Beltane: Day 3

It's the third day of our Beltane celebrations, and we're still in Bakewell so more Peak District adventures for us today. We'll be heading home tomorrow, so today was our final excursion of the holiday.

Beltane Earrings

Today's seasonal earrings were a cute little pair of daisy chains (another surprise gift from Rob).

Monsal Trail

We've been for a walk along the Monsal Trail today. The Monsal Trail is a section of a former Midland Railway line that runs from Chee Dale to Bakewell and is now a walking and cycling route.) We didn't do the whole trail, but we did Bakewell Station to just after Monsal Head viaduct and then back again. My favourite part (apart from the views from the viaduct) was walking through the Headstone Tunnel. I wish we could have gone as far as the other tunnels, but we couldn't handle a 17-mile walk today!

Beltane: Day 2

It's the second day of our Beltane celebrations - and it's been a bit of a tiring one!

Beltane Earrings

Today's seasonal earrings were a Green Man and stag antlers combo. The stag antlers were a lovely surprise gift from Rob this week.

Hob Hurst's House

We went to Hob Hurst's House today, an English Heritage site just outside Bakewell. Hob Hurst's House has EVERYTHING I want from a landmark. It's a Bronze Age barrow, discovered by the 'Barrow Knight' (a Victorian antiquarian), supposedly inhabited by a folkloric creature, AND it's one of the first monuments to be taken into state care under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act! Amazing place.

Beeley Moor

After visiting the Bronze Age barrow, we continued our walk over Beeley Moor. It was... a little more strenuous than we were expecting. But the views were amazing!

Cocktails!

We celebrated our successful (but exhausting) excursion with cocktails. I like to call these 'Travel Cocktails', but I couldn't possibly share the recipe!

Beltane: Day 1

It's time for our third event in our Year of Celebrating the Seasons. Beltane (or May Day) is an exciting one, as it sits on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year to Samhain (or Halloween), which is my favourite seasonal celebration. We're going to be celebrating all week, and I'm determined to make this a week of Halloween-in-Spring.

Beltane Earrings

My first pair of Beltane earrings this year were these cute little bluebells.

Magpie Mine

We went to Magpie Mine in Sheldon, near Bakewell, this afternoon for a picnic and a wander. It's a disused lead mine, renovated and looked after by the Peak District Mines Historical Society.

Lathkill Dale

We also had a little wander in Lathkill Dale today. We definitely want to come back and explore properly another time. It's lovely!

The Reddening

Beltane feels like the perfect time for folk horror. I'm not 100% sure it's completely seasonal, but I'm reading The Reddening by Adam Nevill this week.

Beltane Candle

We lit our Beltane candle (from Chalice Creations) tonight. This season's scents are ylang ylang, jasmine, geranium and frankincense.