Siddington

Around ten o' clock last night, perhaps a little too late we dropped Marge's new mosquito/midge netting side door screen.

The little blighters were coming for us, and being northern they were not so forgiving as southern softie mosi's.

What a beautiful place to wake up to this morning. The river Trent shimmered in the light breeze that blew over it. Boats cut through the water and our French neighbours sat outside for breakfast setting a perfect scene.  Unfortunately, this beauty spot was plagued by rubbish. A man did appear to empty the bins, but left anything around it and over the grass behind. Why? Angela couldn't stand to see the mess and did a litter pick around Marge. Every little helps. 

As we were a little off course, we decided to head west towards the Peak District an area Angela had visited as a child but John had never been to.

Our drive took us through the small town of Matlock Bath where we decided to stop for lunch, and it seemed that an awful lot of people had the same idea. But they were all well catered for. The town had six fish and chip shops, numerous ice cream and coffee shops. We walked alongside the river Derwent to escape the crowds and find some shade.

Returning into town we could see the cable cars silently ascending and descending from the Heights of Abraham, a show park with caverns. John fancied going up on it. Angela not so. Price, twenty-four pounds per adult. Suddenly John wasn't so keen. 

Buxton was to be our overnight stop. The traffic into the town was heavy and the overnight stop didn't make Angela feel comfortable. So sadly Buxton, with its beautiful architecture will have to be added to our list of places to return to one day. The drive out of the town was challenging for Marge. We weren't too happy either, we'd got used to rolling along nice flat gentle roads with slight inclines. Liars! Behave Marge, You'll be O.K. Perhaps not. Why is there a light illuminated on the dashboard. New brake pads please! One we'd summited the Peak District National Park the views were spectacular. Today was exactly the right day to take this drive. We could see for miles.

A landscape of green stretching and far-reaching views. Then a hill of 10%! Sorry Marge. What about poor old Angela? 

Tonight, we are parked with another van alongside Redes mere near the village of Siddington. Ducks and geese squabble with each other in the light of the evening sun.

It is pretty and we have one other van here with us. Meanwhile it's another night with the mosquitoes, but we don't mind they come with the territory. Today is the summer solstice, and we are hoping to see a fantastic sunset later. As for a quiet night. That will depend on the wildfowl.