A Journey North

I've been away for a couple of days, visiting the Bakewell Show in Derbyshire. It's a two-day agricultural fair, always on the first Wednesday/Thursday of August. I'm kind of genetically urban, with both parents born and raised in New York City. The Show looks like this:

www.bakewellshow.org

I got the traditional Bakewell Show rain on Wednesday afternoon, but it was okay. I also had a bit of glorious (if cool) sunshine--a welcome change from the heat wave that had the road surfaces in Oxford melting. But it meant that much of the dog show was on muddy ground.

I'm fascinated by the way people turn the most necessary activities--growing food, moving goods--into competitions of the biggest onion (about the size of a children's bowling ball), and the most beautifully decorated team of brewery horses. It doesn't matter that beer is now transported by lorry; they still train and ornament teams of horses. There's a certain charm in that.

Like almost any fair, however, the commercial element has crept in, and people who want to have a taste of 'country life' can also buy enormous gas grills and BMWs at the show.

I was staying in Duffield, in the southern part of the county, just north of the City of Derby. On the way back, my companion drove us past Chatsworth, the stately home that features in Pride and Prejudice. I hope I will have a chance to tour it sometime.

I'll be spending a lot of time in Derbyshire in the next year. This was a wonderful introduction to the scenery and local culture of the area.

p.s. I didn't get to eat a Bakewell tart. Maybe on another adventure.