Jackie and Phil.

Martin and I headed up the Thursday morning, with a few stop offs along the way … starting at a very nice garden centre just outside of Ashbourne …

… where there may have been a few impulse purchases made …

… as well as a few photos just for Bobby … he does love a Jellycat foodie plushy 😜

It was then into Ashbourne for another mooch where Martin treated me to a belated birthday gift …

Our last stop off on our journey was in the lovely little village of Tissington, where we just had a bit of a wander, taking in the winter sunshine …

It really was the most absolutely glorious of days. 

Mid afternoon and we arrived at Hillcrest Barn, our home for the next four nights …

… and we were soon settled in and awaiting Jackie and Phil … who had had to put in a day’s work before getting away …

They arrived safely and we were soon sat around the dining table enjoying a very tasty home cooked dinner courtesy of Jackie … followed by birthday cake …

On Friday we had a big day out planned and after a full English we were on our way to Chatsworth. First stop was the garden centre for a bit of Christmas shopping … where there may have been a bit of photobombing going on amongst the Christmas trees …

From here we headed on to the parking for the Christmas at Chatsworth event … which is most definitely worthy of a post of its own … so I will save that for another day …

We had a bit of a slower day on the Saturday and just had a drive around taking in a few of the local sights … starting off with The Magpie Mine. It wasn’t far … nine minutes according to the satnav. The weather was not as bright as it had been on the Friday but it was good to get out and have a bit of a wander …

We also did a controlled experiment to see how many of us would have fit in the old pit lift …

Happy to have discovered we would all have been able to make it down below it was time to head off …

Our next stop was another nine minutes away at Monsal Head, where the view was not the best we’ve seen it but still pretty impressive all the same …

After a quick look at the view we headed in to Hobbs Cafe for a brew and a warm up. None of us had ever been in there before and we all really liked it. It was nice and cosy … just the job on a wet and windy afternoon. 

From Monsal Head we decided on one more stop before heading back and yes … it was another nine minutes away. We headed for Eyam for a look in the church, where there is lots of information about the plague and how it affected the village …

After a quick walk around the village we headed back to Monyash, for a nice lazy afternoon, before heading out to eat. We had hoped to eat at The Bull’s Head in Monyash, as it was only across the road, but unfortunately it was booked out for a private function. 

Funnily enough we still ended up at The Bull’s Head …  but in Ashford-in-the-Water …

… where we had the very warmest of welcomes, the best service and a lovely meal …

It was  really lovely evening … and only a nine minute drive away …

Sunday was our last full day and we woke up to awful weather. It was absolutely lashing it down so we opted for a lazy morning and postponed our visit to Bakewell for a bit later on. 

The satnav told us, once again, that we were on for a nine minute journey into Bakewell, and we were soon parked up in the centre of town, which wasn’t anywhere near as busy as we’d been expecting …

After a couple of hours mooching, a bit of shopping and a coffee stop it was back to Hillcrest Barn for the rest of the afternoon and a lovely chilled out last evening. 

Monday morning and we were up and out for about 8.30 and heading back to Ashbourne garden centre for breakfast, which didn’t disappoint. 

And then it was time to finally head for home. We’d had a lovely weekend … just the right blend of getting out and about and seeing and doing stuff and just generally chilling out with good friends 😀

That’s the birthday celebrations done … time to start getting into the festive spirit 🎄

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Hitting 60 🥳

Well …I’m not quite sure how that happened 🤔

I’m not sure how I feel about being 60. In some respects I feel pretty much the same as I did when I was 30 … in my head anyway.

It’s my body that keeps on reminding me otherwise 😜

It really is a strange one. There is the definite thought in the back of my mind that I could only have another 20 years, if I’m lucky,  … but then that is still a fair old whack … though the older I get the quicker time definitely seems to pass.

I guess it’s a good time for some kind of reflection but this month has just been too busy to draw breath so far … I’ve definitely been drawing out the celebrations … and here’s a bit of a 60th birthday photo dump to prove it.

I started early with a very lovely surprise afternoon tea organised by my good friend Tina. I thought it was just going to be Tina and I enjoying one of our favourite activities of an afternoon of tea and cake, with plenty of chat thrown in. 

Tina did a brilliant job of keeping her plans secret and when I arrived to meet her I was overwhelmed to see a lovely group of old friends all gathered just waiting for me to arrive. We really did have a lovely afternoon of catching up over afternoon tea and it was all the more special for being such a surprise …

I came home loaded down with good wishes, cards and gifts. It was a lovely way to start off the birthday celebrations …

A week later and I met up with my old school friend Lesley for a lazy lunch and a bit of shopping …

For my birthday weekend we had a family night in with a takeaway from a local Italian restaurant, which I topped and tailed with anti pasti and a limencello kind of tiramisu. The food was great and we had a lovely evening just eating, chatting and being generally entertained by Bobby …

It was an early start on the Sunday for a birthday treat spa day with very good friends …

And then it was actually my birthday and Martin and I just had a ride out to Hanbury Hall … a National Trust property we’d not visited before, where we just had a bit of a wander and a very nice lunch …

There was a Christmas afternoon tea with mum and my sister, Sarah …

… and a lunchtime visit to The Creperie, which is always a real treat … especially with these guys …

And that is very nearly it. We are now looking forward to a weekend up in The Peak District with Jackie and Phil, where we will be taking in the Chatsworth Christmas Markets and lights … but I will save that for another time.

I think I can say that I’ve made the most of celebrating and … for the moment I am enjoying sitting in the comfy chair, heating on, Storm Bert doing its thing outside, surrounded by cards and flowers …

I guess I will have plenty of time to reflect on how being 60 actually feels and I am building up to a final review of the 60 Things I wanted to do before I hit 60. 

Of course … I do know that, as well as free prescriptions, I can now get free soup and a roll in Asda cafes up and down the country 😂😂😂. Hopefully they are not the only benefits of getting older 😜

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳