John Edward Cooper’s Notes

One year we visited the large stately home Chatsworth House…. The following year… we visited the mediaeval and Tudor country house Haddon Hall by the River Wye, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland. I liked this better, because it seemed altogether more homely and habitable, and less museum- or art gallery-like, than Chatsworth.

—though the last clause of this statement wouldn’t be tested till the day after tomorrow. Ignoring the rip-off (or possibly, error) in the restaurant, we thoroughly enjoyed this visit. We decided that we’d catch the first of the buses back that I’d listed (“12:54”).


Saturday 24 July 2021 12:38:04
Bridge over the River Wye (cf. 10:28:52)


Saturday 24 July 2021 12:39:16
Haddon Hall: Gatehouse and ticket booth

At the bus stop there were some anxious moments when it was getting towards 1 o’clock, but the bus did come. “The sun had finally emerged and it was quite pleasant,” Janet observed: “certainly a lot warmer than earlier.” On the outskirts of Bakewell, I noticed a road going off to the right called “Agricultural Way”, and thought that was the sort of name that a totalitarian socialist state would use! I noticed that the bus went through Ashford-in-the-Water the same way as it had done on the outward journey, not in the opposite direction.
 Just to the south of Station Road, Buxton, where we’d caught the outward bus, we’d noticed a shopping centre; and getting off the bus, we found our way there. “We went to Waitrose,” Janet wrote, “as I wanted a bread roll to have with the two bananas I’d brought from home, for my lunch.” I felt quite weary traipsing round the supermarket. And the face mask was proving problematical: it kept being sucked in over the airway, making it hard to breathe. “We had intended going to the Buxton Tap House,” Janet continued, “as I fancied a pint of Pepsi Max.” The lure of Pepsi Max, then, outweighed her aversion to mounted dead animal heads! So we went past the Buxton Tap House, but got the impression that it was closing because of some contact with someone with COVID-19; so we decided to go back to the hotel. I felt better after a cup of instant coffee. “I made us a coffee,” Janet wrote, “then I had my bananas and bun.” Transferred 50 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (14:32–14:33). Opened them in Windows Photo Viewer, and rotated three that needed it (14:36–14:37). Checked my Gmail inbox (15:19): half a dozen Facebook notifications and two or three “spam” e-mails, all of which I deleted unread.
 Ca.3.45pm, we set off for Poole’s Cavern, following the blue-dotted route on the map. This time, I was careful to go down the second “Park Road” off Park Road, the one signed “cul-de-sac”. In one instance of doubt, farther south, where some five roads met, we were guided to the correct way by a signpost saying “Poole’s Cavern”. The signage let us down finally, though (because there wasn’t any); but it was obvious from the map that we needed to take a last turn left.


“Best Western Plus Buxton Lee Wood Hotel to Poole’s Cavern & Buxton Country Park” © 2021 Google
[click on image to enlarge]

We had drinks in the café there. The server queried my request for an extra shot in the americano, which, she said, would already contain two shots; but in fact, it might have been adequate had I requested two extra shots! I presented the tickets I’d printed after booking the tour of the cavern some days ago, but the guy was just interested in noting a number or numbers printed there; he didn’t scan the barcode.



We were aware that within the cavern the temperature would be 7℃; but, in fact, with the walking and climbing steps, and the lack of wind, it didn’t feel that cold to me. The young guide was at turns factual and humorous. He told us that early tour guides would attempt to extort money out of visitors by threatening to extinguish the lights and leave them stranded in the dark. Poole’s Cavern is a natural limestone cave, forming an underground part of the River Wye. It’s named after an outlaw, who reputedly used the cave as a lair and a base to rob travellers in the fifteenth century; but archaeological evidence suggests that it was occupied from the Bronze Age.


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:32:18
Entering Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:33:22
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:36:04
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:37:26
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:42:02
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:44:44
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:49:14
Poole’s Cavern: one of the original gas-lamps; and the “Flitch of Bacon” stalactite


Poole’s Cavern: one of the original gas-lamps; the “Flitch of Bacon” stalactite
Image from Peter Pedley Postcards


Poole’s Cavern
Image © Phil Sproson Photography


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:55:32
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:56:32
Poole’s Cavern: “poached egg” stalagmites


Saturday 24 July 2021 16:57:16
Poole’s Cavern: “poached egg” stalagmite


Saturday 24 July 2021 17:01:40
Poole’s Cavern: “Mary Queen of Scots Pillar”


Saturday 24 July 2021 17:01:58
Poole’s Cavern: “Mary Queen of Scots Pillar”


Saturday 24 July 2021 17:06:36
Poole’s Cavern


Saturday 24 July 2021 17:12:44
Poole’s Cavern

In The motorbike and sidecar, par.28 I recalled:

I remember the fact that we visited spa town and market town Buxton, probably more than once, but have no specific memories that I can relate. We probably visited the Pavilion Gardens; and given our liking for show caves, engendered by visiting the ones near Castleton, we may have gone to the extensive, multi-chambered Poole’s Cavern on the outskirts of the town. A memory of a guide turning out his light and plunging us into complete darkness for several seconds may come from here (if not here, then somewhere!).

And indeed, that happened today when we were all at the farthest extremity of the cave. Before we left, I bought a couple of postcards from the Poole’s Cavern shop.
 Janet would have preferred dinner at 5.30pm, as yesterday; but we didn’t know when we’d arrive back from Poole’s Cavern, so we’d booked it for 6.30pm. We’d been warned that service might be slow at that time, because they had a large booking for somebody’s 90th birthday celebration. Back at the hotel, I transferred 14 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD (18:15). Opened them in Windows Photo Viewer, but none of them needed to be rotated. We went down for dinner, and were seated not in the “greenhouse” but in another room, which in fact I found more agreeable and cosy, with wood-panelled walls. I again had a glass of prosecco as aperativo, and had my remaining Rioja brought. “I had exactly the same as last night,” Janet wrote: “it was lovely, but the pork last night was tastier.” Again there was bread, but by this time it was warm not hot. As a starter I had “prosciutto and poached pear salad”. Actually, the former was indistinguishable from crispy streaky bacon. Then I had Thai green curry; and finally cheese, but I asked for bread instead of biscuits. I was a bit disappointed to receive bread slices rather than the types of bread offered earlier. I finished the Rioja.
 Because the demands on staff of the birthday party slowed their service to us, we didn’t get back to the room till after 8.30pm. A little after 9pm, while Janet was showering, etc., I decided that I’d do [something on the computer]; but when I tried to start the Samsung computer to do this, although the blue lights on its front edge lit up, nothing appeared on the screen. So I forced shutdown, and started again. Then, reportedly, “Your computer was unable to start”, so it started the process of “Startup Repair”. I was asked to agree to “System Restore”, to return the computer to an earlier point when it had worked correctly. “Attempting repairs” ran for a long time. The computer finally started normally ca.9.15pm. Before coming on holiday, I was using the computer with a wired internet connection, with the Wi-Fi disabled; but in preparation for using it while away, I’d enabled Wi-Fi. But now it was attempting to find a wired internet connection only. So I opened Device Manager, and re-enabled Wi-Fi. Anyway, I did finally manage to get [what I wanted to do]… done (to 22:09). By the time Janet had showered and washed her hair, done this and that, and written up her holiday journal, it was almost 11pm.… When we went to bed there were still the voices, voices, voices of the birthday party coming from the “greenhouse” situated below our window, but they didn’t last much longer. However, I also became aware of bump, bump, bump sounds from somewhere not far distant, as if the coprophagic scumbags 106 miles away still had the power to torment us! It didn’t continue long, thankfully. As far as I’m aware, things were quiet before midnight. I was too hot under the duvet, so I removed its white-cotton cover, and used that as a sheet.

[Sunday 25 July 2021]