Thursday 1 September: Lake District to Peak District

Leaving Keswick under gloomy skies, we stopped briefly at Castlerigg, a prehistoric stone circle. The light wasn't too good, so we took a few snaps and waited for the sun to break through the clouds. After a reasonable wait, the light started improving - and just as the golden light shone down, a whole tour-bus full of people wandered into the middle of the circle. :(

Next stop was Glossop, on the edge of the Peak District. We had a walk around and a quick bite to eat, then headed east. There were quite a few people lining the road, and we thought it was wonderful that everybody should turn out to see us go past. :) Actually, they were waiting for a big cycle race - we were told that if we didn't drive out right then we would have to wait for a couple of hours. Not being cycling fanatics, we took the early option.

Our overnight stop was at Bradwell, in the heart of the Peak District - we stayed in a pub called the Shoulder of Mutton. For once we found the place straight away, but they had no record of our booking. ("It must be Alf's fault - it's his age, you know"). Having got that sorted we went for a drive down to Bakewell where we spent a few hours, then back the long way to Bradwell.

We stopped in at Eyam - a little town with a tragic past. During the great plague of 1665, the village imposed a quarantine on itself - nobody fled from the plague, in the hope that they would avoid spreading it to their neighbouring towns. They were largely successful, but hundreds of the townspeople died as a result. There is an excellent little museum which tells this story.

Staying in a traditional pub may have its romantic associations, but the reality was that everything smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. We aired out our room as best we could, but even the bedding and towells had that unmistakable odour. England still has a long way to go in catching up with the more civilised anti-smoking laws in other parts of the world.