Thursday 8 September 2011

Upper Town

My personal challenge for this round of Miss Jenny Matlock's alphabe-Thursday is to post about a location within the borders of my own county of Derbyshire, UK, for each letter of the alphabet.

Look for the letter, to see where I am.



U is for Upper Town.

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Upper Town is the name given to the higher end of Bonsall. I'd never been here before, so I wasn't quite sure what I would find. The first thing I discovered was a garden nursery on the farm on the edge of the village!


After a bit of a wander round, I bought a thyme and small fern for myself and a lavender for a friend I was meeting on Friday. They are good healthy plants too!




From the nursery, I wandered down the narrow main street with its stone built cottages and dry stone walls.


This one looks newer and is fronted by an open green space with goalposts, which looks like it could be the village rec.


In the centre of the village is this well, which is one of the seven 'dressed' for the annnual Bonsall Well Dressings. Simply put, Well Dressing is a traditional Derbyshire activity in which wells are decorated with pictures made from natural ingredients. It celebrates the gift of water.



It was clear why this part of the village is called Upper Town. That's part of Bonsall down below...


...and the land drops away pretty steeply the other side too.



The streets are named appropriately.



I was very taken with this show of colour from the house at the top of Bankside.


In Upper Town, I also discovered this place; Bonsall Camp.

According to their website, Bonsall Camp is owned by Christian Youth Foundation and is available to hire by groups from any sphere of life (church, education, business etc), either for a residential stay or a day event. Then, during the summer holidays, they run three, week long Christian themed kids residential holidays for 7-11s, 9-13s and 12-16s, with trips out, messy fun, games etc etc. I had no idea this was here!

Upper Bonsall was definitely an eye opener; a little corner of my county that I knew absolutely nothing about! And I'm really pleased I came!

19 comments:

  1. That's another one on my list of "places that H has blogged about that I want to visit"

    That camp looks like it might be a useful resource ...

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  2. When I hear Bonsall, I just think of hen racing!

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  3. I love that your challenge is taking you to unfamiliar places with so much charm, character, and fun offerings.

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  4. What a wonderful discovery you made! I really like the pictures of Upper Town. It's definitely a very pretty place. In fact, I think this is my favorite part of Derbyshire (for now). Derbyshire just has too many beautiful places to see :)

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  5. Beautiful...
    The ninth photo is how I think an English Village Lane looks like. For the tourist in me a perfect photo.
    I love your tours.

    cheers, parsnip

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  6. Another wonderful visit...those stone walls and the hilly lanes - the splash of color with the nasturtiums cascading over the edge...

    Thank you for taking us along.

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  7. That village looks like something from a story book. I especially liked the dry stone walls.

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  8. Yes, H, I think you are right. Doing this alphabet challenge has really broadened your knowledge of your own county - and given us some lovely shots too.

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  9. What a quaint, beautiful town!

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  10. I always think of the 'tufa' cottage when I think of Bonsall. Upper Town looks lovely as does the nursery:)

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  11. How lovely to walk around with you in upper town. :)

    Greetings from Germany,
    Birgit

    PS: See my U post here! :)

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  12. Oh wow beautiful countryside. I love those houses and their gardens. I am enjoying these trips of you for Alphabe Thursday.
    Have a good weekend.

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  13. It looks lovely. You made me smile that you bought plants at the beginning of your exploration. That's the kind of thing I do - and then have to carry them all the rest of the walk!

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  14. I love coming by your post and looking at the beautiful countryside. Thanks for the tour! {:-Deb

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  15. I love this village! It oozes English country charm and the nursery is lovely! What a gloriously elevated position!

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  16. Oh yippee! When your link opened I clapped with excitement...where oh where are we going today I wondered!

    To a nursery with stone walls!

    To lovely narrow streets with charming houses!

    To the verdant green countryside that makes my heart ache to live in someplace other than the desert!

    Gosh!

    Thank you!

    You've made my morning! This was utterly and unbelievably charming!

    A+++++++++++

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  17. i am going to bonsall camp on the 29th july 2012 till the 4th august so xd :-)

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  18. i love this place it is so cool :-)

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