Patrick and Leanne really made the very best use of their time here – including a 12 1/2 mile  hike round Carsington which is steeper and more tiring and indeed feels longer than many people realise before they set out…

They loved Dovedale and she writes: “We all had a wonderful time and can’t wait to come back next May!”

Meanwhile, in their photo you can spot the newly ‘repaired’  stepping stones.  The rumpus about this still rages on. Whatever the rights and wrongs the repair work has certainly been shoddily done and the poor National Trust, which does so much good work quietly and unseen  to help keep the banks of the Dove safe and pleasantly walkable for us all finds itself under sustained attack.

We were strolling round Tissington the other day, daughter Ruthie  having bought us some wedding anniversary plants from the nursery there, when we were charmed to see this mummy coot,  nesting on a very precarious looking bunch of weeds in the big pond. (We also felt rather proud that we had spotted the scene, before John – he has such sharp eyes and is normally so quick to spot anything  interesting, amusing or  unusual in the bird world.)

At fairly frequent intervals, the father coot swam up with some delicious morsel in  his mouth which he transferred to the mother’s beak;  she promptly fed the two babies while he paddled off again to find some more for them.

On the Home page top right click on Photo Gallery by the little green camera symbol.

On the Photo Page click on the first photo in the gallery you want to visit (in this case, Swallows). For a larger picture Click on Pic[Lens]

The first picture comes up; to move to the next click on the arrow to the right (or left if you want to go back).

John will put them up in the Photo Gallery (see little green camera icon top right of each page)  in a gallery named – you’ve guessed it -  ‘Your Photos’.