31-Jul-2026
After 2.5 very pleasant days in Liverpool, it was time to roll up our new memories, pack the bags, pick up a car, and hit the road again. But not before having lunch at Lovelocks Coffee Shop, which does the three Ss (soup, sandwich, and salad) very tastily (remember for next time).
Our next base was to be Ripley, in Derbyshire. We have rellies in the vicinity, and we've visited several times in recent years.
But on the way we stopped at Alderley Edge. Because? Well, it's almost half way; and it's the stamping ground of Alan Garner (a quintessentially Cheshire author I've just discovered). Sadly, we didn't have time to visit The Medicine House, the centuries-old building he rescued, or to look for the wizard on the atmospheric Edge. But we did spend some time pottering round the village:
We visited the Church of St Philip and St James, where we met the history group...
...admired the fairy houses clustered on the edge of the park (reminiscent of Summerhill back home)...
...and popped in at this lovely bakery (the business is five generations old), where we bought a Battenberg to kick off the upcoming birthday celebrations
Very good it was too...
But I'm letting my cake enthusiasm drag me on ahead, because before we could try it, we had to get ourselves from Alderley Edge to Ripley, which we did via another of Ms G. Maps' slightly dubious routes. Pretty, though...
And it took us through England's highest village, which is Flash, in Staffordshire
There was a little bit of time to wander round Ripley:
But not much, as Thursday brought the first of the birthday lunches (excellent), at The Family Tree in Whatstandwell:
And Friday took us to Holmfirth, in Yorkshire, to meet up with some friends from our New Zealand days:
On the way to Holmfirth, the Rother Valley Country Park proved a great place to stop off for a walk and a drink
And here's Holmfirth. Readers of a certain age will recall it was the location for that BBC sitcom stalwart Last of the Summer Wine. Its situation is certainly dramatic, as it clambers up two sides of a steep valley
There are not many themed references, but the Wrinkled Stocking Tearoom (lovely amaretti) backs onto this little river
Beautiful, honey-coloured buildings abound...
The reunion was heart-warming. We hadn't seen these folks for 16 years, and yet we all immediately slotted back into the swing of things. Three cheers for friendship.
We lunched, by the way, at The Cheese Shop (and I would highly recommend the goat's cheese, rocket, and fig marmalade toastie...). Nigel and I also rated Chox. Too full to try the chocolates, but the rhubarb ice cream was awesome...