I have just spent a very enjoyable three days based in the historic capital of Mercia, Repton. My mother is doing a terms teaching at the school where C B Fry enjoyed his education and Roald Dahl endured his.
On the first of my two full days there I travelled to the surprisingly scenic town of Burton on Trent. The approach by bus, whichever route you come in by from the direction of Derby prepares one to be unimpressed, which makes the town more appealing once you get there. There is a surprisingly well kept and attractive pedestrianised precinct, some parkland by the river and a gem of an establishment connected to the latter called The Park (Old Peculier at £2.05 a pint being one of its virtues).
On day two I visited Derby, and found it to be a very attractive town as well, doing a good job of displaying its historic bits to best effect. The day was marred slightly by the fact that I got on the wrong bus out of Derby and could not get back on the right bus until Burton. This meant that I was only just back in time for supper before heading out for our one evening engagement, a concert in the school’s music centre given by the Carducci String Quartet. This was quite simply magnificent, starting with a classic from Haydn, taking in a piece by Shostakovich written when he was doing his own thing and ending with one of Dvorak’s American compositions.
When I got back home yesterday afternoon I was seriously overheated from the journey and really not good for much. The return journey took longer than the outward one had, as a a ten-minute delay at Willington (nearest train station to Repton) meant arriving at Peterborough half an hour later than intended, and the bus back from Peterborough to Lynn was then delayed as well. I could have done the whole journey by train but that would have added a change at Ely to an already multi-stage process.
Two photos this time – one of my share of a potato harvest from my aunt’s allotment, the other a standard “View from the rooftop”.
aspiblog 