We first moved to Top O' The Hill, Kirk Ireton almost exactly 21 years ago - I was 5, going on 6 years old and just starting my second year at school. It's a comparatively long, narrow house - starting at the road, you have the back door leads into utility room and thence to the original 200+ year old farmhouse containing the kitchen and dining room (with 2 bedrooms upstairs). The more recent part of the house (dating from the 70s) contains the stairwell - up half a dozen steps from the level of the original building - and the living room. The main staircase goes up to the first-floor level of the old building, then another six steps to the top of the new building containing (at that time) the bathroom and two more bedrooms). Beyond this part of the house is the double garage.
Being the eldest child, I got dibs on the largest bedroom, but that wouldn't last - a later extension over the garage gave my sister a much larger room. Grr! In front of the house (left on the diagram) was a garden which now contains a number of fruit trees - assorted apples, an under-productive damson and a hyperactive plum, then the shared drive coming up from the road to the garage and that of the house opposite. Behind is more garden, originally a two-level affair with various raised beds, which was landscaped has a large gently-sloping lawn with a few flowerbeds, Strawberry patch etc. A steep slope with a diagonal path leads up to "the bank" - beyond the garage, at about the height of the roof of the older part of the house - mostly fruit and vegetables (plus tree-house).
The village of Kirk Ireton (population 300-400 when we moved in) is probably well over a thousand years old, certainly it's mentioned in the Domesday Book and the church dates back to Norman times. When we arrived, the village also had a corner shop, a Post Office, a primary school (still going strong unlike many other village schools) and two pubs. Although the village has somewhat expanded since then, the ameneties are somewhat depleted - the Post Office merged with the shop and the old pillarbox was replaced by a small box on a stick (much controversy about this, protests, letters and even a poem written to the post office - who gained much kudos by replying in rhyme!) and much later the shop closed altogether, to be replaced by a small volounteer operation. The Bull's Head pub closed soon after we moved in, leaving only:
The Barley Mow, a pub like no other. No bar - just a serving hatch into the small room where the barrels sit on a stone shelf. Prices are chalked up on a small blackboard, and get rubbed off when the barrel's empty. Then, of course, there's the infamous cider - local scrumpy, two pints of which will allegedly get the better of anyone (and I've never heard any evidence to the contrary). Other fixtures include four tables made from the slate bedding of an old full-size snooker table and the Large Dog. Opening hours are restricted - never before lunch, and it closes for the afternoon. Apparently one of the last places in the country to accept decimalization (this I absolutely believe).
The village is located in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside, not far from the edge of the Peak District. Other nearby features include Carsington Water, complete with second-time-lucky dam (the first one collapsed. No, really) which seemed to infect about half the village with the sailing bug. An interesting project to watch - work started on it just after we moved to the area.
Anyay, that's enough for one post - congratulations if you actualy read the entire ramble.
