Tuesday 5 July 2011

La Causserie to Whatstandwell.


Bakery 30th June 2011
I am now in the UK spending a week with my sister, Sally, in Derbyshire.  It was the usual last minute rush and I ran out of time to do a post so I now have a little time this morning to catch up.
First a brief update on the work on the Old Bakery. The exterior is, apart from one or two finishing off touches, is complete and we are now working on the interior. We are boarding the walls and will tile around the sink and worktops.  This will give us a good area for food preparation and storage when it is finished (hopefully the end of next week).  We are really pleased with the results so far and looking forward to getting this area into use.
  
Ben Orienteering
On Friday Tom, Ben and I got the ferry to the UK and then drove up to Sally's in Whatstandwell, arriving on the Friday evening.  This arrival at Sally's is ,strangely enough, timed with the village Beer Festival on the Saturday evening - can't think why? 

On the Saturday morning we took the boys to a 'Come and Try' Orienteering event at Swadlincote Woodlands ran by the Derwent Vally Orienteers.  It was a great morning and a very well run event.  The course we did was pitched just right for the boy's level.  Many thanks to those from Derwent Vally Orienteers for a lovely and well organised morning. Greatly enjoyed by all of us. 

Drum Workshop
 
Saturday evening was the Beer Festival and once again a very good evening.  Excellent beers and good bands.  Plus a few events for the children including a drum workshop, which Tom really enjoyed but Ben found a little fast.  The boys made many friends and played all evening - I only saw them every now and then and they had a great time - whilst I sampled a beer or two(?) and listened to the bands.  I couldn't get to the festival last year and was amazed to see how many people came this year.  It was an extremely enjoyable and successful evening.
 
On Sunday we took the bikes up to Minninglow then, after a picnic, cycled just over 17kms along the High Peak Trail/Pennine Bridleway, via Middleton Top (ice cream stop) then down some very steep inclines to High peak Junction and the Cromford Canal. 

At the Cromford Canal we visited the Leawood Pump House which had an open day.  The boilers were fired up and the steam engine running.  The pumps lifted 800 gallons of water, per pump, from the Derwent river 10 metres up into the Canal.  When this was a working canal, and the boats grounded, these pumps could fill up the 14 miles of canal within 24 hours and it was children that stoked the boilers - working 8 til 8.  Tom and Ben were fascinated, and overawed, by this amazing piece of machinery.

After that we finished our cycle ride back to Sally's and a well earnt cuppa and rest.

1 comment :

  1. Sounds as though you had a great time! The beer festival sounds good too. Pumphouse story is interesting. I find the canals fascinating. That is some amount of water to shift!

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