Enjoying the Outdoors Again -- Padley Gorge

 

Ah, things broke just right for a change and we were able to enjoy some [relatively] really nice weather on Saturday.  Sunny and 8-9C (upper 40's) -- perfect for getting out and stretching the legs again.  I'm looking forward to more walks this year and I've warned the family to expect as such.  We've seen most of the nearby sites (homes, cathedrals, etc.) but the walking paths are limitless.  Our destination:  Padley Gorge.  But more on that in a second.

Alex has been fighting a cough for 3-4 weeks now.  No other symptoms so we haven't taken him to the doctor.  However, we decided to take him to the walk-in clinic on Saturday morning.  Recall that we were quite pleased with our NHS experience when he broke his arm.  We'd heard from others not to expect much for the garden variety visits though.

Net result:  a wasted morning of waiting, no drugs in our hands and likely the intended NHS result of "we won't bother next time".  They are quite reluctant to prescribe antibiotics due to immunity issues (and cost, some would say).  Our UK friend Andrea commented that all we should expect is "Here are two leeches; call me in the morning."   True, true.  No leeches, but the same unsatisfying result!

Whinging over:  'though a later start than normal (noon) we hopped in the car and headed north for our walk.

Padley Gorge is a part of the National Trust Longshaw Estate.  It's in the Dark Peak and not really near anything.  Perhaps Heathersage is the closest town.  It's just under an hour away.  We actually came back via Chesterfield / M1 / A38 and that was a little faster (and easier on passenger #1).

The planned walk was the lower magenta one with the great big black arrow.  We ended up doing the navy blue route since we had to park in the overflow lot (all free for NT members -- woo-hoo).  The cyan and light blue paths were another nice walk (link) that we did to Stanage Edge with the Seppanens.   We haven't done the longer green route yet.

Really enjoying my geeky hand-held GPS (thanks Kuk!).   The walk was 4.8 miles and took us 2:32 (of which 25 minutes were stationary).  We had a slight climb of 600' coming out of the valley.  Nice walk to get back in the swing of things.   Okay, enough stats -- on to the photos!

Check out those blue skies.  Seems like it has been forever.  Nice jet contrail, eh?

 

I was surprised to still see a little snow around in parts.  We aren't really that high up.  Things were still greening up, but this area has some brown year round.

After walking a bit (and getting everyone, especially the little guy on the left "calibrated" on what we were going to do), we crossed into some woodlands and a little brook that would feed Padley Gorge.

Previously mentioned brook and a typical foot bridge.  We walked along the brook in the open for a little bit.  Lots of families were out and about enjoying the sun.  It was good to be outside and also see others having a good time.

Another shot down at the brook.  You'll note the slightly muddy path.  Nothing too major in terms of mud along the way.  Great day; great scenery.

In the woodland now.  We liked the contrast and this part actually felt like some from our Indiana State Parks.  Kuk particularly liked the gnarly trees.

along the trail by the brook -- Alex continuing his odd facial experessions

 

the brook is further down in the gorge now

 

 another family shot-- Alex is apparently about to burst

we've exited the forest for now -- interesting building . . . not sure what it was used for

we took a short stroll by a few houses including one that used to be the old mill -- fairly remote place to live, actually

 a nice one of Nicole on the bridge near the old mill as we cross back over the brook

 I liked this mossy old stone fence

We reached normalcy towards the end as we were climbing out -- Kuk and Alex bringing up the rear (taskmaster Dad was not allowing for many rests).  

A nice look back at the Dark Peak in the distance after we climbed up and out of the gorge.

Sheep and stone walls -- we've missed you!  This was the last bit as we headed back to the parking lot.  Unfortunately about this time, Kuk realized that her "broad jump" was actually a "skinny" jump and she didn't quite clear a muddy patch.  Oh well, a little more laundry to do!

Food Update

After returning home and getting cleaned up we headed over to our friends, the Connells.   Andrea had ordered some Domino's for the kids and the adults headed out to the Viceroy "for a curry" (that's how you say going out for Indian).  We had a great time with good friends and left absolutely stuffed.   The conversation was still going strong so we continued at their place until what amounted to a late night for us (and the kids).  Wonderful time -- thanks Andrea and Derek.  (sorry, no photos for the curry).

Unfortunate timing on my part, but we had booked an early Sunday Roast at the Bridge Inn for Sunday at noon.  This was from a Groupon that I had purchased that gave each of us a 3-course meal for only £20.

I had low expectations since this was more of regular pub fare than a "gastro pub" or a full out carvery.  It wasn't anything special but it was fine (and well worth £20).  The top left was my duck pate (Andrea -- obviously not Kuk's choice).  In fact, this was a poor choice on my part as Kuk's garlic mushrooms and the kids' potato soup were better.

I opted for the roast pork which was okay.  The girls got horse beef and it was okay.  Alex's turkey was the best of the lot.

The vegetables, unfortunately, lived up to the British food stereotype.  Frozen, overcooked and underseasoned.  That's what they looked like when they brought them and that's what they looked like when they took them away.  We didn't even bother.

The girls had a nice apple tart with cream for dessert.  I had a treacle sponge with custard that was also good.  Alex had a fruit bowl.  We all waddled to the car.

Now back to my "15 minute" cooking for the week:

 sausage gnocci with spring greens -- even better than expected

 

Cajun shrimp with a sweet potato mash with crunchy veg on top.  Not bad either.

New experience with the shrimp.  You can get them cleaned here but it is also possible (and more likely in some cases) to get them whole.   Don't care for the hairy antennae myself.  The recipe called for cooking them whole but I spared the family and de-headed them first.

Let's hope for some more good weather in the weekends to come.  Have a good week everyone.

Liverpool (Rnd 2) and Speke Hall

As I might have mentioned previously (or perhaps just thought it), we've visited most of the places that we'd like to see that are "close" by.  In addition, the winter months aren't the best as some places (like the National Trust sites) are closed and it's not the best walking weather.  As a result, we've had to increase our radius a bit and we've also started going back to some places to see some things we might have missed.

This week, we made it back to what is becoming one of our favorite cities:  Liverpool.  I'm not exactly sure what it is, but we really like Liverpool and seem to connect with it.  The city centre is compact and easy to drive to (and park).  There are plenty of museums.  The riverfront, etc.  Just a nice place to visit.  There's something about the history as well.  It's not all Kings and Queens and 500 years old.  Liverpool rose to prominence in the 18th & 19th centuries due to sea trade and crashed hard in the 20th century as those dynamics changed.  The city is very honest about its history (i.e. fortune on the backs of slaves and later drugs (opium) but also justifiably proud of its perseverance as well).   Not sure I can really put a finger on it, but we like it.

FYI, find the blog entry for our first visit here.

But before getting back to Liverpool proper, we decided to stop at Speke Hall (B) thanks to a co-worker's suggestion.  Speke Hall is adjacent to the John Lennon (Liverpool) Airport.  It would normally be closed this time of year, but they were open this week for the February (school) half term break [we decided to save our vacation days for some warmer weather so we didn't take any time off during the week].

Liverpool is about a 1:45 hour drive from Derby.  Going via Speke makes it about 2.  We left around 9 and got home around 8:30 so not too bad.

Speke Hall is a National Trust manor home (link).  Initial construction of this wood-framed Tudor-styled manor started in 1530 with the last major addition completed in 1598.  According to the wiki link (and backed up by our tour guide):

The house was owned by the Norris family for many generations until the female heiress married into the Beauclerk family. The Watt family purchased the house and estate from the Beauclerks in 1795. The last surviving heir of the Watt family was Miss Adelaide Watt, who inherited the house and returned to it in 1878 at the age of 21 years. She died in 1921, leaving the house and estate in trust for 21 years, during which time it was looked after by the staff under the supervision of Thomas Whatmore, who had been butler to Miss Watt. At the end of this period, in 1942, the house passed into the ownership of the National Trust.  

Often times, these type of houses can get into disrepair before the National Trust gets them.  That might be true in this case, but this house also had a period of disrepair before the final owners moved in.  The lower levels were even used as a cow barn for a time.  

Waiting outside before the start of the tour.  Quite chilly today (about 1C / 33F).

Interesting sculpture on the bridge.  I thought it looked like ET.  Nicole thought it was a man with a mustache.  Alex asked the tour guide and he said it was unknown, but staff called him ET (with a mustache) so we were spot on.
 

Note the sign that says this part (the front section of the house) was finished in 1598 by Edwin Norris.

No photos allowed inside, but I did pop into the courtyard and take these.   The house was a rectangular ring (like a picture frame) around the courtyard on all 4 sides.

and this one (the fam didn't realize I was lining up a photo)

Since I couldn't take any photos inside, I went in search of some online.  These are actually from the National Trust Prints site (credit to Geoffrey Frosh).  This is the Green [bed]Room.  Since the house was last inhabited in the early 20th century, most of the rooms are laid out in Victorian style.   The owners did also go with the Tudor revival style when appropriate (as that would obviously fit).

a different angle in the Green Room -- very intricate carvings on all the furniture.  We were told that many of the carvings were from earlier times than the finished furniture

 Oak Bedroom

The bay window in the Oak Drawing Room with the table laid for a Victorian tea (photo:  Andreas von Einsiedel)

detailed close up of the ornate carving and genealogy in the Drawing Room 

 

Okay, I did sneak one photo in (though very quickly so poor quality).  These were the bells in the servants area.  They were all mechanically linked throughout the house to the other rooms.  In theory they made different sounds so they know who is calling.

We had lunch at the restaurant on site.  Kuk and I shared a creamed tea (i.e. scones with cream and jam) along with this regional dish:  Scouse.  It's a stew variant associated with the area.  This version is beef (some are lamb; some are both) and it was really good.  Surprisingly good.  I've searched out some recipes on the web but there are many different variants so who knows.  I actually e-mailed the National Trust to see if they will give me their recipe.  We'll see.

Scouse History.  Scouse is also used to describe the very unique (and at times difficult) accent (and vocabulary) used in the area as well as a Liverpudlian in general.

We didn't tour the grounds as we wanted to head into Liverpool proper but we really enjoyed our visit to Speke Hall.

And here we are, back in Liverpool.  You may recognize the Royal Liver (long "I" btw -- LIE - ver) building from my previous post.  I opt for the cheaper parking (£5/day on weekends) on the fringe of "downtown" and this view is on our walk from the car park.

The main attraction for the afternoon was the excellent (and free) Museum of Liverpool.   We had about 3 hours and could have used another one.  As a result we kind of skittered about through the museum to see a couple of short films and tried to hit all exhibits while prioritizing the ones we were most interested in.  I've tried to arrange the photos in a more logical order but I'm not sure if I succeeded or not.

 

As mentioned earlier, Liverpool really grew into a key city in the British Empire in the 18th & 19th centuries due to its shipping trade.  Liverpool was able to connect the booming Industrial Revolution in Britain to the rest of the world.  As the dynamics of that have changed (i.e. less labor intensive), so has the population.  Unemployment has been higher in Liverpool than the rest of the UK for most of the 20th century.

Factoid:   in the early 18th century ships were at the mercy of the high tidal swings of the River Mersey and would anchor in the middle of the river so as not to touch bottom during low tide.  This resulted in expensive and inefficient unloading by smaller craft.  The city's answer?  They built the world's first wet dock in 1715.

Carved 19th century tusks from the Loango Coast (Africa).  Early fortunes were built off the slave trade.  Even after the slave trade was abolished (in 1809), there was still money to be had in trading slave-based products like sugar, cotton and tobacco.

Cotton ring from 1906 Cotton Exchange.  Brokers would stand around the ring to broker deals in the cotton trade.

Liverpool's oldest Chinese (steam) laundry.  From the 1880s to the 1940s this was second only to seafaring in terms of jobs for the Chinese.  Liverpool had the first Chinatown in Europe.  In the 19th century, trade had picked up with China and many came to Liverpool to work as a result. 

Factoid:  the British would trade for opium in India and then trade it for silk, pottery and tea (among other things) in China although the drug was officially banned.  The Chinese government tried to intervene and the British sent it warships to force them to keep trading.  These were known as the Opium Wars.  Can you imagine?  I guess it's not hard to.  I missed (or forgot) that bit of history.

As I said, the museum did not shy away from Liverpool's history at all.  Very refreshing.

The Blue Funnel Line (established by Albert Holt in 1865) ran the first direct steamship to China which greatly increased the speed and volume of trade and travel.

Between 1847 and 1853 1.3 million people arrived from Ireland into Liverpool to escape the Great Potato Famine.  Many emigrated to other locales but quite a few stayed.

Slightly more contemporary, this is a bronze sculpture for women's suffrage in the early 20th century.  You might not be able to make it out, but the hemline is full of skulls.  There were quite a few atrocities in some of the prisons.

Gladstone Riot Shield (1929) -- could stop bullets at 5 yards (lots of tension over the years)

 

On a lighter note . . . . there were 4 pop singers that became rather famous.  Even enough to have their own set of nesting Russian matryoshka dolls (Ringo, George, Paul, John).

As briefly mentioned in my previous post, Liverpool is a huge football (soccer) city with two clubs that pre-date 1900.  You are either a Red (Liverpool) or a Blue (Everton).  I don't think there is anything that can compare in the US.  Even for US cities that have two clubs, they don't play each other on a regular basis.  Perhaps you'd have to go back to the Brooklyn Dodgers and NY Yankees to even be in the discussion.

A quick photo of a Meccano toy set.  Meccano was a Liverpool based toy company and the largest toy company in Britain.  I mentioned it last week in our visit to Ironbridge and the Enginuity Museum.  "Erector Sets" currently sold in the US are actually Meccano sets.

Another first for Liverpool was the Overhead Railway.  This is one of the first coaches made for the LOR in 1892 and operated until the railway closed in 1956.  The tracks were overhead (above ground) and the trains used electricity.

LOR poster.  The LOR helped moved workers up and down the river docks but also became a tourist attraction in its own right.

This is a painting called Liverpool Cityscape (2012).  I bought a print for myself.  The funky shaped building in the middle is the Liverpool Museum.   Albert's Dock is to the right.  The Liverpool Cathedral is top, right.  Two of the "Three Graces" are on the left.

Nice views from the museum.  Here are the Royal Liver, the Cunard Building, and the Port of Liverpool Building.  Early 20th century, listed and part of the World Heritage Site.

another view --  the Beatles Experience building next to the river on the left

 looking the other direction towards Alberts Dock

 

To cap it off we returned to Etsu for some sushi.  We always eat here when we come to Liverpool (okay, two for two at least).  Very enjoyable.

Well, hopefully I haven't bored you with the details.  We really like Liverpool and we still have a few more things to see so we could go back for more.  It's not just the Beatles, for sure.