Christmas in England 2006

"You are going WHERE for Christmas???  Are you totally mad??? It will be cold, wet, and the sun hardly gets above the horizon!!! The driving will be difficult, the motorways will be crazy with pileups in the ice....."

You would have thought we were planning on Alaska, but it was England we decided to visit for Christmas. The northern part, mind you, arriving in Manchester, driving to York for Christmas then moving south to Nottingham and Rutland, then back to Manchester.

As with my other travel records, the trip is presented here as a travel diary, with notes about each day or place and selected photographs. The diary is divided into daily files so you can read through the day then go to the record for the next or previous day.

Paul, July 2007

Day Date Event
Days 1-4 Fri 22 Dec 2006 to
Mon 25 Dec 2006
Arrive Terminal 2 Manchester 6am. Pick up Rental Car at airport terminal. Drive north on the M6 to Preston, then across to York for Christmas
Day 5 Tues 26 Dec 2006 Drive north to Wensleydale
Day 6 Wed 27 Dec 2006 North to Middlesborough, Redcar
Day 7 Thurs 28 Dec 2006 Whitby, Humber Bridge to Chesterfield
Day 8 Fri 29 Dec 2006 Matlock (Archives), then on to Nottingham
Day 9 Sat 30 Dec 2006 Nottingham, Bridlesmith Gate and Goodliffe locations
Day 10 Sun 31 Dec 2006 Nottingham General Cemetery and Sandiacre
Day 11 Mon 1 Jan 2007 New Year's Day - Belton in Rutland, Barrowden, Braunston. Family history of the Goodliffes
Day 12 Tues 2 Jan 2007 Fotheringhay Castle, St Ives (more Goodliffe history) then back to Rutland and our meeting with Elizabeth and Arnold's Original Book.
Day 13 Wed 3 Jan 2007 Middle Harborough to Derby, St Alkmunds in Duffield, then on to Ashbourne
Day 14 Thurs 4 Jan 2007 A day in the Peak District - Carsington Water, Brassington, Stanton in Peak and the Nine ladies Stone Circle and the Cork Stone;  another Stone Age relic at Arbor Low, then the Church of St Edmund at Fenny Bentley.
Day 15 Fri 5 Jan 2007 Moorcroft Pottery in Stoke on Trent, then back to Derbyshire and Thor's cave in the late afternoon sun.
Day 16 Sat 6 Jan 2007 A walk along Dovedale, then a night in Buxton
Day 17 Sun 7 Jan 2007 More of the Peak: Monsal Head and the viaduct, Ashford in the Water, Magpie Mine, the Plague Village of Eyam, then on to Froggatt Edge and another stay at Chequers inn, Froggatt Edge.
Day 18 Mon 8 Jan 2007 A wet day in Hathersage, over Snake Pass to Glossop, then on to Manchester Airport and the trip back to New Zealand via Singapore.

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Last updated: 30 June 2023