We made sure to point out the crooked spire on the church in Chesterfield. Legend has it that the local blacksmith mis-shoed the devil, who jumped over the spire in pain, and knocked it out of shape!
We left a little earlier than Josh and Hayley since we planned on heading to Eyam first. Eyam is the best known for being the "plague village" that chose to isolate itself when the plague was discovered there in August 1665, instead of letting it spread. Josh and Hayley decided not to come with us since they had been up to the area just a month or so before. As we toured the area mum commented on how this looked nothing like the place they had taken Josh to. We discovered that instead of going to Eyam they had gone to Ilam. Not much difference in the spelling, but clearly not the right place! I asked if the complete absence of anything about the plague had made them wonder about where they were. Apparently not!
We enjoyed a quick tour of the Eyam Museum, which gave us a quick review on the plague. The plague was bought to the village in some flea-infested cloth from England. As more and more people died the villagers decided to isolate themselves to prevent the further spread of the disease. The plague raged for 14 months and killed around 260 of the 350 villagers.
We then drove up to Mompesson's Well. This was the place that outsiders left food and medical supplies for the villagers and was high above the village. The money for these supplies was left in the well which contained either water or vinegar in an attempt to disinfect the coins and prevent the spread of the plague.
A ghastly picture of me by the well!
Looking down at the village
(I always forget how green England is when I've been away for a while)
Plague cottage is where it all started. The plague arrived in some cloth sent from London to the local tailor George Viccars. The cloth was wet and so was hung out by the fire to dry releasing the plague infested fleas. George Viccars was the first person to later die from the plague.
The lady that lived here was kind enough to go inside and shut the door so that we could get a picture. I'm not sure that I would fancy living there!
Rose Cottage
We then drove back to Matlock Bath to meet up with Josh, Hayley, and Liam. After a quick lunch stop in the parking lot, we headed up to the Heights of Abraham.
The Heights of Abraham consists of a hilltop park reached by cable car over a deep limestone gorge. The cable car was the first alpine car in Britain.
Riding the cable car
Over the gorge
The kids soon scooped out this playground
Liam enjoyed some walking practice
Prospect Tower
Spense and Thomas decided to climb to the top
They got some great views of the Derwent Valley
The group then took a guided tour down the
Masson Cavern where they mined for lead
Hayley was of course sporting totally inappropriate footwear!
It was pretty cold in there so we made sure to wrap up
Olivia didn't care for the whole experience and had to be consoled by Grandma. Hayley was also a little nervous. When she checked her cell phone she found that she had no service (no real surprise there!) and was worried what would happen if we got stuck!
Zach thought it was all pretty exciting
Josh showing off the light on his phone!
One little girl was much happier to be back outside
Contemplating with Grandpa
We enjoyed this huge slide as we waited for the last
cable car (yes value for money again!)
The trip down was pretty exciting
On the way home we stopped in at Bakewell.
The kids got ice creams
Zach thought it was pretty yummy
While Spenser got himself a Bakewell Pudding
(He sadly, wasn't too impressed)
We enjoyed this huge slide as we waited for the last
cable car (yes value for money again!)
The trip down was pretty exciting
On the way home we stopped in at Bakewell.
The kids got ice creams
Zach thought it was pretty yummy
While Spenser got himself a Bakewell Pudding
(He sadly, wasn't too impressed)
The Bakewell Pudding has a flaky pastry, with a layer of jam and an egg and almond filling, which gives it a texture like an egg custard. The Bakewell Pudding is exclusive to Bakewell and so that's why we had to stop and get one. The pudding was first made by accident in 1820 when the landlady of the local pub left instructions for her cook to make a jam tart. The cook, instead of stirring the eggs and almond paste mixture into the pastry, spread it on top of the jam and the result was a success. Look at all these history lessons you're getting!
Josh then treated us to an Indian takeout over at their house This was Spenser's first experience with it all and he thought it was pretty tasty, especially that Naan bread.
1 comment:
Very cool village history. Scott loves history and would have liked to visit Eyam. That slide was huge! I would have been afraid to slide down it ;)
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