secret dates

Sunbathing at Rhosneigr Beach

A recent trip to Wales took us to the seaside town of Rhosneigr. Initially, we were due to have a surfing lesson. It would have been the perfect day for it, since we had glorious sunshine. However, what do we know? There was no ‘surf’ apparently, so our lesson was cancelled. Not to throw away such a beautiful day, we moved onto our back-up secret date of sunbathing at the beach. Back-up secret dates are something we have done for quite some time now. In the UK, where we live, the weather is so unpredictable. Our plans can be ruined at short notice if they rely on decent weather. Therefore, we always have back-ups in case of poor weather or other eventualities like today.

We walked up and down Rhosneigr Beach at first to look out for an ideal place to lay down our towels. We ended up with a place further around where the families with kids couldn’t be bothered to go. The sand was absolutely gorgeous, really fine, soft and warm, and ideal for sunbathing. We commented on many occasions through the day that it felt like we were abroad, rather than in the UK. It was around 11am when we got to the beach, and we were a bit concerned initially that there would be rain. BBC Weather had given it out at 12 o’clock, and there was a dark cloud above.

We didn’t get to surf, but we did eat at Surf Cafe

Deciding to play it safe, we headed off to look for somewhere to eat lunch, after a walk around the town. We found a place ironically called Surf Cafe, which was upstairs from a different surf shop called Funsport. It was decorated with surfboards and the like, and had a large glass window with views of the sea. I had a vastly overpriced bacon bap for £3.95. Amy went for a bacon brie and cranberry panini, which came with salad and crisps. The food was nice enough, though definitely more expensive than it should have been. I suppose partly that was because of its location, right by the beach.

We asked in the shop below if they were offering surfing lessons today, but were told the same thing as earlier. It did at least put our minds at rest that we weren’t being fobbed off. Then it was back to our original position. The weather was certainly like what we would get in Ibiza or the like. We had an amazing time sunbathing. Amy was happy and content, whilst I enjoyed playing with the sand with my hands and feet, as it was so soft. After a couple more hours of it, we became concerned about dehydrating, since we only had the one bottle of juice with us. Therefore, we decided to head off for some water and maybe an ice cream.

Sunbathing is thirsty work

There was an ice cream van. However. we got an orange calippo for cheaper in the shop just up the road, and a large bottle of Buxton water for just 75p. We completely gulped down the water, and the ice lolly was very much enjoyed as well. We ate them on another leisurely walk around Rhosneigr. It ended on some benches by the Women’s Institute Gardens further down the beach, where the sand didn’t look as appealing. We drank so much water that we ended up going back into the shop on our way back to the beach to buy another bottle! Our final spot of sunbathing probably was just under an hour long. In fact, the sun was still out even when we called it a day at around 5.30pm.

We decided to go back to the car, and see what sort of time we would be getting home. After seeing it would be gone 8pm, we decided to eat this end. We walked back to a little takeaway pizza place we had passed called Aydin’s Pizzaria/Cafe. We got a 12 inch margherita for £5.50 and sat outside on a table in their little beer garden type thing. The sun was bearing down on us big time. It was almost uncomfortably hot as we sat and ate our pizza. Pretty nice, if a bit soft. As long as the weather is hot and sunny, you will find few better beaches in the world for sunbathing than Rhosneigr Beach in Wales.

Do you enjoy sunbathing with your partner? What are your favourite beaches?

The Roaches are a real landmark in the Peak District

This secret date involved a trip to the Roaches in the Peak District. Unbelievably, we have never been there before, despite driving past it hundreds of times. Initially, we postponed our trip until the afternoon due to a weather report that suggested it would be very foggy. The downside to this was that it was almost impossible to find a parking space. If you are planning a trip by car, we’d really suggest you get there before 10am. If you do this, you stand a much better chance of getting a space in one of the laybys. When we arrived at around noon, not only were all of the bays full, but people were parked all over the place. They were on grass banks and all sorts!

As we had decided to start our date with a nice lunch, we parked at The Roaches Tea Rooms. As it was a pleasant day, we sat outside and ate in their rural outdoor seating area with nice countryside views. The tea rooms were very popular with cyclists. I had a ham and cheese omelette, whilst Amy had a bacon and brie ciabatta. Both were served with salad and coleslaw. The food was pretty tasty. Hilariously, Amy claimed that she couldn’t taste any bacon in her bacon and brie ciabatta. She decided to open it up to check, and there was none! She had to go and let them know. Soon enough, they came out with a plate full of pieces of bacon. I think they gave her extra to make up for the error, so I got a piece too.

Take a map and a hiking route, or just go and explore!

Our walk on The Roaches was scheduled to last around four hours, though we often take longer as we get easily distracted. Despite us printing a map and route off, and checking a book out from the library, we decided we would find our own way around.  The views are incredible, even from the lower part of the area. The tall, thin trees perfectly frame the gritstone escarpment behind. People use the giant rocks everywhere to try out rock climbing, much like we did recently at Stanage Edge. We firstly checked out the Rock Hall Cottage. Rock Hall Cottage is well worth seeking out. This former cave dwelling has been renovated as a cottage used by various rock climbing groups, and looks amazing. The ‘garden’ is filled with huge boulder-like rocks that we imagine are used for practice climbs.

From here, we took a fairly steep path up to a small cave high up in the rocks. Despite not having any rock climbing gear, we decided it was safe enough to attempt to climb up into it. It wasn’t particularly easy though. We had to help each other to find the footholds both on the way up and back down. Huge rocks balanced precariously above our heads. It must be said that they have probably been there for centuries or more though. We kept getting distracted by just how much fun we could have around here. In fact, we kind of lost interest in the actual hike that we had printed off. We kept exploring new rocky outcrops and caves, and finding amazing viewpoints.

Where the heck is Teck?

At the top end of the Roaches, we each headed out to the edge of a pair of ridiculously large rocks. I was alright with this until I saw that Amy’s rock had what appeared to be a gap in it. I instantly started to panic and insisted that Amy come down. Of course, she didn’t straight away, putting my nerves on edge. The drops were horrendously high, and we were well above the tops of the trees. Tittesworth Reservoir broke up the endless fields in the view of the distance. Further along the path, we found a stone seat that has been carved into a large rock. There is a plaque carved into the wall of the rock next to it to commemorate the visit of the Prince and Princess of Teck in 1872. We had never heard of Teck, but it is apparently an area in Germany.

Next, we came to Doxey Pool, a small pool along the top path. Legend has it that a mermaid called Jenny Greenteeth lures people to a watery grave here. We played around balancing on rocks around the area for a bit. We felt a bit safer knowing there wasn’t a huge cliff edge beyond them. My legs completely go to jelly any time that I see Amy going near the cliff edge. Some of the rocks have very interesting textures. We were barely following the route still, but hadn’t even reached the trig point yet. We worried that we might have missed it, but eventually we saw it in the distance. There are lots of little arrangements of rock piles around the area. They reminded us of a mini Cappadocia.

The Roaches offer a fantastic, free day out

Further on, some of the rock formations are fascinating. Most are absolutely huge pieces of rock, and many are worn away in distinctive formations. Eventually, the path starts to head down from the rocky ridge, towards the country road. Our original route had us doing a figure of eight including Lud’s Church. However, Amy’s thighs were starting to hurt her, and it was around 4pm. Therefore, we headed back. It was a very long walk back to the start via the country road. We passed lots of sheep, a very inquisitive horse that was more than happy for us to stroke it, and a hee-hawing donkey.

It was a fantastic day out at the Roaches, and we highly recommend a trip there. The views are sensational, and there is lots of interest to see. You could easily spend a full day exploring the area. We spent over four hours walking from one side of the ridge to the other, and back along the country lane. Of course, we did explore a few nooks and crannies. There is a lot more besides to see if you have time. Another popular thing to do is to walk across to Lud’s Church. It is rumoured that Friar Tuck himself worshipped from there. If you are planning a trip to the Peak District, we think it is well worth a visit.

Have you been to the Roaches? Are there any similar areas in your part of the world? 

Touch Rugby is a sociable and inclusive team sport that you can play with your partner

We headed to Nantwich for this secret date – touch football! There are three main variants of touch football. They are based on American football, Australian rules football, and rugby. England is more a rugby nation, so we went with touch rugby. You should be able to find an opportunity to play the others in the UK too. It just might take a little more searching, or potentially travelling a little further. Touch rugby seems to be very popular in the UK, inclusive, and sociable.

Crewe and Nantwich RUFC run sessions on Sunday afternoons. We had arranged with organiser Jules for us to go along. He warmly welcomed us and told us a bit about the game. The sessions take place at Malbank High School’s playing fields. While the pitch was being marked out with cones, we got to try out one of the special touch rugby balls. We practiced putting the ball down and stepping over it. This might sound odd, but it is what you have to do when you get touched. We also practiced running and throwing the ball behind us to each other. Some of our initial efforts were pretty lame!

Touch rugby has a friendly atmosphere and it is easy to pick up the rules

There were twenty people there in all, and for a game you usually have six players per side. Often, they have enough players for two games, but they had a competitive tournament the day before. We were sorted into two teams. Unfortunately, we were put on different teams, but this was because we were both assigned a mentor. This was a brilliant idea, as it meant that we were made to feel a part of the game. Our mentors talked us through the finer points of the game as we played. We started off with a warm-up match, with everyone on the pitch. We were just shadowing our mentors, and they were telling us what to do.

Mostly, it seemed that the simplest, most effective thing to do was to run forwards with the ball, and effect the touch yourself. Then, place the ball on the floor, step over it, and let someone else take it further up the pitch. You get six attempts to score a try before possession is handed over. After the warm-up, we began the real game. As newbies, we didn’t count towards the six person team limit. We were soon getting stuck in, and worn out. It was a hot day and you do a lot of running! At one point, I was running in for the touch, and Amy stuck her hand out to touch me. However, she managed to slice my face with her nail. Ouch.

Touch rugby offers a great way to get fit and have fun

We both had just the one break in the hour and a half session, so it was really good exercise. Amy ended up scoring a try, with help from me not knowing what I was doing. Apparently, I was offside, so Amy was free to score a great try. I got one myself a bit later on, so it was nice to say that we both scored a try. There was a huge mix of people, from like eleven year old kids to burly older blokes, and both sexes too. We were surprised by how many women and girls actually played rugby.

Touch rugby is the perfect game to get everyone involved. We both loved it, and kind of fancy going every week! The first session is free, but future sessions would cost £3 each. I’m not sure we can spare the time at the moment. However, this is a perfect way for you and your partner to have fun with each other whilst getting fit. There aren’t all that many competitive team sports that are so inclusive as this. Anyone can have a go, and we highly recommend you do so.

Have you ever played touch football? Do you think that it is a good date idea?

Garage Sale Safari at Burton Joyce

Garage sales are something of an American phenomenon. In the UK, they are barely heard of. Rather than open their garages to visitors, British people seem to prefer the car boot sale. If you are not familiar, car boot sales involve people driving to a field or car park somewhere. They sell their unwanted belongings from the back of their car. However, we have now been to two garage sale safaris over the past few years. Are they becoming a thing? Probably not. However, some enterprising villages have set up extremely successful events, where residents around the village do sell from their garages, American style. It all happens on one day of the year, rather than as and when somebody wants to offload their gear. However, this does provide for a great community feel to the days.

The garage sale safari that we most recently visited was at a sizeable village in Nottinghamshire called Burton Joyce. The event ran from 12pm until 4pm. The local Co-Op store was selling a map of the seventy households taking part for a pound. It was to raise money for the local primary school. There wasn’t really a set route. We just picked a direction and went round all of the houses that way. Amy nearly bought something straight away, spotting a video camera. She wasn’t bothered about the camera, but had her eye on the bag. The guy only wanted £10 for both. In the end we decided that we didn’t want to carry yet another bag around with us on our travels.

Hunting through the trash to find the treasure

Some of the houses were quite spread out, and ranged from very small houses to huge mansion like places. A lot of the things on sale were children’s toys and clothes. Of course, these are the things that are most likely to be grown out of quickly. Some villagers had even baked little cakes, or were offering juice. It was good fun hunting through the trash on display to try and find some treasure. A house early on were offering coca-cola glasses free of charge. Helpfully, many people had printed out posters to advertise where they were, since the map was only giving a rough idea.

It took us less than an hour to find our first buy. We spotted a diabolo for sale for just 75p, including a bag! Bargain! We always have great fun playing with one of these whenever we see a circus skills workshop, so couldn’t resist. The same house had a really good condition Commodore Amiga, with loads of games and controllers. I used to have one as a kid. I would have been tempted with it had we got more disposable income. A pair of women got there first anyway. They talked him into selling it for just £55, which is a real bargain.

Lunch in the sunshine

At the Cross Keys pub, a guy and his daughter had set up a stall selling hot dogs and burgers from a local farm. Amy had the hot dog. I kind of wish I had, as she got two sausages and it looked more substantial than my burger. Nice though. We sat on a bench in the sunshine to enjoy them. We carried on after lunch up a very steep hill. Most people seemed to be driving up here, obviously knowing the area a bit better. We spent ages at one house, deciding if a wet suit was the right size for Amy. After much deliberation, I pointed out that we have nothing coming up where she might need it. She wouldn’t want to take it abroad with us, I’m sure.

The houses at the very top of the bank were mega posh, with elaborate security systems. I wasn’t much for the design of many of them though, feeling they look more like office blocks. The last house up here was a right trek away. Whilst they had a large and impressive garden, they didn’t have anything exciting for sale. A house around the corner, however, was selling everything but the kitchen sink. It turned out they were moving to Spain, so were flogging everything.

Amy’s eyes were drawn to the Wii, since one of her remotes has broken. The woman wanted £50 for everything, the console and all the games, but we didn’t really need all of that. In the end, as we were walking away, she said she would sell a single controller for £2.50. Amy was happy with this. She also picked up a nunchuk and was charged just £4 for the two.

Burton Joyce was a delightful village

Walking back down the hill with these new purchases, we stopped at an old lady’s house who was selling jams and chutneys. Each time we finished looking at the sales in one area of the village, we headed back to the Co-Op, which was our navigation point. This took us past the pretty St Helen’s Church, with its well presented graveyard. A Mr Whippy ice cream van had set up outside the playground. We couldn’t resist getting a large cone, which included a flake and some raspberry sauce. It was certainly the weather for it now. The day had got hotter and hotter.

It was now gone 3.30pm, and it was getting much quieter. Some houses were starting to pack up. The final route we took was right up the Main Street. One house was selling mostly children’s stuff, but had a giant inflatable penguin that Amy wanted to buy for me for some reason. A house next to the kindergarten was selling juice and cakes, but we had just had the ice cream. We enjoyed the tyres that had been made into a minion style plantpot!

A couple of houses that we passed had now packed up. We were going to call it a day but decided to check the very last house up here. The man here was packing up too, but was jokingly trying to get rid of some stuff to us. He happened to be a professional photographer, and was selling some of his work framed, as well as the junk. We had a good chat with him about photography for a while, which was a nice end to the day.

A date to find treasure at garage sales comes highly recommended

With a combination of most houses packing up and the immense heat, we decided to head home. We’d had a brilliant day. If you live in America, you will find it very easy to find garage sales to do this date idea, I’m sure. If not, do some searching online and I’m sure that like us, you will find somewhere relatively close offering one. It comes highly recommended.

Have you ever been to garage sales on a date? What have been your best buys? 

A car picnic goes perfect with a peaceful drive

This secret date saw us driving around the most unbelievable scenery for thirteen hours. We stopped wherever we fancied, from an interesting town or village, to a spectacular viewpoint. When we saw a particularly great place to pull over, we enjoyed a car picnic. What a fantastic way to spend a day with your partner!

Our first stop was the local supermarket, to get our car picnic supplies. Either get together some items from home, or get it all on the day from a supermarket or delicatessen. Don’t forget the cutlery, like we did! You will need drinks, sandwiches or wraps, lots of bite-size food, and of course some sweet treats.

For our driving route, we took a roughly circular tour of the northern Peak District. We chose to do this as it included a lot of places that we have never been to before. We started the route in Bakewell. The drive there is through very familiar roads, passing the Roaches, and some beautiful, if bumpy, country roads. The northern part of the Peak District is known as the Dark Peak. This is because a lot of the landscape is browner in colour than the green White Peak that we are more familiar with.

You can’t pass Bakewell without getting a Bakewell Tart

Parking in Bakewell is quite limited, since there are hardly any free parking spaces. The main purpose of our stop was to visit the Original Bakewell Pudding Shop. This historic shop is the site of the very first ever shop to sell bakewell puddings. The puddings are meant to be served hot, with custard or cream. However, we wanted to take ours away to eat with our car picnic. Therefore, we went with a Bakewell Tart each. Not the site where it was invented, but still in the village at least! A slice of Bakewell Tart was an eye-watering £2.50, but we couldn’t resist getting one each. Amy had an iced one, whilst I had a flaked one.

Our drive took us through Ashford-in-the-Water, where we have seen a Well Dressing in the past, to Monsal Head. This is an absolutely gorgeous viewpoint. All we did was admire the view from the platform at the top, and then went down three jutting stones masquerading as steps to a lower viewpoint. The view is sensational. You can see all the way down Monsal Dale and up the Wye Valley, with the river winding through a steep and rocky valley. There is also a mighty impressive viaduct.

After descending into a dark, claustrophobic gorge, we pulled up in Eyam. We last visited Eyam at the end of a charity holiday back in 2010. We parked up by Eyam Parish Church, which looked suitably old. Right away in the churchyard, we found a very cool sundial from 1775, and an eighth century Saxon Cross with celtic designs.

Eyam Parish Church is well worth a visit

The door was open, so we went inside. It turns out it is a brilliant place to visit. This medieval church was a key location in the sad story of the village, that led to it being known as the plague village. It is very atmospheric, with wall paintings high up in the Nave, and two fonts. One is from Norman times, and the other from Saxon times. They have a few items relating to the plague. These include a brilliant stained glass window that tells the story, a plague cupboard, the chair and pulpit used by the heroic rector Mompesson, and the register of plague victims. There is also a brilliant exhibition about the story of the plague, which was very informative.

It is a brilliant, and free, alternative to the Eyam Museum, where we went on our previous visit. Outside in the churchyard is the tomb of Mompesson’s wife, and the previous Reverend. It is assumed that he would have been influential in persuading the village to stay confined. We couldn’t resist pulling over in Stoney Middleton to see its imposing crags either side of the road. There is a sign telling why one part of it is now known as Lover’s Leap. A girl jumped from the cliff due to being rejected by a man, but survived due to her petticoat acting as a parachute.

Wooden Pole? Really?

The road then climbed up to the open moors where we came across Wooden Pole. We have passed this many times on our way to Sheffield, and always been really intrigued why this wooden pole has a National Trust sign directing people to it. We couldn’t resist pulling over to check it out. Unbelievably, a wooden pole, and a rather flimsy one at that, was all it is. There is no information board to go alongside the fancy National Trust sign to say what its significance was. Maybe it is a hoax, or maybe an historic boundary marker? There was at least one other guy lured in by the National Trust sign unwittingly.

Soon enough, we came to our chosen car picnic spot, on Ringinglow Road. The parking space had enough room to set up our chairs, and pretty decent views of the rocks and crags too. Unfortunately, the wind was a bit on the cold side. Therefore, we actually ended up deciding to eat our car picnic in the car. We still had the great views, and it was warmer. We ate a lot of food. The wraps were filling enough, and then we had half of a box of cocktail sausages, salad, and chicken bites. I had a scotch egg too. We also finished off one of our bottles of Schweppes, which was lemon and elderflower flavour. Although we were pretty full by now, we couldn’t resist eating our Bakewell Tarts. They were absolutely delicious, and worth the splurge.

Reservoirs and countryside make for a relaxing drive

The road kept winding around some very open dark moors, eventually crossing Sheffield in just thirty-odd seconds. It then drops steeply and dramatically, with beautiful, green views all around. We ended up going down Mortimer Road. This is a very long moorland road which feels extremely remote, passing over some stone bridges. It feels as close to nature as a road can get. We then passed the Midhope Reservoir and the remote hamlet of Upper Midhope, to get to Langsett Reservoir. We passed many reservoirs today, and they were all stunning.

You can really see why it is called the Dark Peak here. The fields are a foreboding dark colour, and look as barren as fields can possibly be. We must have pulled over every five minutes to get a picture of yet another amazing view though. The next one was the Winscar Reservoir. We got out to enjoy the views of this huge and attractive body of water. It is one of the more attractive reservoirs that we passed.

Soon enough, we were in the charming Yorkshire town of Holmfirth. We nipped into a shop called Harrisons Interiors, which had lots of unusual arty-type items for the home. There is a river that passes next to the main street, and seemingly under the road. A very unusual sight indeed. Holmfirth is where Last of the Summer Wine and Where The Heart Is were filmed. There was a very nice atmosphere about the place, and it was nice to stop there briefly.

Is that a field of alpacas?

We followed the road through the pleasant, low-key town of Meltham, stopping briefly to admire some alpacas grazing in a field. The roads around here pass through the Pennines at their most towering and imposing. We managed to pick up a bit of speed down here, before taking a very sharp, deep cutting to the right to descend into Delph. We pulled over at the Dowry Reservoir, which again was just beautiful, to have a second helping from our car picnic.

The views on the next part of the journey were incredible, and we eventually passed over the M62 on Scammonden Bridge. A remarkably narrow lane skirted around a huge dam wall. This was very cool, and we pulled into a car park to see the water-filled side of the dam wall too before continuing our journey.

The road curved up the hill impressively, and looked rather wacky on the approach. We turned into Long Causeway, which passes directly underneath two parrallel lines of National Grid pylons. It looks ultra futuristic and imposing. The road headed through Littleborough, to Hollingworth Lake. This very strange seaside-town type place has fish and chip shops and arcades lining the front. It was cool seeing the M62 in the background on huge stilts.

Passing by many tree-lined roads, we found ourselves climbing Dog Hill and pulling into the car park of Binn Green nature reserve. We went to explore the rocks to the side, and found amazing views over another lake or reservoir. There was no way we could miss out on stopping on Holmfirth Road. The views were unbelievable, like something from a movie. Its dramatic mountains and pleasing bodies of water were the sort where you could imagine being from a bygone era going back to prehistoric times.

The Snake Pass is a real driving highlight

We descended a very pretty country road to Digley Reservoir, which we crossed on the bridge high over it. Climbing a steep hill saw us stop at the top of Holme Moss hill. The car park here has fantastic views, including a cool picture frame put up by the University of Huddersfield. Going back down it on the other side gave amazing views of a couple more reservoirs and expansive countryside, pylons, dramatic roads, forest and mountains. From Glossop, we took the Snake Pass, one of the country’s most famous and dangerous roads. It was past 8pm by this point, so it was a lot quieter and therefore more pleasant even than the last time that we drove on it back in 2011. The sun setting majestically in the sky added much to the dreamlike experience.

We pulled over to see a pretty stream weaving between the hills. On the other side of the road a waterfall fed water into it. There was a large Indian family pulled over who were blasting out Bollywood music from their car. An interesting juxtaposition. We stopped to watch the rest of the sunset by the massive Ladybower Reservoir. Our route took us two thirds up the northern slopes of Mam Tor. This was hard work for the car but provided nice views, despite it going dark.

The former A625 looks post-apocalyptic

We pulled over by the car park to the Blue John Cavern, to see the damaged former A625. This road has been closed since the 1970’s due to severe landslide, and has been twisted out of all recognition. It looks very post-apocalyptic. Though it was dark, we still enjoyed the experience of driving on my favourite ever road, Winnats Pass. This amazing winding road passes through a unique limestone gorge. There was barely any traffic at this time of night either.

From here, we started the journey home. It took us back up Winnats Pass – bonus! We even managed to get out for a photo standing on the road, since it was so quiet! The rest of the journey home was through well-trodden ground for us, including Buxton and Leek. We arrived home at around 10.30pm, thirteen hours after setting off. What a day!

This secret date is easy for any of you guys to replicate in your own area, as long as you can drive and have access to a car. Find the nicest roads, maybe going through some pleasant areas that you have never visited before. It is lovely getting out every now and then to admire the views or explore a new village or town. However, if you just drive without stopping, you could have a much shorter date. This is advisable for those of you with slightly less sense of adventure, or a lower threshold for discomfort. The most important part is the car picnic. Pack your favourite finger foods and snacks, and some nice drinks, and you are all set for an amazing date.

Have you ever had a car picnic? What are the nicest roads to drive on in your area?

To dance by the lake with your partner is amazingly romantic

This secret date saw us dance by the lake, with a radio. We chose Rudyard Lake, in the Staffordshire Moorlands, since it is relatively close to us. Rudyard Lake was constructed in 1799 to feed the Caldon Canal. In Victorian times, the lake was a tourism hotspot, with up to 20,000 people visiting each day. Indeed, the parents of Rudyard Kipling (the author of The Jungle Book) met at Rudyard Lake. It was the lake that they named their son after. A Victorian precursor to the Beckhams maybe? Matthew Webb, who became the first man to swim the English Channel, did demonstrations at Rudyard. Most notably, the ‘African Blondin’ Carlos Trower, walked over the lake on a tightrope in the 1860s and 1870s.

Although we have been there a few times for boating, we had never walked around the lake. Our plan therefore, was to walk around the lake, get dinner from the Rudyard Hotel, and then dance by the lake until sunset. We took with us a small portable radio, and tuned it into whatever station we came to that sounded half-decent. We parked up on the side of the road, and headed to the lake through the Rudyard Hotel’s grounds. The Rudyard Hotel is a very grand but quaint hotel. A huge, green lawn in front provides an idyllic scene. A pack of donkeys passed us as we locked up the car.

Rudyard Lake has seen a Victorian daredevil cross it on a tightrope

On entering Rudyard Lake, it was hard to miss the new sculpture atop an old oak tree. It features the aforementioned African Blondin. This Victorian daredevil walked across the lake on a tightrope, a feat that was replicated at a special event just last year. It is a brilliant sculpture, which also features an owl and a woodpecker. We started our visit with the Visitors Centre. The Visitors Centre has a very cute little balcony, with picture perfect views. Amy spotted a swallow nesting just underneath the former boathouse in which it was located. The visitor centre has a few interactive bits, including facts about the area, a stuffed fish that was once caught in the lake, and a mosaic of scenes relating to it.

After looking around for ten minutes or so, we began our walk around the lake in a counter-clockwise direction. The rowing boats (on which we once had a mini-disaster), and the vintage navy boat ‘Honey’, looked great on the water. I walked along the wall to avoid the crowds coming the opposite way, and we explored a pretty grassy area as well. The bridge over to The Dam has been filled with love locks, engraved with romantic couples names. The Dam itself looks mighty impressive, though it wasn’t being used when we visited.

A miniature train and boathouse are some of the lake’s attractions

A small miniature narrow gauge steam train takes people on rides up and down the eastern side of the lake. We followed its track to its most northerly point. There is lots to explore. First off, we climbed a set of stairs, made of wood and mud, to the Earl of Macclesfield Boathouse. This has recently been restored and houses a vintage boat underneath a glass floor. The bench looking out over the lake looks incredibly romantic, but another couple had already staked their claim to it. They have a great display about the restoration process in there though.

An absolutely amazing tree further on looks perfect for climbing. However, the potential drops put us off being overly brave, particularly for Amy who was wearing small heels. You can at least get some nice photos there though. The rest of the journey up to the northern side of the lake is rather uneventful. Despite this, the views are pretty enough. The best views are of the former boathouses on the other side of the lake that have been converted into rather expensive looking houses. One, called The Lady of the Lake, is reached by a bridge. Very cool.

The path deviated from the lake

I found a tree that looked like a reindeer, though Amy didn’t quite agree. As we passed under a bridge, we reached the northern edge of the lake. Unfortunately, the path goes away from the lake a bit here. So much so that we thought we were going wrong. Luckily, I’d picked up a map from the Visitor Centre which confirmed we were going the right way. We passed a small country road where we saw two very old cars pass by. Not old as in vintage, but like 1980s/1990s cars. I think one was an E reg, and the other an H reg. My first ever car was an H reg, a red Ford Focus.

Every now and then we could see a glimpse of the lake through the trees, but mostly this part of the walk was away from it. In fact, the long, winding, and scenic path looked to be going totally in the wrong direction from this point. Many large cows were grazing in the fields either side of the path. One huge cow was moving menacingly slow at the top end of the path, so much so that we thought she was considering charging at us. It turned out that she was hobbling slightly, so we figured she was either very old, pregnant, or injured.

Time had stood still on the western side of the lake

The scenery on the western side of Rudyard Lake was very cool indeed. It almost felt like we had gone back in time, since there was a ‘time stood still’ feel about the place. We saw nobody else, apart from a cyclist. There were a few really cool trees, a really knobbly one, and ones with interesting patterns on their bark. We next came across a rather surprising find – the spooky looking Cliffe Park Hall. With its stone lions menacingly guarding the open gateway, this castle inspired building is all boarded up now. Some of the windows are smashed open. It is clear that the building is no longer used, although perhaps squatters might stay here, who knows?

We started to get closer to the lake again by the Sailing Club, where we had our first sailing experience many years ago. The lake looked great whenever we could see it through the trees. The path went behind the houses by the lake that we had admired from the other side, including the Lady of the Lake. This looked idyllic from this side too. Soon enough we were down by the boat house where we had got our rowing boats on our last two visits here. A bunch of teenagers were carrying out a very long boat for a practice. The rest of the lake was pretty quiet though by now, since it was nearly 7.15pm.

Dinner at the Rudyard Hotel gave us energy to dance by the lake

Our secret date was to dance by the lake until the sun goes down. The sunset was due to happen at around 8.54pm. Therefore, we headed to the Rudyard Hotel to get some food at this point. We both really enjoyed our meals. We both had potato skins, filled with a mixture of potato, bacon, and cheese, and topped with melted cheese. There was also a wide selection of sauces, and a beautiful salad, to create a real extravaganaza of taste. Visually, it was superb as well, presented on a see-through plate. We weren’t sure if it would be a measly portion, but we each got three of the potato skins. Therefore, we were both extremely full and satisfied afterwards.

We sat on a large table near to the window by the front of the hotel. A room at the back was offering a carvery, and had many more tables available. Another nice touch of the hotel was the huge, cuddly bear standing by the doorway. There was a seat next to him, making it a perfect picture backdrop. Once we had eaten, we left to do our secret date.

Dancing until the sun goes down

The sunset looked absolutely beautiful on the lake. It was quite surprising that there was hardly anybody else there enjoying it. This worked out good for us though, since we don’t really enjoy dancing in front of people. After enjoying the sunset for a bit, we headed to the eastern side of the lake. Here, we had spotted a few secluded areas next to the water. We set up our radio, and danced away! It was great fun dancing around together. We danced to Oh Happy Day, Michael Jackson’s Stranger in Moscow, Badly Drawn Boy, Buffalo Springfield, and a latin-inspired number from Paul Simon amongst others. Sometimes we did more serious dancing, but mostly we were being silly with each other.

We both really enjoyed this secret date. Combined with a walk around the lake and a bite to eat, it made for a fantastic afternoon/evening out. Why not have a look at your local lake? See what activities they offer, and spend some time enjoying them, before dancing until the sun goes down. It is an utterly romantic way to spend time with your partner! You can pick up a portable radio for a very small amount of money.

Have you ever danced by the lake with your partner? If so, which lake did you choose?

Gladstone Pottery Museum is the top rated attraction in our city. What is top in yours?

Sometimes, our secret dates take us to our city of Stoke-on-Trent’s finest attractions. Gladstone Pottery Museum is the highest rated attraction in the city on Trip Advisor. You should always include some of the tourist highlights of your own city in your date nights. If you follow our adventures, you will know that our dates are extremely wide ranging. The last couple of weeks have seen us attending a spring fete, climbing a mountain, and going horseback riding. However, there is something to be said for exploring your own area, its culture, and its history. Don’t be that person that goes to all of the museums on holiday, but has never been to their local museum!

Gladstone Pottery Museum is going through something of a renaissance at the moment. In fact, the pottery industry in general is. BBC Two’s popular Great British Throwdown programme (anyone seen it? We haven’t I’m afraid), and the rise in modern brands like Emma Bridgewater has seen to that. Stoke-on-Trent’s culture has never been more in vogue. Let’s hope that this will see the city named the UK City of Culture for 2021.

Even from the outside, Gladstone Pottery Museum cuts an iconic figure. This original Victorian pottery factory, with its giant bottle kilns make for a memorable backdrop. You should begin your visit with the introductory video, before exiting through the tunnel, which the workers in this authentic Victorian pot bank would have entered through. Don’t miss the lodge, where all comings and goings would be recorded with a clocking machine.

Just follow the map and you won’t miss anything out at Gladstone Pottery Museum

You will be provided with a map, which has a helpful numbering system so that you won’t miss anything out. The Engine House is very impressive, with working machinery. Next to it, in the Slip House, you can learn how the slip was made from a combination of animal bone, china clay, and china stone, again with working machinery. An adjoining exhibition room shows how people worked in Victorian times. There is a display about the saggar makers and their bottom knockers, and you will learn how young boys would get paid almost as much as the women in those days!

The museum has a number of live demonstrations and hands-on activities that you can do. This can be ultra romantic, as well as a rewarding experience. You can have a go at pot making, on a proper potter’s wheel. After throwing the ball of clay down, the wheel starts to spin. You have to gently squeeze it into shape, keeping your fingers and the clay wet as you do it. This activity only costs a few pounds too.

The next room shows you all about the jiggering and jolleying processes, while you can see a demonstration of casting in the room after, which involves pouring liquid slip into moulds. For just a couple of pounds, you are able to make your own ceramic flower. You just pick a type of flower, roll the stem and make the petals. Great fun, and cute!

You can actually go INSIDE the bottle ovens at Gladstone Pottery Museum!

After the Greenhouse and Dipping rooms, you can enter inside your first bottle oven of the day, the Biscuit Bottle Oven, and then the Glost Bottle Oven. You can climb inside and see the saggars piled up high, with audio telling the stories of the horrendous conditions that the placers who had to fill and remove the saggars used to work in. A room near here contains a decorating demonstration. The staff are very friendly and more than happy to talk and answer questions while they paint a vase with relative ease due to their skill.

Now it is time to head inside the main Bottle Oven, where you can have great fun running around, and hiding from each other, especially if there is no-one else around. Stomping around in a bottle oven is one of life’s little-known pleasures! A nearby room shows a few videos about bottle ovens, and saggar makers.

Make sure you try our local delicacy, the oatcake!

Don’t worry about taking your own lunch to Gladstone Pottery Museum, since you must try the cafe. If you are new to the area, or even if not, you should definitely try the oatcakes. Oatcakes are a local delicacy, a bit like an oaty pancake. They are nothing like Scottish oatcakes, which are bafflingly better known. You can get all sorts of fillings, but we recommend bacon and cheese, which is served with salad. They also sell things like scones, served with cream and jam, if you fancy a nice treat.

Next up go to the first floor, up a staircase. One room leads to the next here, starting with the Mould Makers Workshop. This is filled to the brim with moulds. It leads to the Colour Gallery and Printing room, where the colours were mixed using various metals. There is even a room where gold was worked on, which was off-limits to most due to the value of the gold! You can sit for a while and watch a video about colour, before going through to the 1910 Office, kept as faithfully the same as possible.

Back on ground level, you should head to the Doctor’s House. It has a cool video presentation, and a fantastic recreation of the doctor’s office. It is great fun trying to get a funny photo on the desk! There is also an Enamel Kiln nearby. Next up is the Tile Gallery, with loads of tiles from throughout history. Don’t miss the hilarious video that H&R Johnson put together in around the 1950’s to show how easy it was to put the tiles on the wall yourself.

The history of the toilet is far more interesting than it sounds

The final exhibition is Flushed With Pride, a celebration of the toilet. They even use authentic smells as you see the holes in the ground and poor sanitation that people used to put up with. There is also a cool video featuring a cartoon rat in a sewer explaining the early story of the toilet. It is really interesting seeing how toilets have evolved throughout the ages. You can learn that Thomas Crapper didn’t really invent the toilet, and see a glass toilet that you can flush to see the inner workings. They also have an 1970’s avocado bathroom suite, that Amy can remember having one just like.

During the summer months, the museum is open between 10am and 5pm. As per usual, we were the first ones in, and the last ones out! We still didn’t have time to see everything. The museum often has extra events. We have visited twice now, and both times there was a free ceramic workshop taking place. We’ll be honest, they are aimed more at children, but if you don’t mind standing out, they are absolutely great fun. Check out their website to find out what events are coming up, as they really add to the experience. On the other hand, the museum is likely to be quieter on days that have no events planned. You will have to decide on which would suit you better, between low crowds and having more to do.

Have you ever been to Gladstone Pottery Museum? It is a wonderful celebration of Stoke-on-Trent’s unique culture and heritage. What attractions in your city show off its own culture and heritage best? 

A spring fete is a very British phenomenon

This secret date came in the form of a spring fete! A spring fete is a uniquely British phenomenon. Mostly held in small villages, they see various groups within the village set up stalls selling things, and organising fun games and activities for the community. Usually, a spring fete aims to raise funds for a local charity, or community group.

The spring fete we attended was not held in a village, but at Fordhall Organic Community Farm in Market Drayton. It was a lovely day for it – pleasant and sunny without being scorching hot. It cost £2.50 each to get in, a very reasonable price for what was on offer. The first thing we came to was a bunch of stalls selling everything from cupcakes to crafts. We didn’t pay much attention to the stalls, instead heading for the large marquee. Inside, we found a bunch of spring lambs in a pen! They looked extremely cosy in here, and were very cute to watch for a while.

Next, Amy got her face painted! She got her cheek done with flowers in purple and pink for just 50p. We also had a go on the tombola, which cost a pound, but unfortunately we didn’t win anything. We were given a consolation prize of a green balloon, which seemed to chuff Amy for some reason! The programme included a lot of timed events from 11.45am onwards, so we decided to run around trying all of the non-timed stuff first.

Many quaint activities but you could also fire a cannon!

We began with Dan’s Cannons, which was a huge tent filled with Robot Wars style cannons. You could have a go of some of the more basic tennis ball cannons. We paid £3 for 12 balls, which we shared between the two of us. The friendly team there even let us use two adjacent cannons so we could compete with each other. These cannons involved putting a tennis ball into a large tube, pushing it to the bottom with a rod, using a foot pump to inflate a bag, and then stamp on the bag to fire.

It was great fun, and they went surprisingly far. To be honest, it was more fun seeing how far they would go rather than trying to hit the targets. These were set up a bit too close, probably for children. Dan himself was testing out one of the more impressive cannons that looked like a wolf. Very cool. Amy managed to get a picture pretending to fire it to add to her cannon pictures collection.

After the cannons, we checked out the medieval re-enactors – The Ferrers Household. They base their activities on the time of the Wars of the Roses. A full little camp is set up doing woodwork in an authentic way. Geoff Turner was sitting nearby playing the hurdy-gurdy, which we stood watching for a few minutes. Looking at the stalls, we stopped at one where a guy was selling hand-painted animal bookmarks, which were made in Kenya. He even showed us a picture of the people that made them.

Some of the entertainment at the spring fete really raised the baa

There was a hay bale tunnel set up. However, this was really small so only intended for small children really, and a circus skills tent. They had all kinds of things to try, including hula-hooping and diabolo. Noticing a sheep shearing demonstration, we headed over to watch. A guy with the shears had a trailer full of sheep. He was bringing them out one by one to be sheared. We watched one sheep get done from start to finish, and it was really interesting. The shearer had to really hold the sheep tightly to prevent him moving. The sheep didn’t appear to be fighting against it. At the end, we were able to go and feel the ridiculously soft wool that had just come from the sheep.

We went back to the circus skills area, having a go on the stilts, and at plate-spinning, though not too successfully. Amy got the plate spinning working once though. Welly wanging was next, another traditional fete activity. It cost a pound each to have a go, and Amy went first. Her first attempt didn’t quite go to plan, but her second reached over ten metres. My first attempt was pitiful. I held the welly too high up, and it pretty much struck the ground as I swang it. My second one was a really good attempt though, going over fifteen metres. It wasn’t enough to put me at the top of the leaderboard, though.

Where else can you take bets on the next cow to do a poo, if not a spring fete?

Hawkeye Falconry had a marquee set up too, with many birds of prey on display. They were offering the chance to fly one of the birds for a pound. Therefore, we booked ourselves onto the next session, which was about an hour away. The most intriguing game of the day was Cow Pat Bingo. Spring fete activities at their best! We heard that they were now taking bets, so rushed over to the pen. The pen had been split into squares, and you had to choose a square, for a pound a go. If the first cow pat landed in your square, you won an afternoon tea. Amy wanted to go for lower numbers like our anniversary date. However, I didn’t think the cows would go right by the fence. Amy went with number 13, whilst I chose 38 which seemed a bit off centre from the middle.

Whilst waiting for the cows to be brought in, we got lunch from the Fordhall Farm Hog Roast van. I probably ate one of the cows from this farm! Amy had a sausage bap, whilst I went for a homemade beef burger with cheese and caramelised onions. Both were very nice. A dog agility competition was taking place. It was running as and when dogs and their owners turned up. Each one had a go then left, rather than being a competition where they all get together and take it in turns. We watched one of the dogs attempt the course, and it did quite well, particularly on the slalom cones. I think it was a poodle. Animal shows are another common feature at a spring fete.

Come on Daisy, its time to go to the toilet

It was now time for the cow pat bingo. We rushed over there to cheer the cows on towards our square. They had put two cows in the pen to increase the chances of one pooing soon, and they had apparently been well fed. One of the cows did exactly what I thought it wouldn’t do, and went right for square one. It proceeded to stay there for ages. The other one, however, hovered right over my square, 38, for what seemed an eternity. Still, nothing happened though.

The farmer Ben jumped in to try and move them around a bit to add some excitement. They went around Amy’s square quite a few times too. Ten whole minutes later, and there still wasn’t a single cow pat. Ben had to go off and get a couple more cows to increase the odds. One of them was very heavily pregnant. One person joked about whether a baby calf would count instead of a cow pat! It was over half an hour of watching cows in a pen before one of them did a rather small cow pat in square 22, which was kind of in between our two numbers.

Donkey rides were offered for children, which seemed popular. It was now time to attend our birds of prey flying session. While we waited, we tried out our juggling and balancing skills in the circus skills area. We felt a bit under time pressure, since so much stuff was going on. Dan’s Cannons was just about to launch his huge Dragon Cannon, and the sausage linking competition was setting up. The first bird used in our flying session was a British Barn Owl with a black face called Squeak. Unfortunately, Squeak really wouldn’t play ball, and kept flying off around the arena!

We watched Mylo fly low right towards our faces

The handler ended up swapping him with a Peruvian Striped Owl called Mylo. Amy was well chuffed since Mylo was her favourite one when we looked at them earlier on. We got to put on a glove, and the handler dangled some food of some kind in front of it. This caused Mylo to fly towards our faces, land on the glove, and we walked him back to his perch. It was very cool!

The sausage linking competition was about to begin. This involved three of the farm’s workers competing with each other to make a link of sausages in the quickest time possible. There was a second competition for the best quality. The same guy won both. I’m guessing he is the butcher! At the end, they were offering people the chance to have a go. It was very popular, though, so we decided to leave it.

As it was such a lovely day, we treated ourselves to an ice cream from Polly’s Vintage Ice Cream Parlour. It was served from a 1966 VW Split Screen Ice Cream van. It looked well retro. Jack the Jester was performing a show themed for St George’s Day, which was today. He called it ‘The Dragon and The Fool’. We ate our ice cream whilst we watched. Jack got the crowd hyped up first of all, whilst telling his story. The dragon was played by another guy, who was skilled with fire. His fire breathing was probably the best we have ever seen.

Fire breathing dragons? Only on St George’s Day!

During the show, an Avro Anson plane flew past, which was awesome, but completely distracted everybody, including Jack the Jester! He did some great juggling, doing unusual tricks, and getting the dragon to breathe more fire. Of course, soon enough everyone realised that he wasn’t just a fool, but a wizard. He had a cool big stick that bellowed green smoke, and let off sparks at various times. In the end, Jack the Jester ate the fire that the dragon had got, saving the day. It was an enjoyable show.

An animal show nearby had attracted a huge crowd. This was Simon Airey, from Corner Exotics. His animal show was one of the best I have seen. He is a very funny man, and yet educational as well, a bit like how Steve Irwin used to be. He was pretending to eat a hedgehog when we arrived, pretending it was a coconut snowball! A chinchilla was making its way around the crowd. His humour was pretty risque for the children watching at times, but he got away with it well.

A young girl brought the hedgehog around for us to stroke, only for it to do a massive poo on her. Gross. He then brought out some huge spiders, including a bird eating spider. We got to touch its hairy red banded legs! He was just letting them run all over his shirt, and didn’t care one bit. Not only did he have live animals literally by the crateload, but also showed us dinosaur fossils. It was a really entertaining show, and we really didn’t want to leave. However, we wanted to see a bit of everything else.

What to see? There’s so much going on at a spring fete!

We headed over to Hawkeye Falconry’s birds of prey show, where a flying demonstration was taking place. Literally, behind us, Dan’s Cannons was about to fire the Dragon Cannon again. It was a real dilemma as to which one to watch! We decided to watch the cannon, as a giant dart went hurtling through the air. A very mighty cannon indeed! Afterwards, we had a go on the assault course, which was rather basic, and in places, battered, by now.

We had heard that the pregnant cow from the cow pat bingo earlier had actually given birth! It was in the very same pen, trying to help the calf stand up for the first time, and licking it clean. Apparently, it had been trying for a while. We were there to see it stand up for the first time, and it stayed stood up for quite a while, only falling briefly, before getting up again. It also instinctively went to suckle his Mum’s udders to feed, though had a hard time gripping them!

We played with the diabolos in the circus skills area, and then noticed that Hawkeye Falconry were doing another handling session. This time it featured the other English Barn Owl, Bubble. This one was much better behaved. As we arrived towards the end of the session, they let us have a go at flying Bubble too.

A bumpy tractor ride is the perfect way to end a day at a spring fete

As the event was due to finish soon, we went on a tractor ride around the farm. We sat at the back of the large trailer. The tractor took us through the fields and past the river Tern, where we saw horses, cows and sheep. This cost just a pound too, for a half hour ride. After the ride, we went back over to the animal man. He was showing a large snake off to some of the farm staff. The stalls had pretty much come down now, as the event had officially finished.

Luckily, the giant snakes and ladders game that we saw in the marquee earlier was still there. No-one was playing it, so we had a game, with a large sponge dice. It was great fun. It took what seemed like ages, though, as we kept sliding back down on the snakes and having to start again. After a few attempts at getting the required number to finish, Amy won the game. We also got to see the spring lambs again, before taking a quick walk around the community farm.

We saw the pigs and some very energetic chickens, before finding ourselves in a marvellous community garden. It has been very well decorated, with tin can musical instruments, a coal fire oven, which had been making pizzas earlier on, and a seesaw. We were a bit too big to get that to work properly! We left at gone 5pm, over an hour after the event was scheduled to finish. All in all, our date had cost us just £26.50 for the two of us. This included all of the activities, games, and food. It was a great day out, and good value for money.

Have you ever been to a spring fete? What are your favourite activities?

A craft store offers a world of possibilities

So on a recent secret date, we decided to go to a craft store. We chose the huge and famous Fred Aldous, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. This iconic crafts store opened in 1886, originally selling supplies to the cotton merchants and master brewers of Manchester. Nowadays, this three floor emporium sells pretty much everything you might need to make just about anything.

There are kits to make things you would not even dream of being able to make yourself. Everything from soap to polka dot knickers! The first thing you notice is one of its two retro analog chemical photo booths. Not only is this a very cool feature, but it also keeps analogue photography alive in a very successful way. It is very popular, and often has a bit of a queue. If you want to get this done, and notice it empty, get in there quick! It is highly recommended, and quintessentially romantic to get a strip of photos taken with your partner.

The displays by the window are full of entertaining books. Don’t miss the satirical look at husbands, which is very funny. There are lots of craft books available, including some bewildering options. How about a ‘how to crochet London’ guide? The ground floor of the shop has a very hipster quality about it. It has a well-lit interior, wooden fittings, and large blown-up versions of photo booth pictures adorning the upper parts of the walls.

You won’t believe some of the stuff you can buy in a craft store

A lot of the stuff on sale here is high-quality, crafty-type gifts. I absolutely love the musical ruler (with how-to-play guide). It is also great fun playing with the kinetic sand, which you can attempt to make a tall tower with. You can even get another go at this on the lower floor! Some of the gifts available are extremely innovative. They include everything from an eraser that looks like a rhino, to a unicorn shaped pencil holder!

After we finished browsing the ground floor, we finally took advantage of the black and white photo booth. Built in 1968, this particular booth spent most of its life in a Woolworth’s store in Canada. They have to top up and stir the chemicals every single morning to make sure it is in good working order. Unlike modern machines, it just takes the photos in fairly quick succession. Therefore, it is a good idea to choose your expressions before paying your £3 fee. Despite us doing so, we were still rather taken aback by the first flash. It comes rather quickly without warning. Three minutes later, the images print out. You will have to hold on to them for a while as the ink will still be wet for quite a few minutes afterwards. We were really chuffed with the outcome though, despite me looking very tanned next to Amy!

There is also a second retro photo booth. This colour one from 1986 is the only one of its kind left in Western Europe. Again, we had fun creating our poses, and three minutes later, our photos appeared.

Craft stores are havens for artists of all kinds

Next, we headed down to Basement One. Though Fred Aldous is a three floor store, the ground floor is the highest one. Basement One is packed full to the brim with aisles and aisles of artists materials of all kinds. They stock everything from brushes and paints, to beads and sequins. Amy spotted a Tokidoki colouring book that she loved. I was quite taken with the sculpting kits, which enable you to make a cast of your own face or body parts. How cool is that?

They have a huge collection of models that you can make from wood. You can make your own Stephenson’s Rocket or the Leaning Tower of Pisa! There is also a lot of knitting and embroidery equipment. Maybe you would like to make your own teddy bear, which you can fill with some remarkably soft fur. After a bit of fun testing out the pens, glitter paints and feathers, we headed down to Basement Two. This is filled with paper, card, and canvases in a whole myriad of sizes and styles.

Around the sides are studios for hire, including a photography studio, and laser cutting workshop. We considered getting our Planet Full Of Love logo made into a plastic 3-D logo to hold in front of various world landmarks. We did actually find someone to ask about it, but he wasn’t exactly over-the-top helpful. However, this store is certainly a treasure. It is also the closest thing I have seen to the dearly-missed Webberley’s, in our home town of Stoke-on-Trent. Independent craft stores are becoming a bit of a rarity, yet they offer so much inspiration.

You could easily spend hours in a craft store with your partner

The only other negative is that the prices are a bit on the high side. However, it looks like they stock from quality suppliers, so sometimes you get what you pay for. All-in-all, we spent over two and a half hours exploring Fred Aldous. We wouldn’t have been bored if we could have spent longer still. A brief look around the Ground Floor shelves on the way out showed us many things we had missed on our first time around. This place is massively impressive.

We highly recommend visiting a craft store with your partner. Not only are there countless things to pique your interest, but you could also find something to make together. Making things together requires the sort of teamwork that all great relationships have. Of course, you can feel a sense of pride when you see the finished article too. Visiting a craft store is completely free of charge. However, you should probably budget a little bit of money to make a purchase. They are extremely difficult places to leave empty handed from!

What are your local craft stores like? Do you love browsing them with your partner? 

Ain’t no mountain high enough

So our secret date was to climb a mountain! Yeah, we don’t do things by halves. We chose Snowdon – the highest mountain in Wales, and higher than any of England’s mountains! It was to be the first mountain I had ever climbed. Amy has climbed Snowdon once before, as a teenager. Her Dad and his friends used to go on walking holidays and took the kids with them. She remembers it having some rather hairy moments.

I was pretty worried about it. Envisaging having an asthma attack, or even a heart attack, I got Amy to take my inhaler and some aspirin with us, just to be on the safe side! I was once diagnosed with asthma, yet have never had any side effects from it, even after heavy exercise. Probably, a misdiagnosis for a chest infection. As I still have the inhaler I was prescribed, though, I thought it safer to take it with us!

We chose to climb the mountain using the Snowdon Ranger path. Parking here costs £5 per day, or £2.50 for four hours. However, I can’t imagine why anyone  would pay for the four hours, since on average it takes six hours to ascend and descend the mountain. By the time we finally set off on our expedition, it was nearly 10am. Despite picking one of the ‘quieter’ routes up, it was still pretty busy. The one major benefit of having so many other people going up the mountain, though, was that we didn’t need to use the map or compass we took with us once. We could always see people ahead of us, which showed us the path.

Victorians were taken up by the original Snowdon Ranger

The Snowdon Ranger path was the very first man-made path up the mountain. It was developed by John Morton AKA the Snowdon Ranger, who used to take Victorian visitors up the path and built an inn on the site where the youth hostel is now, right by the car park. This was in the early 1800s, meaning that people have been climbing the mountain this way for around 200 years! This path isn’t the easiest route up, as that is the Llanberis Path. However, we have seen that path described as being as interesting as watching paint dry.

We chose the Snowdon Ranger path because it offers great views, and is still suitable for inexperienced climbers. The path is eight miles long. Soon enough we came across a marker pointing the way, and we were off. We had been advised to wear layers. For much of the journey I was roasting hot in my four layers, which included a t-shirt, polo neck top, jacket and big coat. It was certainly affecting my enjoyment a bit, as it was a lovely day down on the ground.

The views will slow you down as much as your legs

After crossing the train tracks near to the tranquil Llyn Cwellyn, we followed a sign painted on to a large rock, which stated ‘path’, with an arrow towards a fairly rapid climb up some zig zags. This was next to a farmhouse with a waterwheel attached to it. At this stage, it was pretty similar to any other walk I have been on in the past. The views were already distracting though, and the amount of people that overtook us as we stopped to admire them or take photographs was unbelievable. In fact, I don’t think we actually did overtake anyone who wasn’t having a rest all the way up! I got so warm that I had to take my coat off and carry it.

The views of the lake just kept getting better and better the further we went up. Crossing a stream, the path becomes very gravelly, ascending towards the majestic lake, Llyn Ffynnon-y-gwas. The name means ‘lake of the servant’s spring’, named after a shepherd that apparently drowned whilst washing his master’s sheep. After initially passing the lake, we began a very steep climb over a rocky path that was rather loose underfoot. You could see the path rising straight up now.

We’re like ants on a ant hill up here

As we got a bit higher, the views of the lake became even more spectacular. The mountains behind, the sun shining down on them, the clouds above and the sea in the distance all combined beautifully. The views were so incredible that many groups were taking advantage of any rocks that looked vaguely comfortable to sit on and have an early lunch. As tempting as this was, we decided to hold out until at least 12pm. At around this point, we scrambled up one of the mountain slopes to a rocky area where we could enjoy our lunch and the views without being surrounded by people. Whilst having our sandwiches, we had a bit of a camera mishap that resulted in a broken LCD screen. For the rest of our trip, we had to completely guess what we were taking pictures of. What a nightmare!

The path started to get steeper and steeper, with the rocks loose the whole way. Amy was going much faster than me. My legs started to slow, though I wasn’t necessarily struggling. Soon enough, the treacherous path ahead revealed the summit of Snowdon for the first time. It was remarkably hazy, however, and you couldn’t see much at all. It appeared that there was a huge line of people waiting to get to the top. The path really opened up towards the top, with many people straying off the path onto the grassy banks. We looked like we were heading into the clouds. The people at the summit literally looked like ants on a ant hill.

Make sure to take hat and gloves for Snowdon’s Summit!

It was a bit of a trudge, but the end was in sight. The views in each direction were extraordinary. Soon enough, we reached the point where the Snowdon Mountain Railway crossed the path, and where our path merged with the main Llanberis Path. The views just kept getting better and better, though it was a lot busier up here. We jumped onto a rather precarious ledge to look out over the opposite side of the mountain for the first time.

The rest of the way up was very scrambly, and extremely busy. It was hard to stop and take it all in to be honest. We noticed that frost had developed up here as it was so cold. Indeed, we had already put our hats and gloves on by this point. Finally, we were there and just a short climb up the final stairs to the summit was all it took. This was it, I had finally climbed my first mountain and our first one together!

It took us around four hours to ascend to the summit, though we did stop for lunch on the way, as well as taking lots of pictures. The summit was so incredibly busy that there was no way to really admire the views from it, but from the top of the mountain the views were striking. It turned out that we were very lucky with the views we did get, as the summit quickly misted over completely, making it difficult to see more than a few steps ahead. Rather dangerous for being at the top of a steep mountain!

Don’t take any chances on Snowdon

We spent around an hour at the summit. There were ice cubes forming between the fence up here, it was so cold. Amy kept wanting to go exploring the other side of the mountain, but I had to talk her out of it since we had no idea if there was a sheer drop or not. Anyway, you couldn’t see anything even if not. To our surprise, we had full phone signal up there, so decided to call our parents! Whilst we were heading up to the summit for the second time, we noticed a group of four lads who decided to strip down to a pair of shorts for a funny photograph.

The queue up to the summit now was ridiculously long and slow-moving. Eventually, we were next to the trig point again, and we made sure to ask the person taking our photo to include it in the picture. This was pretty difficult with the screen having broken, mind!

After this, we started our descent. We started off by walking down the train tracks. As we started to descend further still, the views started coming back as the mist cleared away. We were quite surprised just how quiet the Snowdon Ranger path was on the way back down. At some points, we could barely see anybody else. Either we had taken that long, or stayed that long (an hour at the summit), or everyone had descended a different path, but there were far less people on the way down.

Pick a sensible time – you don’t want to be making your way down a mountain at night

We decided to stop at a vantage point similar to where we had taken pictures when we stopped for lunch to try and get the perfect shot. The lack of people using the path made this much easier too. One thing that did surprise us, however, was that some people were only just starting the ascent when we neared the bottom at close to 6pm. By our reckoning, it would be at least midnight when they returned. It didn’t seem too sensible, but who are we to argue?

Many of the sheep towards the lower part of the mountains were more active now, too, with less people to disturb them. Little lambs were leaping around joyfully. The adult sheep actually sounded really weird, and were freaking us out and making us laugh in equal measure. It was a long slog back down the mountain, at times as difficult as the ascent. It was giving us peace of mind knowing the route though, and soon enough that little farmhouse with the waterwheel came back into view. Our car was one of the last ones left in the car park!

Climbing a mountain with your partner is one of life’s treasures

The descent took us around three hours. Strangely, despite the exertion, we both felt surprisingly energetic still. It was a great experience climbing a mountain together, and one that we wholeheartedly recommend you and your partner try together. Make sure to pack everything needed for your mountain of choice. Of course, some are easier than others. Even on a mountain, like on Snowdon, there are different routes up. Pick one that you can both feel comfortable with. Take a map and compass to avoid getting lost. Wrap up in layers, as the temperature at the top will be much colder than on the ground. Also, don’t forget to take lots and lots of water and snacks, and stay safe! It will be well worth it, and to achieve something like this together is very special indeed.

Have you and your partner ever climbed a mountain together? What mountain would you like to conquer?