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Back in Oxford now, after a lovely holiday weekend with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshcat in the Peak District.
As mentioned previously, we used Buxton as our home base for the trip. Besides wandering about the corners of the historic hotel where we were staying, we spent some time taking in the town itself -- strolling through the Pavillion Gardens, filling up water from St. Anne's Well, and admiring several pieces of notable architecture -- such as the Dome and the Crescent and the Opera House.
Other towns that we chose to explore included Tideswell -- with it's so-called "Cathedral of the Peak"[*] -- and the plague village of Eyam. Eyam is morbidly fascinating; in 1665, after a box of contaminated cloth arrived from London, the village voluntarily shut itself off from the outside world for a year to avoid spreading the plague. About one third of the population died in that year. We also took brief looks through places like Castleton, glimpsing Peveril Castle, and Glossop.
The weather on the first day was quite nice, and we spent much of that time taking in the impressive gardens at Chatsworth. We later toured the house itself, with its marvelous architecture, history, and art collection. Having seen Chatsworth, I have now been to six of the nine Treasure Houses of England -- three more to go for a complete set! Similarly, the book "1001 Places To See Before You Die" -- which I take as a bit of a checklist -- has forty-one sites in England mentioned. Having now ticked Chatsworth off the list, I have seen sixteen and have twenty-five left to go here.[**]
Of course, the greatest draw of the Peak District is the natural scenery itself. Thus, we made many scenic drives throughout the peaks to see Mam Tor, the southern Pennines, Snake Pass, Winnats Pass, various reservoirs[***] et cetera. We spent most of the trip touring through the lush, green Southern area, called the "White Peak." Indeed, on Saturday and Sunday we saw spectacular sunsets -- each very different from the other, due to cloud formations -- over the White Peak. On Monday we also made time to venture further North to have a look at the bleaker and more barren "Dark Peak" -- which reminded us, to a certain extent, of the mountainous areas in Arizona.
Overall, a very nice trip and quite a pleasant weekend. The Peak District has certainly left us with a good first impression. I expect that we will return at some point to do other things, like explore the various Blue John caverns and hunt for stone circles...
[*] Actually a parish church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, but quite large for a parish church. Hence the nickname.
[**] I am, after all, the Knave of Numbers. I count things. Deal with it.
[***] The reservoirs, being artificial, lose points on the natural beauty scale. But they were still quite pretty and, being a water elemental, I couldn't exactly pass them up entirely.
cheshcat in the Peak District. As mentioned previously, we used Buxton as our home base for the trip. Besides wandering about the corners of the historic hotel where we were staying, we spent some time taking in the town itself -- strolling through the Pavillion Gardens, filling up water from St. Anne's Well, and admiring several pieces of notable architecture -- such as the Dome and the Crescent and the Opera House.
Other towns that we chose to explore included Tideswell -- with it's so-called "Cathedral of the Peak"[*] -- and the plague village of Eyam. Eyam is morbidly fascinating; in 1665, after a box of contaminated cloth arrived from London, the village voluntarily shut itself off from the outside world for a year to avoid spreading the plague. About one third of the population died in that year. We also took brief looks through places like Castleton, glimpsing Peveril Castle, and Glossop.
The weather on the first day was quite nice, and we spent much of that time taking in the impressive gardens at Chatsworth. We later toured the house itself, with its marvelous architecture, history, and art collection. Having seen Chatsworth, I have now been to six of the nine Treasure Houses of England -- three more to go for a complete set! Similarly, the book "1001 Places To See Before You Die" -- which I take as a bit of a checklist -- has forty-one sites in England mentioned. Having now ticked Chatsworth off the list, I have seen sixteen and have twenty-five left to go here.[**]
Of course, the greatest draw of the Peak District is the natural scenery itself. Thus, we made many scenic drives throughout the peaks to see Mam Tor, the southern Pennines, Snake Pass, Winnats Pass, various reservoirs[***] et cetera. We spent most of the trip touring through the lush, green Southern area, called the "White Peak." Indeed, on Saturday and Sunday we saw spectacular sunsets -- each very different from the other, due to cloud formations -- over the White Peak. On Monday we also made time to venture further North to have a look at the bleaker and more barren "Dark Peak" -- which reminded us, to a certain extent, of the mountainous areas in Arizona.
Overall, a very nice trip and quite a pleasant weekend. The Peak District has certainly left us with a good first impression. I expect that we will return at some point to do other things, like explore the various Blue John caverns and hunt for stone circles...
[*] Actually a parish church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, but quite large for a parish church. Hence the nickname.
[**] I am, after all, the Knave of Numbers. I count things. Deal with it.
[***] The reservoirs, being artificial, lose points on the natural beauty scale. But they were still quite pretty and, being a water elemental, I couldn't exactly pass them up entirely.
