Cheadle!

Maeve and Meg visited me this weekend! We rented a car (!), which I drove (!!!) to Cheadle, which has a church known as Pugin's Gem that Maeve wanted to see. While we were in the area, we went to the Peak District National Park, which is absolutely lovely. It comprises bits of Derbyshire and neighboring counties, and has recently been termed Pride and Prejudice Country: http://www.visitprideandprejudice.com/ . We got a little wet (as in completely soaked) but had a good time walking among hills and sheep and ridges and ancient stone structures. And we had dinner in Buxton (at a Pizza Express), which is where I went to a Gilbert and Sullivan festival in the summer of 2004. Generally, I think a good time was had by all. My driving initially caused some concern, but evened out rather well (I even drove back in the dark in really intense fog on windy roads with no streetlights and almost no guardrails--on the LEFT side of the road). Hypothermia was not contracted.

Oh, and on Saturday we explored Bham city center. I finally went to the city art museum, which has a well-known Pre-Raphelite collection. It was fun to go with Meg and Maeve; we re-lived bits of our Victorian History class...

In other news, this morning I officially finished taking notes on Charlotte Bronte's letters! Now... uh.... I still have to do thesis work, but it's a little less straightforward. I should probably start writing, but I'm a bit tired....

Here are some pictures.

Pugin's Gem

Its doors

the CAR I DROVE.... it was really nice.

Peaks!