As I write this I'm looking out of the window at the rain that's arrived this morning - as you'll see from these pictures, the weather was rather lovely for us yesterday when we (that is, myself, my brother and two of his flatmates) headed to Matlock Bath in Derbyshire for a day out.
Matlock Bath is an old Spa town, where Victorians would go to "take the waters". It's mentioned in a lot of literature of the time as a fashionable place for people to visit. It was visited by Queen Victoria and has a lot of history attached. For Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, a parade of illuminated boats was held on the river and this has continued annually to the present day. Nowadays the boats are lit with electric lights, but the first boat is still lit with candles in keeping with the history of the Illuminations. If you've never seen anything like this before, I'd recommend watching the video of some of the boats from 2011, it's quite amazing.
Most of the shops in the town are touristy souvenir shops, cafés and amusement arcades, and there is also an aquarium and a petrifying well. It's remained a "seaside" town in spirit for us Midlands folk who are hours away from the nearest beach.
![Vintage Queen Number 134](http://i43.tinypic.com/2ywej5l.png")
4 comments
I did laugh at the size of that sausage!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a lovely trip, it's somewhere I'd never really heard of and must add it to the list.
P x
It's quite fun to visit if you're in the area, at least worth stopping for a quick look if you're passing through :)
DeleteWhat an absolutely charming looking area! The deep sea diving window front put the biggest smile on my face - I love it when shops still put some thought into, and have fun with, their window displays like that.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
The shops in the town are interesting to look at, a lot of them have fun stuff in the windows! I think the window with the diver in is actually the front of the aquarium and petrifying well, and there is another similar display just inside.
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