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2002 UK trip
Eyam England



4/30/02: It's been quite a few months since any photos were uploaded. This has mainly been due to the fact that Kitty's old camera was frequently tempermental and that the procedure required developing time and scanning. With the "excuse" of a trip abroad and a birthday, Kitty acquired a digital camera which has it's debut here. (Enlarge by clicking on images.)


Gathering strengthWe worked up right till the morning of the day we flew to Manchester England via London, 4/16/02. Tom is gathering the strength here to take his computer to the shop to be repaired while we are gone; it had been giving him great difficulty for the previous few days.



We followed the instructions to get to the airport 2 hours before the 6:10pm departure and then found ourselves waiting in the gate area for about 90 minutes before boarding began. Having had no sleep in the preceding 20 hours both of us were tired and hoped we'd be able to do some sleeping on the plane.


What strength? I think I have the strength



I'll make the strengthTom gives it the old college try minutes before we board.



After arriving at Heathrow we had 90 minutes to wait for our 50 minute flight to Manchester. Tom took advantage of the opportunity to relax since no sleep was possible on the red-eye flight from Toronto.
Just a few minutes to 'really' relax



Tom in the English version manual diesel Renault after surviving the drive out of Manchester. No photos were taken to record our first harrowing hours driving on the wrong side of the road. (See Kitty's verbal description.)Remember to stay to the left



We reached our preliminary goal of Buxton, a fair size village in the Peak District SE of Manchester, and did a little sightseeing - enjoyed a cup of tea too.


Park on edge of Buxton Famed Buxton Spa Doing the tourist thing in Buxton Tea break in Buxton

The drive from Buxton to Eyam was filled with narrow roads which required the attention of both of us and limited our enjoyment of the view. On one pullout we gazed down the hill at this lovely stone manor house with a quarry (and train access) adjoining its lands - or maybe part of it. Between Buxton and Eyam



The Eyam Hostel was our first experience with hosteling and the walk-in closet-sized room was somewhat of a surprise. Tom was too tired to care or even much appreciate the view from the window, but did feel much better after we woke from about an hour's nap.


Much needed nap West portion of Eyam with quarry beyond, seen from our room window Not great, but better

The hostel itself was once a manor and now houses dormitories, dining room and lounge in the main building. "Our" room on the 2nd floor of the "coach house" - with only 2 and 4 bed rooms, sharing toilets and showers - in the foreground can be seen in middle photo. The grounds are quite lovely and the view from the lower driveway is of the main portion of the village.

Eyam Hostel, main building Eyam Hostel Coach House View of Eyam from hostel lower drive

Most of the next day was spent on an approximate 5 mile walk north and west of the hostel through a mixture of sheep pasture land, open moors, and village lanes. The route we followed is marked in pink on map.

Our route in pink

Ewes and lambs north of hostel Tom investigates depression in moors Distant village of Grindleford beyond moors northwest of hostel Stones walls separate fields

Fellow hikers on footpath in distance & more sheep Abandoned building on sheep pasture 'Just the walls', Tom reports View from makeshift window in abandoned building on sheep pasture

Moss everywhere - walls, trees, posts Stone for roof tiles as well as walls

After a late lunch at the Miner's Arm Pub (first photo below), we stopped at the local butcher for free range chicken and started back towards the hostel, noting various village "attractions" along the way. Our "in-town" route can be seen on map below - before lunch in pink; after in green. (Entire map provided for the curious.)

Routes marked Routes marked

Kitty after late lunch at Miners Arms Pub Picturesque church yard in Eyam Cottages of first victims of Great Plague 'Main St', Eyam

After we stopped at the grocers for fresh local vegetables, we headed up the hill back to the hostel, enjoying more scenery. Later that evening, once we'd rested and planned the next day's trip towards Mellor, we prepared our chicken and vegetables in the "self-catering" kitchen and enjoyed a non-competitive Scrabble game while it cooked. (We preserved the game on "film" at the point where we stopped so that we can resume it on our first trip to the cottage.)

Few doors down lane from hostel Tom whips up supper Non-competitive Scrabble on travel set

The next morning and afternoon were so filled with readying ourselves and surviving the drive that no more pictures were taken till we actually arrived at the Millstone Inn Hotel in Mellor northwest of Blackburn. The blurred quality of the one pic is testimony to my shaky condition when the experience was over. (See Kitty's verbal description.)

We survived; rented Renault in background


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Webpage last updated 12/31/02
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