Almost over now

Well, the holiday is almost over, and it's time to draw things to a conclusion.  Although I'm not actually going home until Tuesday evening, I've already started packing: somehow it won't seem such a wrench that way.  Not knowing what the weather would be like, I came prepared for both sightseeing and sitting indoors, so there are a number of items that I know by now I'll not be needing ... and there's that big heap of books to find a home for ...

On Friday, I decided to bring forward my planned visit to "twisted spire" country.  It was as well I did, for yesterday most of the day was wet, and not a good day for visiting anywhere.  Chesterfield in the sunshine was delightful, and not only did I wander around the many market stalls, and in and out of charity shops galore, but also look around the magnificent parish church with 'that' spire.  There are, apparently, many theories about why it is twisted, from a lack of the right superstructure, to the use of unseasoned wood.  No one, so far as I have heard, has suggested correcting it, however.  Let's face it, that would surely be a retrograde step from the fame viewpoint.  I know that I'd heard of it long before I ever knew where the town was, let alone got to see it!

Saturday wasn't quite a write-off, because the railway theme that seems to have invaded the whole holiday surfaced again.  My route home from getting some cheap diesel for the van took me past a convenient vantage point for a picture of Bennerley Viaduct.  This is one of only three surviving examples of this particular engineering construction, and is the subject of a preservation order.  Not so the railway for which it was built, which has long since disappeared, leaving it deserted and almost derelict in the middle of nowhere.

And this afternoon was a time of shower-dodging too, as I paid a visit to the one-time home of Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey.  This is a pleasant combination of extensive gardens, monastic ruin and stately home, and also incorporates a neat cafe that isn't over-expensive either.  Admission to the house, which has been greatly improved and extended since Byron's day, is by taking part in a guided tour.  There are three tours each Sunday afternoon and one of the first announcements to be made to those joining was that any photographs may be taken at will.  Did I need any further encouragement?

All too soon the adventure will have come to an end, the demands of a normal courier life will reclaim me, and those pictures will be my only memory of a most enjoyable time.