B2B Day 75 Rest Day: A Toddle for Tea in Tissington

Ken definitely has the same cold as I have. Today was "the day of the scratchy throat," so it worked out well that Ken had planned a rest day with a short toddle over to Tissington. 

We had a delicious cooked breakfast and especially enjoyed the scrambled eggs with fresh chives from the garden. Sarah kindly did our laundry, which had accumulated to quite some extent, and we rested while it was in the wash. I hung it on a drying rack in our room, and at the leisurely hour of 12:15 p.m. we set off northeast on the Tissington Trail (the path created on a former railway line) for our short two mile walk to Tissington. It was a fairly gray and windy day, but I still enjoyed all of the wildflowers along the way.

Just before we arrived at Tissington, we passed a small group of adults with special needs and their carers out for a walk, and exchanged cheerful hellos.

When the trail reached Tissington, there was a snack kiosk that had just opened, but we resisted its allure because we had our sights set on Herbert's Tea Rooms in Tissington itself. Near the snack kiosk were two picnic tables amongst thick green grass that was several inches high. The grassy area was taped off with a sign that urged people not to step on the newly seeded area. I said to Ken that I thought the grass was probably long enough now to remove the tape and signs. 

When we got off the trail, we were enchanted by the buildings we saw. 

A glimpse, though we did not realise it at the time, of Tissington

 

After Ken took the photo above, we kept walking straight on and went up Chapel Lane. We met a black and white cat walking towards us in the opposite direction. As we kept going, Ken was surprised because we weren't reaching the village that should have been there! Just as were passing a Methodist chapel, we met a couple of walkers and asked directions. They gave us a couple of options, but it sounded like if we walked either way, the road would circle round to Tissington.

Perhaps the cat was Methodist...

Since we were right in front of the chapel, we decided to go in. It was small sanctuary that could seat 40 people. I appreciated how the beautiful bouquets at the front of the church were arrangements of wildflowers. The view out the front windows was of a buttercup-filled pasture with cows. Ken was seated in the "congregation" and I stood up front, and we sang the first and last verses of "And Can It Be," one of the hymns on the hymn board from the previous service. Ken was able to sing, though his throat wasn't good [I croaked my way through it—Ken]. While I was singing, I could see that the cat had jumped up into one of the windows and was mewing at me (or perhaps singing also?). After we were done, the cat jumped up in another window to watch what Ken was doing. We liked this church; it was peaceful and prayerful. I was also impressed that in their book sale they had a copy of Charlotte Brontë's Villette. After we exited the church, we retraced our steps, the cat following us partway down Chapel Lane. 

Tea and cake in Tissington

The village was right where it was supposed to be, and we found it. We easily located Herbert's Tea Rooms, which were really busy. We got the last available table, and used our recently remembered strategy of sharing a savory so we could have a sweet. We ordered a cheese and sun-dried tomato quiche. When it arrived, it looked unlike any quiche we had seen before, and it also looked like it might be a bit greasy. However, despite initial appearances, it turned out to be delicious and tasted a bit like a pizza. After our pizza-quiche, we had a pot of tea and a slice of lemon-curd cake each. The cake was worth sharing the quiche.

We left after 3:00 p.m., a bit disappointed that they had stopped doing take-away of savory items by then, since we were hoping to take away some quiche for dinner. Instead, we bought two fruit scones and two bags of Pipers crisps for dinner.

We took some pictures of Tissington Hall, which was quite impressive, and a couple of the village's many wells—the "dressing" of which after Ascension Sunday has made the village famous in the district.

Tissington Hall

Hall Well, appropriately named as it is right across from the big house

We next went to the church, St. Mary's. The baptismal font was incredibly old with seemingly mythical beasts as well as Christian symbols carved around it. 

Stained-glass windows of Noah's ark were noteworthy for their detail and beauty.

 

 

However, my favourite stained-glass window was the one in the east end above the altar. I could imagine going forward for communion and seeing Jesus breaking the bread and inviting the communicants to join him.

I looked up the hymns on the hymn board, and we sang one verse of "Shine Jesus Shine," which was the last song listed.

We left Tissington around 4:00 p.m. When we reached the snack kiosk, it had closed. But someone must have heard my comment earlier in the day, because the signs and tape were removed around the picnic tables, and someone had mown the grass! There was a different mower in one of the fields below the trail, with a front mowing blade and one mowing blade on each side. Further down the trail, we saw a mother leading a small girl on a white pony, which was sweet.

We arrived back at our B&B around 4:30 p.m. and went up to our room. On YouTube we watched the most recent walk by Dave Ford and his whippet Logan (Logan's favourite crisps are Pipers, which is why we tested them out this trip!). Even at home I sometimes find watching Dave's walks so relaxing that I fall asleep, and . . . I fell asleep. Ken was reading stories on the Internet, and I woke up at 7:00 p.m.! We went downstairs to eat our evening meal of scones, and our host Steve kindly boiled a kettle for us to have some tea. 

Back upstairs, I worked on three blog posts (being quite behind) while Ken watched Gardener's World and then football (England lost a friendly to Iceland 1-0). We also kept an eye on the lamb show outside. Sadly, a ewe had died and we watched the farmer collect it while all of the animals came near to his vehicle to watch. Later, as the sunset threw the folds of the field into sharp relief, the black lambs again formed a pack that raced and skipped around the fields, and they were a delight to watch.

An action shot: look at those lambs racing on the right!

Talk about counting sheep before you fall asleep! The sheep provided a peaceful end to a pleasant day of rest.