UK pics

Here they are, the inevitable holiday photos.

We only had four days in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire but we managed to see a few things and with the ease, and no processing cost, of the little pocket digital camera I ended up with hundreds of photographs.

We stayed in the largest village in the Peak Park, called Youlgreave. Like most English villages it's nestled in a valley (an interesting opposite to Italy where they're mostly on hilltops).



The village is built from the local stone and slate, old and new buildings alike, so there's an attractive overall style to the place:




What I'm told is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest detached house is in the main street.



Called Thimble Hall it's basically one room with a ladder up to a few planks which make a sort of mezzanine floor. It was once home to a family of eight.

The village has a thriving community with plenty of activities on a regular basis. By chance we were there on the weekend the Youlgreave Show was being held.

That's a typical English country show, with residents exhibiting all sorts of handicrafts and things they grow, competing for 'Best of ' certificates.

Best tomato for example...

Plenty of beautiful flowers in all sorts of categories...

And one for the kids to enter their sculptures made from vegetables...

A couple of visits to the only town in the Peak Park, Bakewell, home of the Bakewell Tart (delicious) and Bakewell Pudding (not my favourite taste).

We were there on Monday which is market day so the town was buzzing. Monday is also the livestock auction day and that's well worth a visit...

It also happened to be the weekend when the Chatsworth Show is on, held in the grounds of Chatsworth House, home of the Duke of Devonshire. It's another of the country shows that are held all over England in the summer, highlighting country activities and produce and offering all sorts of entertainment.

I was, naturally, attracted by the vintage car rally, this Jaguar being my pick of the fifty or sixty cars on show...

They had amusing demonstations too, like the sheepdogs showing off their skills herding a flock of ducks around obstacles in the arena...

Plenty of food and drink stalls...

Including of course typical traditional English items...

We spent some time driving around the countryside too. This really is beautiful country...

You come across interesting little shops in the villages, like this licensed slaughterhouse and farm butcher shop - the meat and things like sausages from this area are absolutely top quality.



There are some beautiful little villages dotted all over the Park, a typical one being Milldale:

Across that little ancient bridge and there's a beautiful riverside walk...

The weather was kind of OK too. When we were further south in Leicester for a couple of days working it rained non-stop, but up in Derbyshire we only had a couple of showers. It was generally cloudy with some sunny spells so we were able to be out sightseeing most of the time.

And that's it for a few days, we're off to Singapore this evening for Eid.


Eid Mubarak everyone.