Morning has broken......

Inspite of the bike riding and Zumba dancing, I have managed to put almost half a stone ON instead of losing half a stone!!!!????

In a morning, I have around an hour to myself (after the young man has left for college) which I usually use for blogging, ebaying etc, but this morning - with the weather being so gloriously hot, I decided to use this time for a brisk walk around the village - something I think I shall continue.

It was a perfect morning, all cobweby and misty.

The village was fairly noisy as there was a mass exodus of people going to work and school buses ferrying the kids to school. I was a good stone lighter when my kids were at the village school with all the walking too and fro.
I love the low lying mist on a morning.

Oh how I wish my legs were really this long - then I would be the right weight for my height!
How I wish this freaky heat would continue.

Squeezing the last drop

Always the one to squeeze the last drop out of a great day out, after our lunch and bike ride, and being in no rush to get home, we popped to Ashford-in-the-Water. If you enlarge this photo you might get some idea of the number of bees and butterflies enjoy the sunshine on this plant.

I love Ashford in the water.

We parked up and went for a take away coffee from Mr Ibbotsons. I took some photos along the way to show you.
It has some great little cottages,
a couple of wonderful pubs,
and some very grand houses too.
They also have preserved many of the old wells around the village.

Then we dashed to the Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell to stock up on supplies of hubby's current favourite ale, and had a walk along the riverside there. I couldn't resist showing you the size of the fish swimming under the bridge. There are always a few trout here, but on this occasion there were absolutely loads of the most enormous ones I have ever seen.
At times like this, I wish I had a better camera!

Back in the saddle

Hubby and I had a day off work yesterday - and what a grand day it was. We had fantastic weather and so decided we would take our bikes to the Monsal trail again (I love a flat trail!). I have also bought a gel saddle cover, and some very weird, but strangely comforting padded knickers which helped with the pain of cycling!One of the main reasons for doing this trail was a planned visit to Hassop station.
Until recently, the station was home to a very large bargain bookshop with a small cafe. Now it is a very large cafe - with a small bargain bookshop.
The switch seemed to have paid off as it was fairly busy. The food was really gorgeous.

I love the way that they have kept quite a few of the old stations along the trail.

Another reason for visiting the trail, when asked where I want to go for a day out locally, Monsal Dale generally wins. The scenery is spectacular whatever the season.
I love the mixture of history and nature.
I hanker after a stay in these lovely riverside cottages.
and marvel every time at the general geography of this wonderful spot.

Stained glass in Sheffield Cathedral

I had never been inside Sheffield Cathedral until I started blogging. Now, I like to have at least half an hour looking around whilst waiting for my tram home - the tram stop is just outside the Cathedral and they are very frequent. Today I focussed on the stained glass windows.

We don't have many "touristy" type things to see in the city, so if you should find yourself here at any time, make an effort to wander in and have a look. Its really beautiful.

One of my favourite times in the city is early on Sunday mornings. Its very peaceful with not many people about, and all the city centre church's ring their bells.

These are only a small selection of the many that are here in the Cathedral.


I hope you liked them.

A wander around Sheffield

I was meeting a friend in town on Saturday, so I thought I would take you along for a little look round too. I had to drop the DQ off at work first (She seems to be enjoying herself at Uni - fingers crossed!)

Meadowhall Shopping Centre was built on the site of a steel works, and to commemorate this, it has this wonderful respectful bronze monument called "The Steelmen"

Its the only bit of Meadowhall I like!
I parked up at the tram stop, and took the tram into town - no hassle and cheaper than parking in town. I was looking for things I had never seen before.
Sheffield was bombed heavily in the war, but luckily many of the old buildings remain.
They recently refurbished these buildings. They demolished everything - except the front of the row, which they held up with lots of scaffolding. I think its great that they made a workable modern building - but kept the old look and frontage.
Some buildings in the city look quite Parisien I think.


One bit of the city that has suffered greatly over the last 20 years is "The Moor". The Moor had its hey day in the 70's and I remember shops like Habitat and Hamleys opening up here, but now its all very run down. Controversially, they are moving the city market to here. Hopefully, it might help regenerate the area.
They have some old photos of the area - I thought this looked very grand.
The old department stores that were rebuilt after the war now look very shabby and dated. It will be interesting to see how it gets developed.
At the moment, this is where all the empty shops are. Hopefully this part of the city will become vibrant again - 0nce the doom and gloom of recession are over.
Tomorrow, I'll show you a truly beautiful bit of the city.