Seeking shade ....

We're back home after a few days in Derbyshire. It was so hot .......
(when do we ever say that in England?) ....... and we decided not to do the walks we were planning and so we sought out some shade instead.

We headed down to Water-cum-jolly .....

always a good choice .... although usually when we go the footpath next to the river is flooded.

It's such a magical, peaceful path

Inca jumped in to cool off when our backs were turned ... she just loves to swim!

The footpath stretches from Cressbrook Mill ....

... to Litton Mill at the other end.

Both were cotton mills and date from the late 18th Century. Unfortunately, they were notorious for the ill treatment of orphans who were taken from workhouses around the country.

You can read more about it here

There are signs of the industrial past all along the trail ...

Did I mention that Inca likes to swim? Yes, she's in again!

We couldn't keep her out! Notice we keep her on a long lead the whole time!

Back on dry land the lovely Mr B. is doing what he always does ..... looking closely at rock.....

he went to college in Sheffield and spent 3 years of his life rock climbing all around Derbyshire ....

and many years after that too! He can't resist checking out rock ... recapturing his youth .....but his love of climbing has meant that we do get to visit lovely places like this.

He first brought me here over thirty years ago before we were married, and it hasn't changed much at all.

Of course, when we first came, Cressbrook Mill was a dangerous deserted building which had been left to rot after its closure......

.... now it has been converted into a block of very swish apartments complete with underground parking.
Lovely as they are, I don't think I would like to live in a place which was associated with such misery!

Gateways like this intrigue me ... I have seen this place so many times and it has always been locked but this time it was open and we stepped beyond the threshold....

...inside there was a cool emerald pond ..... how lovely!

Later, when the day had cooled, we slipped through another gate way, this time leading from our caravan site into the Chatsworth estate .....

 

As the house and gardens had closed for the day, the whole place was deserted .... just a few people like us walking their dogs ...... it was so peaceful and still, with the great house bathed in the last rays of sunshine from a glorious day .... we just needed to see Mr Darcy striding across the driveway for it to be the perfect ending to a perfect day!