Hello Taddington, Derbyshire

The drive up was really easy.  Far less traffic and fewer European trucks on the road.   We leave the motorway and negotiate the winding roads, waves of memories and nostalgia overwhelm us.  Beautiful stone walls, expanses of green dotted with sheep and finally the signpost into Taddington.  There could not be a greater contrast to the busy streets of Hanoi.

As we turn into the village, Martina and Dean leap up and wave their arms in a warm welcome.  

After a tour of the cottage which is so quirky and gorgeous we sit down to a delicious meal of lasagna, salad and French wines.  Martina and Dean are such fun.  I hope they enjoy Oz!

It was so good to walk through the village with them and to 'get to know' the characters living there.  In this cottage there are a couple from Hong Kong who are here because they want their child to be born in UK and to have a British passport.  Here is a pilot who now flies from Manchester rather than Heathrow.  He's in Peru at the moment. We chat with the guy who mows the grass at the church... he had racehorses in London but now lives here and is gradually renovating and selling houses in the village...

A couple of days later how impressed is my cousin when we stroll though the village and I point out all the different characters.  How long have you lived here?  Oh two days I say airily!

The war memorial is interesting.  So sad that so many brothers enlisted together. We were reading their names when we saw that most of their surnames were Mycock.  Unfortunately if your initial is C or even G but in Derbyshire where 'E' is a statement of surprise 'E Mycock could be difficult!