Matlock Cobb.

Hang on this may be a long post.

So Matlock Steampunk Illumnnations Festival suddenly rolled around. Cue filling the car with Diesil and setting off up the M4, M5 and then diverting from my usual route up the M42 and M1 into Derbyshire.
Now when I lived in the Northwest I never ventured any further east over the Peaks and Pennines than Buxton. So Matlock was a fresh experience for myself as well as Pen.
We had decided to stay at a cheap travelodge Tibself on the M1 J28/29 and use it as a base while we spent our time in Matlock. So after treating myself to a shave at the Turkish Barbers in town, we set off 1ish. Traffic was heavy and we arrived at Tibshelf 5.30ish by which time we were starving, we booked in grabbed a coffee and grabbed some Tea at the Roadchef next to the Days Inn.
The advertised internet at the Hotel didn't work and I hadn't taken my laptop or the postocde so after asking at reception (and being given the wrong one). We set off over the hills to Matlock Bath. In the dark Matlock Bath was nice, and after driving up and down the High Street a few times and seeing a building that looked a bit like it, we stopped at the building that looked a bit like it, to find yes we were at the right place.

I could wax lryical about the beautiful old building that is the Pavillion and without getting all Kevin McCloud about it, even its current state it was a ideal venue for the steampunk event.
We met the organiser...lovey woman and set up the stall, Entertainment was laid on free of charge at the pub opposite the Pavillion but we were both too frazzled from the drive up to enjoy it so we set off back to the Travelodge, where we sat in bed and watched the end of Mission Impossible II.
Waking up early on Sat we popped into the Roadchef for breakfast...and after waiting 20 minutes for the sausages to be cooked! We ate them on the first of the days Cobbs.
The drive over the hills was much more picturesque in the daylight, And we got our first view of Matlock and Matlock Bath in the daylight. Brilliant places with 'proper' shops instead of endless charity and mobile phone shops. Matlock is full of Antique (Which we can't afford) shops and one place sells wood burning stoves...Waaannt!
The day was busy with lots of people looking but not many buying....as is the finacial state of everthing these days. I did a couple of readings, and pulled 'The Tower' in one of them....ho hum sorry mate. Then trading finished at 6 so we went outside to get something to eat, And here is where the problems of being a wheelchair user become really apparent. Because of the Illuminations the place was packed, Not just steampunks but Bikers and Familys the pavments were solid...We managed about a quarter of a mile down the road trying to find a chippy that wasn't qued out...No Joy so we settled for a Pork and Apple Stuffing Cobb (batch), which was so nice we had another one and that was it for Dinner. Then pushed our way back through the throngs and into the Pavillion to watch the entertainment.
The illuminations overran a bit so we left at the end of The Professors set before BBBlackdog came on stage-just to get back to the hotel and sleep because we were trading again on Sunday.
Sunday we decided not to wait for the breakfast at the Roadchef and grabbed a Macdonalds on the way there. We wer wrapped up in our warm clothes and a little bit out of costume but being warm took precedence. We traded till 1 and then packed up the stall and set off home. Arriving home 6ish in time to warm up the sunday dinner in the over-boil in the bag lamb and Dolphin nose potatoes.
All in all a great few days which left us buzzing with ideas and ready for the next roadtrip in a couple of days.