Buxton - on the home stretch
Those of you who have been following this journal attentively will be amazed to know that I spent pretty much all day Saturday in rehearsal. Saturday night was the big Savoynet dinner at the Kwei Lin restaurant. The company was great (although through some error of judgement I ended up at the 'young' table). For the rest, all I'll say is that in Australia, you can't go too far wrong eating Chinese food. This does not necessarily apply in England.
After the meal, we kicked on at the Festival Club, where we were entertained by the Three Baritones and a performance of 'Cox and Box'. Unfortunately, I was sitting behind a pillar, so I missed most of the latter - the third entertainment for the evening was a sing-your-own 'Trial by Jury', which I decided to pass on.
This morning, there were no rehearsals, so I walked to King's Sterndale and back. The walk took me through Staden, Cowdale and King's Sterndale. Staden is two houses and a barn, plus cows and sheep. Cowdale has about eight houses and a telephone box - about the size of my home hamlet of Congupna, but with no caravan park or tiger snakes. Lots of cows though, it is well named.
English cows and sheep don't have the cargo cult mentality of their Aussie counterparts. When I cross my first stile, I expect to have an adoring fan club all the way across the field, but English cows simply look at you in a very superior sort of way or ignore you. The sheep also do a very good line in haughty stares - by the time I get to my third stile and my second farm, I am well on the way to having an inferiority complex.
At Kings Sterndale, the church is open and the service has just ended. I nip into the grounds to take some photos, and run into the childrens' treasure hunt coming the other way. The vicar invites me in to have a look around the church and gives me a short history of the building - apparently Kings Sterndale was largely financed by the Pickford family (owners of a famous removalist company - people who saw 'Iolanthe' might remember the line about Strephon being a "Parliamentary Pickford - he carries everything").
At Kings Sterndale, I meet a family walking their dogs. They have relatives in Canberra - I make appropriately sympathetic noises. They kindly offer me a cup of tea before I do the hardest part of the walk, but I've spent about half an hour talking and I'm not sure I'll make it back in time, so I pass.
They weren't joking about a hard part of the walk. To get to Kings Sterndale, you cross Duke's Drive and the railway line. You also cross them on the way back, but on the way back they are at the bottom of an extremely steep valley. I only slip once, naturally this is at the only patch of nettles on the downward descent. Luckily, my butt is only about half an inch off the ground and I am not allergic to nettles, so I make it down to the River Wye in pretty good nick. I regret not accepting the cup of tea though!!
The way back to Buxton takes me through Woo Dale, past Daisymere Farm and through the northern suburbs. Woo Dale is supposed to be a good spot for wildflowers - I assume from the state of the track that a large herd of cows has been through recently and eaten the lot as I don't see too many flowers of any kind. When I reach the town, I acquire a short-haired border collie and his owner. The dog knows a sucker when he sees one, and so I throw sticks for the dog right the length of the road into town. His owner has a bit of a chat as we stroll along - he has no relatives in Australia, which makes a refreshing change! We part ways near St John's Church - the dog trots off around the corner, leaving us behind. When I cross the road to go into town, I see that the dog has found a new admirer - he is sitting next to a woman, holding his stick and looking hopeful.
Lunch is a chicken and salad baguette on The Slopes. Some birds come along and help me to finish it. I have no idea what type of birds they are (there are two distinct species), but they are both very attractive. Beats hell out of feeding pigeons or seagulls.
This will be my last post for a while, as the internet cafe is closed Monday and I'll be in rehearsal all Tuesday. If I have some leftover credit, I'll pop in on Wednesday before I head off to Bakewell. Now would probably be a good time to say thanks to:
* the kind people at the Cyber Emporium internet cafe, who not only set me up with an internet account but who also told me how to get to Edinburgh from here
* the owners of 9 Green Lane, who have totally spoiled me for the past eight days. If you ignore the exchange rate, B&Bs are fantastic value. I paid £19 to stay in a six bed dormitory in Manchester, with a breakfast of white toast and black coffee. At 9 Green Lane, I'm paying £27 per night for my own room, lovely fresh linen, a spotless bathroom and as much breakfast as anyone could possibly want, all very tasty and nicely done thank you!
After the meal, we kicked on at the Festival Club, where we were entertained by the Three Baritones and a performance of 'Cox and Box'. Unfortunately, I was sitting behind a pillar, so I missed most of the latter - the third entertainment for the evening was a sing-your-own 'Trial by Jury', which I decided to pass on.
This morning, there were no rehearsals, so I walked to King's Sterndale and back. The walk took me through Staden, Cowdale and King's Sterndale. Staden is two houses and a barn, plus cows and sheep. Cowdale has about eight houses and a telephone box - about the size of my home hamlet of Congupna, but with no caravan park or tiger snakes. Lots of cows though, it is well named.
English cows and sheep don't have the cargo cult mentality of their Aussie counterparts. When I cross my first stile, I expect to have an adoring fan club all the way across the field, but English cows simply look at you in a very superior sort of way or ignore you. The sheep also do a very good line in haughty stares - by the time I get to my third stile and my second farm, I am well on the way to having an inferiority complex.
At Kings Sterndale, the church is open and the service has just ended. I nip into the grounds to take some photos, and run into the childrens' treasure hunt coming the other way. The vicar invites me in to have a look around the church and gives me a short history of the building - apparently Kings Sterndale was largely financed by the Pickford family (owners of a famous removalist company - people who saw 'Iolanthe' might remember the line about Strephon being a "Parliamentary Pickford - he carries everything").
At Kings Sterndale, I meet a family walking their dogs. They have relatives in Canberra - I make appropriately sympathetic noises. They kindly offer me a cup of tea before I do the hardest part of the walk, but I've spent about half an hour talking and I'm not sure I'll make it back in time, so I pass.
They weren't joking about a hard part of the walk. To get to Kings Sterndale, you cross Duke's Drive and the railway line. You also cross them on the way back, but on the way back they are at the bottom of an extremely steep valley. I only slip once, naturally this is at the only patch of nettles on the downward descent. Luckily, my butt is only about half an inch off the ground and I am not allergic to nettles, so I make it down to the River Wye in pretty good nick. I regret not accepting the cup of tea though!!
The way back to Buxton takes me through Woo Dale, past Daisymere Farm and through the northern suburbs. Woo Dale is supposed to be a good spot for wildflowers - I assume from the state of the track that a large herd of cows has been through recently and eaten the lot as I don't see too many flowers of any kind. When I reach the town, I acquire a short-haired border collie and his owner. The dog knows a sucker when he sees one, and so I throw sticks for the dog right the length of the road into town. His owner has a bit of a chat as we stroll along - he has no relatives in Australia, which makes a refreshing change! We part ways near St John's Church - the dog trots off around the corner, leaving us behind. When I cross the road to go into town, I see that the dog has found a new admirer - he is sitting next to a woman, holding his stick and looking hopeful.
Lunch is a chicken and salad baguette on The Slopes. Some birds come along and help me to finish it. I have no idea what type of birds they are (there are two distinct species), but they are both very attractive. Beats hell out of feeding pigeons or seagulls.
This will be my last post for a while, as the internet cafe is closed Monday and I'll be in rehearsal all Tuesday. If I have some leftover credit, I'll pop in on Wednesday before I head off to Bakewell. Now would probably be a good time to say thanks to:
* the kind people at the Cyber Emporium internet cafe, who not only set me up with an internet account but who also told me how to get to Edinburgh from here
* the owners of 9 Green Lane, who have totally spoiled me for the past eight days. If you ignore the exchange rate, B&Bs are fantastic value. I paid £19 to stay in a six bed dormitory in Manchester, with a breakfast of white toast and black coffee. At 9 Green Lane, I'm paying £27 per night for my own room, lovely fresh linen, a spotless bathroom and as much breakfast as anyone could possibly want, all very tasty and nicely done thank you!
posted by Andrea at
5:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home