After being in lockdown on and off for about a year we found ourselves driving three and a half hours away from home into the Midlands – The Peak District. It has been on my list of places to visit for forever. Hills and mountains have always been a favourite with us and to venture to a place we’ve never gone before with the enticing name of The Peak District was very exciting.
As the landscape changed into rural outstretched vistas I could feel my soul breathe. Having grown up in the Orange Freestate in South Africa which consists out of farms and close knit communities it was very refreshing to glimpse a bit of it here. Derbyshire is the county that we are staying in and we’ve found the people a friendly bunch. If you ask for directions you don’t just get an answer you get a whole conversation. Bliss.
On the farm where we are staying in a converted barn – with low beams you have to duck for – above stables filled with horses, we had the best part of rustic combined with luxury in the form of a dishwasher, gas barbeque and jacuzzi and sauna. Gypsy the horse greeted us over the low stone wall, nuzzling our hands for carrots and the two black Labradors who live on the farm yard made themselves at home at our feet. Our view from our table out across the valley make us feel like we are in gazing out across the Peak district from our front porch. Which we are…
Today we took a drive which looks a lot like the picture below…we explored the Derwent Reservoir area. The boys skipped stones on the water… The dam walls were built more than a hundred years ago. These dams now supply water to most of Derbyshire. Those people who did the back breaking work of building them had no idea that long after they’d died their handiwork would serve to provide for thousands of people. Would that whatever we build create something for the generations to come too. Even if it is simply to protect the beautiful place we call earth…
These hills have been around for longer than I can count… The landscape is dotted with buildings that have been around hundreds of years… Crosses placed upon the hills to consecrate them to God which have withstood the elements for a thousand years. Rock solid.
We don’t always see the fruit of our labour straight away but I believe that every single thing you do in love ripples out like the splash of a stone in water. It’s effect felt further than we could ever know. Maybe even hundreds or thousands of years from now… Selah.
Clara Berge 