Matlock Victorian Christmas Market 2016

A day out with my friend Justin today; as usual it took quite a bit of organising and planning.

The bus arrived on time at Matlock at 11:05. We got off at Hall Leys Park, went to the toilets and then crossed the road and had fish and chips before the restaurant got busy. We then returned to the park, where the Victorian Christmas Market was being held.

We didn't spend very long at the market though, I would have liked to linger but Justin was keen to visit all the charity shops and a couple of the antiques centres. There are, I think, eight charity shops and it least that number of antiques centres.

We did each buy a large mixed game pie at the market. As I was expecting there was some lovely and unusual food on display; the highlights which I'm able to remember were giant fruited scones infused with either apple or orange juice, penguin pie, and wild beaver pie. I was tempted...I really was tempted, but then looked down and saw how baggy my clothes are looking these days and thought the better of it - I've lost nearly three stones, hopefully with more weight loss to come. 

Matlock Victorian Market With Justin

Last Saturday I visited Bakewell Christmas Market on my own and managed to have a good look round the town, walking up to the churchyard and along the riverside path for a few hundred yards. Today I went to Matlock's Victorian Market with my friend Justin who's slightly disabled and quite unwell at the moment; he needs to walk with a stick and is always tired and thirsty [he's diagnosed as being pre-diabetic.] Therefore we kept our walking to an absolute minimum.

When we got off the bus at Matlock we were both feeling a bit uncomfortable; I needed a pee and Justin needed something to eat and drink. The Crown pub would meet all of our needs but it was packed...nowhere to sit down; so we walked along the road to where the public toilets are...and a fish and chip restaurant. I dodged the traffic to cross the road to use the toilets at the entrance to the park and Justin went straight in to the restaurant. Several minutes later when I arrived to order my fish and chips Justin was already sat down at a table, his eyes closed in ecstasy with a can of Coca Cola clasped to his lips. 

Justin had thoughtfully placed his walking stick across the seat opposite, ready  for me to sit down. As I approached with my meal two people who had finished their meals and were sitting next to him got up and left. For a few minutes there was an empty seat next to both myself and Justin; maybe one of us should have got up and moved to the other side of the table so that we were sitting right next to each other. It was difficult for either of us to get up and then back down again because of the cramped layout of the tables and chairs...and so we didn't bother -  we were as comfortable as we could be where we were. 

A couple of minutes later two women, aged in their fifties I should think, sat next to Justin and myself. It was obvious they were uncomfortable because they kept looking around for when other seats might become available. As soon as possible they were off and we had the empty seats next to us again. Justin immediately went off on a bit of a rant - he was offended by the women doing this and wondered why they might have behaved this way. He asked me a couple of times; I knew perfectly well why the women didn't want to sit next to us, but I refrained from answering until we'd left the restaurant. The woman sitting next to Justin, and directly opposite me was distressed because, due to the confined space, my right knee was wedged tightly up against her left thigh.

The festive market was held in Hall Leys Park as usual, and was uncomfortably crowded like last year. We weren't interested in any of the Christmas tat, just the food on offer. We made a beeline for a stall which was selling food suitable for a mediaeval banquet; I bought a rabbit pasty, a mixed game slice...and a squirrel pie! I haven't a clue what squirrel tastes like though; so that was a leap in the dark. There were even more exotic delicacies to be had, crow pie, badger pie, and hedgehog pie. Like the squirrel pie, they were quite expensive and so I didn't buy any more. Justin was less adventurous, just buying a game pie, a wild hog and apple pasty, and a mixed game slice too.

After leaving the market we looked round the shops in the town; there are eight or nine charity shops which we were both keen to visit.

Travelling on the bus back to Sheffield we got talking to a pensioner; I think this was the highlight of the day for Justin. 

Matlock, Wensley, Warrencarr, Stanton Lees, Stanton Woodhouse, and Rowsley.

The day started with me knocking over a display of leaflets in the café in the town centre where I usually have a cooked breakfast when I'm walking mid-week, prior to leaving for the railway station to catch the train to Sheffield. If I'm going to have an accident when out on a day's walk, a café is as good a place as anywhere I suppose.

When I reached Matlock I got off the bus at Hall Leys Park to visit the toilets. There are some more public toilets only a couple of hundred yards away at the railway station, but by starting my walk here I was able to take this photo of the fountain.

I walked over the bridge, up the steep road at the side of the station, and through the gate which marks the start of the Limestone Way: it could be better signposted, but it's an impressive sight which greets your eyes - beautiful limestone grassland. The first few yards are quite steep; but you can always stop for a rest and turn around to enjoy the impressive views of the town.

I continued along the Limestone Way for about a mile, all the while the views of the Derwent Valley were opening up as I steadily climbed. I then took the track which leads down to a road, not too much a loss of altitude though...and then continued along the tarmac for about fifteen minutes until I reached the next path, heading in a northerly direction across fields.

At this location I was quite high up and there was still some snow about, and this snowdrift near to a stile looked to be quite deep.

Fortunately I didn't get to find out how deep, because the snow was still frozen so my boots only sank in a couple of inches. It did present me with the opportunity to take an unusual self-portrait though.

The views of the Derwent Valley were still lovely as I approached, then descended into, Wensley Dale; spelled using two words in Derbyshire...unlike the  valley in Yorkshire.

There was then a short climb up a track into the village, where I observed that nearly a quarter of the properties were for sale or to let.

The climb out of Wensley and then the descent into Cambridge Wood were easy enough. Later, as I approached the Enthoven factory/mill I noticed some substantial ruins of an old mine engine house. Like the locations of several other industrial relics in the Peak District it isn't depicted on the Ordnance Survey map.

The hamlet of Warrencarr was next, and then I took the road up the hill to Stanton Lees, followed by a path, but probably not an official public footpath; because, even at this time of year it was very overgrown with moss and rhododendrons ..and a lot of fallen branches, and debris from small landslips.

Today's final photograph is of Stanton Woodhouse, which I captured with the sunlight at just the right angle.

I arrived at Rowsley with a few minutes to spare; the bus arrived about five minutes early though. Maybe the driver thought it was a Sunday, when it should be at Rowsley at that time.

When we got to Baslow Nether End we thought the driver might be confused again. He drove around the green as though he were going to Chesterfield and one of the other passengers sought re-assurance that he was indeed going to Sheffield.

The reason for using the other bus-stop was that two delivery vans were blocking the normal access route: so the bus had to reverse and then continue as normal to Sheffield.