Lynne Patrick, deputizing for Marilyn.
If I learned one thing from yesterday’s highly enjoyable visit with Marilyn and her family, it’s that the two of us have so much in common that you may not even notice it’s me posting today and not her. Mystery fiction aside, we both struggle with technology, especially mobile phones, have menfolk who hate standing in queues, take a resigned philosophical view of the weather, don’t ever plan to get old... and that doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Marilyn and her family are currently in deepest Scotland, having set off for Edinburgh from Derbyshire in the early evening and spent most of last night experiencing the worst that the British railway system could throw at them. Between damaged rails which caused single-file traffic, broken-down trains which blocked a whole station, none-too-sober late-night revellers and temperatures in low single figures, it was not a good journey. And to cap it all, there’s no reliable internet access where they’re staying. Wouldn’t you think that the UK could contrive a warmer welcome for its guests from across the water? Sometimes I wonder if my country really wants people to think well of it.
To cut a long story short, it made sense simply to swap posting days. Especially since much of what Marilyn would have posted about involved me too. So she’ll be back on Wednesday in my place, internet connections permitting.
Local conditions aside (Derbyshire did its cold, wet, windy worst, giving our guests an insight into why the British complain about the weather), we had a truly lovely day. We began at the parish church in my home town, with its famous twisted spire and nine centuries of history. It’s four miles from my house, but over twenty years since I visited it; amazing, isn’t it, how you only get to see the local sights when there’s someone to show it to? It was a real pleasure to see it again in such enthusiastic company.
The church has been there since the twelfth century, and there is, of course, a story about how the spire got its twist. Actually two stories, one scientific, the other far more interesting. But I have to leave Marilyn something to recount!
Next up was lunch, at a lovely country pub my own family had never sampled before – always a risk, taking visitors somewhere unfamiliar, but it paid off. Flagstoned floor, elderly polished wood furniture, delicious home-cooked food, no music or slot machines – and a small flock of rogue sheep in the car park, though if I’m honest I have to say we heard about them secondhand. We needed two cars to accommodate us all, and ours arrived just too late!
We had hoped to spend the afternoon walking in the beautiful countryside which we visit far too rarely – you don’t, do you, when it’s on the doorstep? But every time we stuck our noses out of the car, down came the rain. Fortunately we had a Plan B: the home of the Duke of Devonshire (hundreds of miles from Derbyshire, but I expect there’s a story there too), Chatsworth House, familiar to movie buffs and Keira Knightley fans from Pride and Prejudice, Georgiana and probably others I don’t know about, being neither buff nor fan myself. And would you believe that in more years in the neighbourhood than I’m willing to admit to, I’ve walked in the grounds, eaten in the restaurant, even attended a reception in one of the rooms, but until yesterday I had never taken the tour? (See above regarding local sights!) So it was as new to me as to Marilyn and her family.
The house dates back to the sixteenth century, and opulent doesn’t begin to describe the furnishings, the art, even the structure of the building. I won’t even try; it was Marilyn’s day, so I’ll leave it in her capable hands. I’ll just say this. On one thing above all others we were agreed: we wanted to move into the library and stay there forever. So this post may not have a lot to do with crime fiction, but neither of us ever strays far from books!
Laying aside the weather, it was a day of delights. There were lambs in the fields and bluebells in the hedgerows as we drove back. And I feel I’ve made a new friend.
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