Another Monday outing!

Monday, another glorious day. So off we went again. Our first stop was Matlock Bath, "little Switzerland" the Victorians called it. A place to go to take in the fresh air, recouperate, and partake in the thermal baths.
Well sadly, the thermal baths are no longer there, it's part of an exhibition now. That's progress I suppose!

......

There are plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as the attractions to keep you busy.

If we walk across this beautiful bridge, (in need of a coat of paint) over the river Derwent..

.....you'll get a better view, you can even see the cable cars if you look up..

Let's get a little closers= shall we..

We had a fish and chips lunch and then carried on to Chatsworth...

They are having some restoration work done at the moment, so the pictures aren't so nice, but there's still plenty to photograph...

Inside the courtyard, there's plenty to do and see. The gift shop is always worth a look. I bought some beautiful gingham ribbons. They're for a project which I shall be starting soon.

There's clothing, jewellery, books, toys, garden equipment. You name it, it's there for you to buy. You need a full day to take everything in. We didn't do the house and garden tour today, as we were going on to Baslow..

A brief stop at Ednsor, you can see the beautiful churh. It is in this graveyard where Kathleen Kennedy is buried.(I mentioned this in a previous post)...

Baslow is a beautiful little village, it gets extremely busy. But today was pretty quiet. look at these gorgeous cottages...

We managed to get a cup of coffee and a slice of homemade cake in the cafe, just before they closed....

Then it was time to head back. I hope you've enjoyed your visit to Matlock Bath, Chatsworth and Baslow. I'm sure we'll be going again, very soon.

Choices!

Yesterday was a day of choices. Do I stay in and do the housework, or do we go out. The choice was easy really, we went out, as it was such a glorious day!
We got in the car and drove through Ashbourne. We wouldn't have gone today because of the Shrovetide Football
Once through Ashbourne our first stop was Ilam Hall. So we parked the car, and grabbed the camera.....

Then it was a nice stroll past the hall and down to the riverside. I couldn't help but take a shot of these. I think the architecture is wonderful, don't you...

Then it was past the hall, down to the river over the bridge and look at the views....

....look at the hall in all its splendour....

....look at the view of the village...

.....someone is hang gliding from the top of Thorpe Cloud....

...I bet he's getting a fabulous view!!!
We're going to the tea rooms now for a cuppa and a scone and then we're off to Dovedale....

...I bet it wasn't as quiet as this on Sunday...

....we'll carry on walking along this side of the river for a while just so I can show you the view from the other side of the stepping stones...

We won't walk up to the top today, we'll just carry on.....

I told you it was worth it, didn't I?
Time to step over the stones....

...me next... time to view the "maintainence" of the stones, I'm not sure, it looks rather odd....

now we're on the other side, the view is just as glorious...

...so peaceful....

The drive home was just as spectacular....

....from every angle...

It was a wonderful afternoon, and I can't wait for the next trip. But for now it's back to the everyday stuff!!