Impressions of our trip from Holland to the SRGC Discussion Weekend 2009

[Lvandelft]

When we decided to take part in the Discussion Weekend for the first time, the question came up how to get there.
We thought it a good idea to drive by car to see as much as possible of the British country.
Therefore we planned our trip driving from the south up to the north, roughly on the Eastern
side of the country and stay overnight in a more or less central place of a particular area.

I will show pictures of many places where we have been.
My wife loves to visit Castles and old Houses and not to forget churches.
But I got some opportunities to see gardens and plants too  
We made many pictures and it will take some time to show them here and resizing and sorting out will take some time too, so the series may last for several weeks or even longer.
With lots of good tips by some Forumists before the trip  , we started off by taking the
Ferry from Calais to Dover
  

[Lvandelft]

It was a rather long drive with much traffic, but helped by our navigation system letting us drive around some traffic jams near London    , we came to the nice little town Bakewell in the Peak District, where we stayed for two nights.                                          

[Lvandelft]

The second day we made a nice tour around a part of the Peak District and visited several nice places and drove over the Winnat Snake Pass where we alas ended up in the very low clouds and did not see much of the landscape.
Many roads on the country side are very comfortable to drive on, but you need much more time as we are used to on the Continent. This was one of the warnings enclosed in the tips before we started off  
A very picturesque little place is Hayfield where we just could make a picture before a whole school class was coming down occupying the bridge to make drawings of the place.

Mt. Famine [nr. Hayfield] 473 m.            
and Hayfield                        

more later

[art600]

Luit

You are capturing the ambience of a favourite area of the UK.  I look forward to many more photos 

[David Nicholson]

It is years since I was in the Peak District Luit, you brought back memories, thank you.

[David Shaw]

When did you last see the Dartford Tunnel in a travelogue!!!!  
Keep it going, Luit, I am looking forward to the rest of your trip.

[Maggi Young]

I think this is goingto be a really great thread ..... travelling through the country likethis!

I only hope that the pretty riverside scene in Hayfield is still as charming now, after all the rain and flooding there has been.... I fear that ledge with the parasol and plants may be washed away?? 

[Paddy Tobin]

Great report, Luit, and excellent photographs.

Paddy

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Hup Holland Hup !!

Go for it Luit - we want to see it all !! 

[David Nicholson]

Bakewell is famous for the eponymous tart http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3943/bakewell-tart
but the name is derived from old english "Badeca"-personal name, and "wella" meaning spring or stream. The town is equally famous for it's warm natural springs.

[daveyp1970]

David there's also a fantastic Alpine Nursery not far away,i dont live that far away from there and every time i pass due to work i always pop in.

[Tony Willis]

Luit

lovely pictures of a great bit of the countryside. I used to live just down the road from Hayfield.The Snake pass is nearly always covered in cloud.

[Lvandelft]

I am totally surprised that there are so many reactions already. So I’ll have to pull my socks up when showing the next posts

I decided to show two more pictures of Hayfield (special for Tony). I must say that we, when standing on the bridge never thought of flooding possibility. It looks really peacefully on the picture.
And Davey will hopefully be happy too, when seeing the pictures of the fantastic Alpine Nursery near Bakewell.

We made a special detour to visit Castleton where show caves could be visited and of course a Castle 
But seeing the crowds and the overfilled parking we decided to leave as soon as possible and   it was raining at the same moment so we made just one not so good picture of the castle.
Coming out of the valley the weather cleared up and after a short stop in Hope we drove on to visit the ‘must go to’ little Alpine nursery of Steve Furness.

Peak District - Peveril Castle
Peak District - Hope - St. Peter Church 

Furness Nursery

[Lvandelft]

Some more pictures of the nursery. I fell for a huge second time flowering Gentiana angustifolia and was lucky that Mr. Furness would sell me one of his stock plants in pot 
The last four pictures of this day’s tour are made at Chatsworth House and the lovely rolling country side in the area.
As said before we needed too much time for driving (and visiting the nursery  )and when we arrived, the House was only open for half an hour that day, so too short to go in. 
But we could look around at the stable area where the shops and restaurants are.

Furness Nursery
Gentiana Arctic Fanfare 1
Gentiana Arctic Fanfare 2
Chatsworth House

more later

                 

[Paddy Tobin]

Luit,

You look so perfectly at home in the last photograph - to the manor born.

Paddy