Hello, I’m Joe, an 8 year old labrador – this is me jumping through the snow a couple of years ago. As my humans started this blog, I thought I should paw a few words so the puppies amongst you will know where you can go and what there is to sniff in the Peak District.
Whenever you go to someone else’s cottage it is always best to understand the house rules before you go. In conjunction with my humans, I have agreed the following house rule on behalf of all dogs staying at the cottages:
- Ensure the humans keep off the floors at all times – these are strictly for dogs to lie on. If they must sit down make sure they use the chairs provided. To ensure they have no excuse for sitting on the floor, you should not get up on the furniture.
- I have found that the humans have some odd bedroom and washing habits. Therefore, it is best that you keep out of the bedrooms and bathrooms at all times – stick to the living areas of the cottage where you can be cosy and the bonus is you avoid their snoring, which only keeps you awake all night.
- Do not allow yourself to be left at the cottage on your own. How would they like to be locked in a strange place alone? It is your holiday too and those humans need to find places to go where you are welcome – and there are plenty of them in the Peak District, so there are no excuses!
We welcome well behaved dogs at all of our cottages, at no extra charge.
We do not set arbitrary limits on the number of dogs take but like to ensure that the cottage is large enough for them to be comfortable.
It’s well-dressing season in the Peak District… starting in Makeney, near Belper during early May, the well dressing ‘season’ runs through until the last in Hartington village during mid September. Some 95 communities in and around the Peak District in the counties of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, South Yorkshire and even the Greater Manchester on the borders of the Peak District will get together to create amazing scenes from clay, flowers, plants and seeds, as part of a long-standing tradition of being thankful for pure, clean water.
Every year people come together … local farmers haul the heavy wooden boards into the village river or stream to soak for a week or so; then the village school children get involved in the “puddling” – working the clay to a consistency that it can be put on the sodden boards and hold the materials, used to make the scene, in place; and then teams (some family based, some village friends, some from out of the village, and children from village schools) are formed and during less than 7 days the most beautiful pictures emerge using natural materials pressed into the clay. Sometimes there are themes – all of them have a resonance with the community and how they live.
Although well-dressers are happy to show off their creations whilst they are “work-in-progress”, it’s hard to appreciate them on the flat, surrounded by “petallers” and their little heaps of materials. So, the morning they “go-up” the locals are all walking about the village between them, admiring them, and comparing the designs (and executions!) with those of previous years. Later in the afternoon, the community will gather together, often with a local brass band, and a procession is held led by the local vicar, to bless the wells. Well-dressing week sees more visitors to the village, and the opportunity to raise funds – through the provision of home made teas and exhibitions – for local amenities, and towards the costs of making next year’s dressings, even to help sustain local businesses.