Peak District, United Kingdom

Driving in the United Kingdom

I was worried about driving on the left while in England.  But it hasn’t been bad.  I haven’t made any mistakes yet driving on the right.  The hardest thing to get use to is the driver’s side is on the left rather than the right.  Back home Holly sits in the front most of the time.  Here she goes to the left a lot to get into the car.  Katie is quick to tell her she is wrong.  The mistake I’m making is reaching with my right hand to change gears.  It is on the left.  And I try to reach over my left shoulder to put on the seat belt but it is on my right.

Here is a picture I posted on Facebook last week.

 I wondered why there was a coffee cup on the speedometer.  I haven’t figured it out yet.

My problem with the English is that they don’t always have speed limit signs on the roads.  The major highways don’t have signs unless you have to slow down for construction.  So I finally remember to look it up on google.  The national speed limit depends on the type of the road.  If it is a single carriageway (2 way traffic) the maximum 60 MPH.  If it is a dual carriageway or motorway the maximum speed is 70 MPH.  Built up areas is 30 MPH.  It sure would be nice if they post these on the roads like we do in the US.  They do have signs saying speed cameras are in use.  I’m really hoping I don’t get a ticket in the mail.  Hey Dad, if you get it just go ahead and pay it for me.  They do have a cool system for their stop lights.  When the light is about to turn green it turns yellow for 1 second before.  That way you have an idea when you will get to go.

Here is another quirky sign I saw.

  So do they not have enough money to have full time signals.

Up to last Saturday driving in England was easy.  Well then I got close to our new place in the Peak District.  I drove the worst 10 miles I have ever driven in my life!  It was horrible.  It was a 2 lane road but really it was barely 1 1/2 lanes.  The speed limit was 30.  Yeah right!  There may have been times I got up to 30 but I slowed way down when a car was coming toward me.  I think the line of cars behind me were not so happy with me.  There were lots of curves and even a hill with a 25% incline.  Ughh!  But I haven’t had an accident yet.  Please continue to pray for me.  Here is the google map of the road.  http://goo.gl/maps/Mui7f

Even though the driving here is a little scary the Peak District of England is beautiful.  This is my favorite place so far.  It is not like any where I have ever been.  Absolutely beautiful.  I have some pictures that I took but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate with us this week.  It was overcast and rained a good bit.  I think in 2 weeks the leaves will have changed and it will be even better.  If you ever get the chance to come to England I would recommend this area.

This week we stayed at Litton Mill.  It was built in 1782.  The mill owner Ellis Needham was one of the worst in child labor with his apprentices.  It is modern inside.  There is 3 bedrooms.  The bed in the master bedroom is so comfortable.  It will be so long before I sleep in my own bed again so getting a good bed every so often makes me happy.  Here is the link to the place.  http://litton.peakdistrictholidayhomes.com/.  It is down a 1 mile lane that is 2 way but really only wide enough for 1 car.  There are passing areas on it to pull over if something is coming.  About half way there is an area to rock climb.  The River Wye runs right along the building.  You can hear the river and the views out the windows are amazing.  We had a nice walk down this road on Sunday.  The weather was great.

Here are pictures of the place we stayed and the area around it.

 This is the road leading into the mill.  It is a little over 1 mile long and it is not wide enough for 2 cars.  They have passing areas for when 2 cars are coming at the same time.

 This is a picture of the mill.  This is the River Wye that runs along side the mill.  Here is another picture of the mill.  Along that 1 mile of road there is an area for rock climbing. Jackson would love this.

 Here is another picture of the River Wye   The most comfortable bed!

On Tuesday we drove to the town of Buxton.  I chose this area of England because of a book.  Buxton was listed as one of the most beautiful towns of England.  The architecture is wonderful.  Tyra would love this area.  We walked around the town and did a little shopping.

    

After Buxton we went to the town of Tideswell to eat at a real English Pub.  We had a late lunch at the Red Lion Pub.

Katie had fish and chips.  She said the fish was too greasy and it gave the greasy taste to the fries so she did not enjoy her lunch.  And it came with a bowl of mashed mint peas.  They serve that a lot as a side in England.  I tried them – yuck.  Holly had the Red Lion Burger.  It had bacon on it.  She also got fries, salad, and coleslaw with her meal.  Neither Holly or I enjoyed the coleslaw.  I got steak and kidney pie.  I don’t know why I thought it would be kidney beans.  No it was the organ kidney.  It was rather dry but did come with gravy.  I didn’t realize this until I ate about 1/3 of it and Holly had a bite too.  After we figured this out she lost her appetite and I didn’t eat any more of the pie.  I liked the cabbage that came with it.  I also got fries and boiled new potatoes which were served plain.  I guess the English put malt vinegar on them.  I did.  I have always been a fan of malt vinegar.  My kids not so much.  Here are pictures of our meal.

    

Another day we went to the town of Bakewell.  I think I enjoyed this town even more than Buxton.  I loved the buildings here.  We walked around a bit then headed to the Bakewell Pudding Factory Pudding Parlour and Shop.  This is where they serve the world famous Bakewell Pudding.  What you have never heard of this?  Well neither had I until I did some reading about Bakewell in the brochures at the apartment.  Since it was world famous I had to buy one.  I liked it.  It was like a custard but with cinnamon.  Holly tried it too but didn’t like it.  Katie didn’t give it a try.

 Jane Austen finished writing Pride and Prejudice at this hotel in 1813  It is the 200 year anniversary.

 Pictures of Bakewell   Pictures of Bakewell  This is where we bought the Bakewell Pudding   Bakewell Pudding

On Thursday we decided to ride the Monsal Trail.  It use to be a trail for Midland Railway.  It is now a path for walkers and bikers.  It is about 8.5 miles of mostly flat riding.  It goes through 3 tunnels that have recently been opened up for use.  (I’m not sure what they did before they were opened.)  The tunnels are fairly long and curved so they are lighted.  The lights do go out at dusk so they warn about being in there at that time without a torch (British word for flashlight).  We made it about 1/4 of the way and it started to rain.  It was not a nice day for riding bikes but it was the toward the end of our week and it was going to be just as bad on Friday.  We should have gone on Sunday on the nice day we had.  I would have loved to bike the whole trail.  I would have gotten some great photos.  But here are a few I did get.

 Along the Monsal Trail  Out of focus shot of a tunnel along the trail.  Another picture along the trail

The Peak District is absolutely beautiful.  I really enjoyed being here even with that terrifying drive.  I wish the weather would have been better.  The scenery was amazing.  If you ever get to England I would recommend this area.  My pictures can’t do it justice.  And the apartment we stayed was great.  Here are a couple of more pictures.

    

As we were leaving on Saturday morning we were stopped by cows.  A farmer was moving his cows from one field to another.  They use the roads to do this.  Some of the cows kept stopping to sniff the cars.