I've been wanting to visit Bakewell for some time, and today was the day. Its a place I very often drive through on my way to somewhere else in the Peak but never stop, it gets very crowded and parking can be a problem... so I went by bus.

I caught the bus into town but then found that I'd got an hour to wait before the 6.1, one of The Sixes, was leaving for Bakewell. I filled the time with a wander, and also went into the main Nationwide branch so they could help with a couple of things that I wasn't able to do on the app.

The bus ride was about 1.25 hours long but I had an interesting conversation with the woman who came and sat next to me. She and her husband had been in the UK for 6 months and were still getting settled, having emigrated from Hong Kong. During our conversation I was surprised to discover that the Chinese celebrate the Winter Solstice!

In Bakewell I walked to the love lock bridge over the River Wye, which has obviously not yet collapsed due to the extra weight it wasn't designed to cope with! Then round the shops before returning to the bus stop, where another conversation took place with a woman I remembered from the outward journey. Lovely to have these chance conversations, glimpses into lives etc.

But the bus was late, the wind was keen and I was freezing, not helped by having eaten nothing for 9 hours. I wasn't hungry, but obviously food would've warmed me. The bus, when it came, was also freezing but thank goodness the Mickleover bus had the heating on and my house was warm when I got in, as I'd forgotten to turn the heating off.