And lo! It raineth

And on the fifth day, the Rushworth family and guest travelled from Kettleshume (outside Macclesfield) to Norwich. And God beheld them and sent rain upon them of all kinds, both light and heavy rain sent he unto them, and they were sorely p!d off.

Neil kindly collected me from Bakewell and drove me to the Rushworth family abode in Kettleshume. I spent a lot of my time there staring out of the window at the amazing Peak District landscapes, but did put in some small effort to loading the parental campervan and the rental car. We drove to Norwich via Chesterfield (at my insistence) so I could see the Crooked Spire. The St Marys and All Saints Parish Church in Chesterfield has the most amazing spire - no-one is quite sure how it ended up as it did, but the most likely explanation is that it was finished during the plague years by dodgy builders. How it has stayed up for so long is another mystery. I get several photos then have to dash back to the car - the traffic is foul, and we are running late. See http://www.peakphotos.co.uk/chesterfields_crooked_spire.htm for a bit more about the church.

We drive through Sherwood Forest. It is very pretty and picturesque, and unfortunately we get a lot of time to appreciate its good qualities because the traffic is truly appalling. We get caught up at roadworks, then have to wait simply ages to get around a roundabout.

Our lunch stop is at Clumber Park(http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-clumberpark/), a stately home without an actual stately home. The house was demolished during the Depression because it was too expensive to run - then WWII came along, and the family never got around to building a replacement. The grounds are lovely, and we have a very nice picnic there.

Neil has plans to view the Lincoln Cathedral and the Boston Stump en route to Norwich. Unfortunately, between my detour and the hideous traffic, we don't get to Lincoln until after three pm. That gives us just enough time to look at the Cathedral (http://www.lincolncathedral.com/). We can see the Cathedral and the Castle from about two miles out, maybe further. The two buildings are absolutely massive, and have been strategically built on one of the few high places in the district. I can only imagine what the local peasantry thought seeing those buildings towering over them as they trudged into town with their produce. I certainly can't imagine what it would have been like trying to build something that size using only hand tools!!

We get into Norwich about eight pm. Today it rained, so we went to see the Castle. Norwich Castle and Museum is built conveniently close to the shops - I see some irony in having a shopping mall directly beside a historic Norman castle, but I suppose it's better than using the building as a prison, which it was until the 1800's. The castle is very interesting and excellent value for kids, with lots of interactive exhibits and things to do. Hopefully the weather will clear up and we can see a few more tourist attractions tomorrow. The plan is to go to Cambridge Sunday night or Monday morning, I'd better stop wasting Tom and Cathy's internet time on my blog and get on to finding a timetable...