DAYS 167 & 168 - Derby & English Roots

Sept 2 & 3 - Steve & Pip & Georgia & Fern

 Lombe's Mill, located in Derby, England, was the first factory in the world.  Thererfore, Derby is considered the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.  In 1717, Derby was the site of the first water powered silk mill in Britain.

 With the arrival of the railways in the 19th century, and due to its strategic central location, the city grew to become the centre of the British rail industry.  An industrial boom began in Derby when Rolls-Royce opened a car and aircraft factory in the town in 1907.  Today, Derby is an internationally renowned centre for advanced transport manufacturing.

 Some pictures of buildings as we came into Derby.

1889 Gas, Light, and Coke Company

I wanted to go to Derby because it was close to where my English ancestors grew up.  I could do some research in this town and then somehow get to the area I was looking for, about 45 minutes away.  So, we'll go there in the next post.

St. Mary's Church

  I wondered if my relatives came to this city very much back in the 1800's, but I imagine they did not as Ashbourne was much closer.

 I loved some of the old English homes - such great history in these buildings.

A yummy English pastry

Isn't this cute?  "Give Way" instead of "Yield".

Meet our wonderful family from Derby (pronounced "Dah-rby").

Pip, Georgia, and Steve hosted us for 3 days & nights

Georgia, age 16, prepared our first dinner - pasta (she sometimes makes her own noodles)

 Fresh berries over ice cream that Steve had picked from their garden.

"Spot of tea anyone?"

A tour of their beautiful English home up on the well-to-do hills in Derby.

We had several meals together with this lovely family in this kitchen.

What a great kitchen!

The family room leads out to the back porch and garden.

Other side of the family room - note the keyboard and guitar

And this was our bedroom on the 2nd floor.  VERY comfy bed.

Can you believe?  We had our own shower and dressing area right in the bedroom.

Georgia was such a sweet girl ;  very intelligent and such an achiever. (and we both have such cute braids)

I thought I would help and pick some berries before everyone got back from work and school.  they had raspberries, blackberries, and some other small berries.  Trouble is, I stepped on what I thought was a patch of grass.   It turned out to be some moss on a pond.  I fell right in, getting mud, moss, and slime up to my thighs.  I was told later that there was a frog family living in the pond.  I imagine they were scared to death with a monster jumping in their abode.

This was their back yard from the 3rd story of their home - beautiful view of the valley.

Georgia's room up in the loft area.  Cute cute cute decor!

Pip is an amazing interior decorator and she made these wall hangings.

 

Rich made his famous Kung-Pao chicken and I put together a fruit salad.

Even Fern gets in the family portrait.  Love this family!