We had a more relaxed start on a beautiful sunny day. Unfortunately our room is a bit of an oven at night but we get by with fan on full.
We had breakfast at Steve and Fiona’s and took round our mountain of washing which went through their machine and then onto the drying rack in the tv room downstairs. Steve and Fiona had seen signs for an open day at the Papplewick Pumping Station near Derby and were keen to visit. Steve is a water engineer and they both love Victorian era infrastructure. We (particularly me) had no real idea of what to expect but off we set. Well the pumping station was pretty spectacular both inside and out.

The pumping station itself was in a much grander building and the insides were spectacular.

At the back of the pumping machinery (which I didn’t find nearly as interesting as the decorative support structures) there is another room with 6 brick kilns where they heated the water (with coal) to make the steam that drove it all. Everything was beautifully painted and cleaned by an army of enthusiasts.

Then we got tickets to go and see the reservoir where they kept the water that was pumped from the pump house. We went in this little wagon thing pulled by a tractor. It seated about 20 people and took us about 800m away to a mound with stairs going down into the ground. Underneath was this enormous brick cavern that was apparently tendered for and built within 9 months back in the 1870s. Absolutely amazing.

After Papplewick we found a pub for a drink and snack and then it was off to Sherwood Forest. Plenty of Robin Hood themed activities all around Nottingham of course! We dodged a thunderstorm and had a nice walk through the forest over to the Major Oak where Robin and his merry band apparently hung out (possibly literally). They (the park people) are doing lots of conservation work but am not sure about their practice of damaging their younger trees to encourage the aging process so they look more ancient! Seems counterintuitive in the context of preservation for the future!

We had a nice drive back through the countryside and enjoyed spag bol after a glass of the elderflower and rose gin that we purchased at Bolsover Castle. Perfect.