Quite a Crowd at Cromford
November 10th 2022
For the first time in a long time eight of us managed to gather at Cromford Wharf, lots of hugs and even a few very belated birthday gifts were shared…
Pam made a brief appearance and then had to make a dash back home as she had forgotten her purse but we gave her good send off and she did remember to come back.
The café had thoughtfully provided us with a lovely big table and a willing photographer so we settled down for a two hour coffee break. There was a lot to catch up on, lots of travel tales, family news, the odd bit of gossip and the agreement that at a certain age it was better to have a beau than a boyfriend.
Eventually we decided that we had probably better go for a walk in order to justify our lunch.
We chose not to use this form of transport - although it might have been fun
Tali had been waiting patiently in Lynn’s car and was very happy to join us for a walk, however…….
………..it wasn’t long before this happened!
We all became quite adept at avoiding the shake and the resulting splattering with stinking canal mud!
The skies remained a bit grey but the rain kept away and the conversations continued as we strolled along the towpath, Christmas plans were discussed and the fact that it seems to arrive before bonfire night was unanimously derided, wild swimming was dismissed by most of us as a ridiculous idea as was the idea of ever returning to a classroom again and it was decided that any one of us could have done a better job as Prime Minister than Liz Truss - if only we had been asked.
Jo sang the praises of the museum at the High Peak Junction and we resolved to visit next time - as long as it’s open.
Tali took several more dips along the way and then decided to roll on the gravel path to try and dry herself!
We walked on to Aqueduct Cottage which is looking wonderful as the renovations progress, keeping an eye open for the ghost of Ton Farnsworth, Jo’s ancestor - possibly.
The woodland garden behind the cottage is also looking beautiful
The famous Cromford Wave
We headed back following the scent of the soup, bacon butties and the Keralan pasties at the café.
Tali was still contemplating another stinky dip and the thought of catching a swan was also very tempting but she managed to resist temptation.
We all headed off to the café to take up our positions at our nice big table again for lunch and more chat, a very successful day even though no one had been in charge!
Our bird list for the day:
Blackbird
Black headed gulls
Canada Geese
Crow
Jackdaw
Little grebe
Mallard
Moorhen
Sparrow hawk
Swan
Wren
2 posh doves
Flock of tits (could this be our new name?)
Pesky wood pigeons
Super fast black bird pretending to be a bat or it might have been an escaped poo bag blowing in the wind
Spot the delightful dab chick
Slightly out of focus swan giving Tali the evil eye.
