George Herbert

During our recent stay in The Peacock at Rowsley for our anniversary treat we decided to sample their Tasting Menu accompanied by the Wine Flight. It was a sublime experience, the food and wine complimented each other perfectly. As mentioned previously the experience was enhanced by the waiter serving the wine ‘blind’ and challenging us to identify the grape variety we had just been served.

For breakfast I chose a variation on my choice of the previous day, scrambled eggs with bacon. It was delicious.

After checking out of the hotel, we drove to Quarry Bank Mill. We had been meaning to return after our previous brief visit for a cup of tea the day before we travelled to Rome in August 2024.

Once again, we started with a cup of tea in the café next to the upper garden before heading to the apprentice house for a guided tour. The tour was interesting but we both felt that our guide was placing today’s values (and her personal point of view) on that period of history. She seemed not to appreciate that the conditions in Quarry Bank Mill were superior to most other mills in the area. The mill owner and his wife took a paternalistic approach towards workers, providing medical care for all and food and limited education to child labourers.

When we left the apprentice house there was torrential rain. We walked to the lower café next to the mill where we had lunch, in my case a Danish pastry. The service in the café was not very efficient leaving Mr C and others to wait an excessive time for tea to be brought to a table next to the serving area.

We visited the mill and its exhibitions showing how the cotton spinning industry developed from hand spinning to increasingly more efficient mechanised spinning and later weaving techniques. The mill was, and still is, powered by a water wheel fed from the nearby River Bollin.

To this day the mill still produces Calico Cotton. I found the history particularly interesting as I have recently read Ken Follet’s book, The Armour of Light, which covers this period of time.

My mother and her family lived in this area and I was aware that one of our ancestors worked in the cotton industry. Looking back at my records after I returned home, I was excited to find that it is possible that he was an overlooker in this mill (I need to do more research).

When we left the mill, we had a mooch around the shop and pre-loved bookshop. It was still raining so we decided not to explore the wider estate walks, leaving them for another day.

On our way home we stopped at Fordhall Farm to pick up some pork and Morrisons to pick up the remaining ingredients for our evening meal of Lemony Pork Piccata. Not quite the same as our tasting menu of the day before but delicious all the same.

We exchanged anniversary cards before going to the breakfast room. There were interesting choices on the menu and after a bit of deliberation I settled on scrambled egg with smoked salmon. The croissant was lightly toasted, the eggs creamy and the salmon was thick rather than thinly sliced. It was delicious. Mr C, as usual, opted for the full English which was presented in a pleasing way.

We drove the short distance to Haddon Hall, arriving a few minutes before the Hall opened its sturdy door to the public. The weather was glorious despite the predicted rain. We enjoyed a couple of talks ; the history of Haddon Hall and the Manners family and an explanation of the chapel wall paintings and other features of the chapel. I found the later talk especially interesting.

After the talks, we enjoyed the hall at our leisure before entering the gardens. The gardens are always a delight but, for us on this occasion, they were enhanced by the roses being in full bloom. The sunshine made our garden walk even more enjoyable.

We had lunch in the Café at Haddon Hall where after my substantial breakfast I chose the light option of Cherry Bakewell Tart, a perfect choice for our next destination, Bakewell, where we enjoyed browsing the quaint shops. We would have liked to sample the wares of The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop but it was too soon after lunch. Maybe next time…

On our way back to The Peacock we stopped off at the nearby shopping village. I was able to purchase a lovely waterproof jacket that I had seen a few days before in a garden centre local to me but where it was not available in my size. I also succumbed to another cookbook at a bargain price, Easy Meals Every Day by Pip Payne.

It was now time to return to our hotel to chill out in our room before our anniversary treat; The Tasting Menu accompanied by the Wine Flight. The experience was wonderful with tasty dishes and perfect wine pairing. This was enhanced by the waiter serving the wine ‘blind’ and challenging us to identify the grape variety we had just been served. We were able to identify some but not all of them. On my part, I was surprised that I could; I have no sense of smell and rely on my tastebuds only.

Photo taken by Mr C

The waiter also told us that we were dining on an original Mouseman table by the English craftsman Robert Thompson whose trademark signature was a mouse carved onto his furniture pieces.

To complete the evening we took a nightcap up to our room. Happy Anniversary Mr C.

We set off a bit later than we had intended, stopping for lunch in Tansley Barn garden centre just a few miles short of our hotel.

Suitably refreshed, we drove to our hotel to suss out parking arrangements ahead of booking in later in the afternoon. We saw some adorable calves in the farmyard next to the hotel.

Reconnaissance completed, we drove to our afternoon destination, Eyam Plague Village, where we explored the excellent museum. As we browsed the museum, I could hear the intermittent sound of what I knew to be a Christmas Carol being sung. The special exhibition said that the carol, A Virgin Most Pure, was local to Derbyshire with each village having a slight variation on words. I am not from Derbyshire but I found that the carol was imbedded in my subconscious from my choir days and I had to resist the urge to burst out singing!

We walked to the nearby St Lawrence’s church which, in addition to its plague connections has other features of note including an ancient Saxon Cross.

Luck was with us; we made it back to the car before the heavens opened! As we drove the short distance through the Chatsworth estate to our hotel, we saw the adorable sight of sheep and lambs sheltering beneath the leafy branches of magnificent trees.

As far as I was concerned lamb was off the menu for that evening.

We booked into the hotel and were shown to our luxurious room which had a bedroom and a sitting room. Mr C collected the cases from the car after the rain had eased off.

During this time, I noticed a missed call and voicemail (about a hospital appointment) from the care home where mum is currently living. The Peak District has dodgy mobile reception and the hotels were so thick that I couldn’t call back. After the rain stopped, I went outside into the hotel garden to confirm the arrangements for mum’s hospital appointment.

I chose the opportunity to explore the garden before returning to our room to chill out and change before dinner. This left plenty of time to have an aperitif before dinner. It is unusual to find a dry sherry on offer but I was served with a wonderful dry Amontillado which had all sorts of flavours tickling my tongue.

We both chose guinea fowl as our main course. Mr C preceded this with a starter and followed with a dessert both of which I was allowed to taste. The food was all we hoped it would be.

There was a slight downside to the evening… One of our dinner companions was an annoying lady who liked the sound of her own voice. She talked loudly at her husband with a circular conversation that kept coming back to her telling her husband he wasn’t listening to her. From where I was sitting it was extremely hard not to listen to her, in fact her voice was impossible to tune out.

After dinner the guests retired to the lounge area where her relentless voice caused everyone to retreat, even me eventually. Picking up my drink I whispered in Mr C’s ear that I was going to retire to the bar area.

Peace at last!

It didn’t fit so Ted didn’t wear it