Castle and Cave

We set out in the morning for Castleton, a village that hosts four or more limestone caverns, and a ruined Norman castle called Peveril. Driving there was, well, almost pleasant. We went through Buxton and on north to Winnat's Pass, and at times I had flashes of the car being like an extension of my body: I could feel where it was going. I could be almost... casual.

We parked at the Visitors' Centre in Castleton, and followed a school group up the streets to the Peveril Castle office. This was our first encounter with English Heritage, a group that operates quite a few historic sites in England. It is once of these organizations we've heard offer you good discounts if you're a member, like the Royal Bird Preservation Society, or the National Trust. We joined up because for £77,because it will admit the whole family free to this and future EH sites, and admissions typically run more than £10 for a family. I think if we visit five or six sites it'll have paid for itself.

But what was so interesting about Peveril was how well it was done. The little visitors' centre was beautifully done; the castle itself was scrupulously kept; the girl runing the front desk was so very pleasant and nice and friendly. It strikes me that when we talk about the difference between Canada and the UK, when we talk about the UK being smarter and more classy, what we really mean is that people aim to do things well here. They take a personal interest in you; they act in a friendly manner (i.e., they act like they're you're friend). In North America there is, what: a fear that being friendly would not be professional?

After lunch at a pub, we went to see one of the caverns. (Note to self: at next pub we can order two meals to feed four people.) I convinced everyone that we should see Speedwell Cavern because you tour it by boat, which seemed rather bizarre and unique to me. What it turned out to be was, in essence, an abandoned mine, where they dug a tunnel and filled it with water to float ore out in boats. So, a bit of a disappointment. Hardly anything to see.

However the boat ride through the tunnel was an eye-opener. It was one of those rare experiences where you get to see something before the Safety Committee reviews it. First they pass out hard hats, and you think, "Well, that adds to the effect." But no: in fact we hit our head so many times on the low ceiling, the hard hats were essential. For more thoughts on their safety practices from the Time Before Safety see my other blog entry here.

Back in Buxton we stopped at a candy shop and an Airfix model shop. I hung out on the street and topped up the cell phones and activated the voice mail. I noticed that the recorded woman's voice said for me to hit the "hash mark" (#) instead of calling it, as I would, the "pound sign." Obviously here the "pound sign is £.

Incidentally, what is going on with "Top up now?" Everywhere I go I see little signs in windows inviting me to "top up now", meaning to add money to my pay-as-you-go mobile (aka cell phone). Is this the dominant way of paying for mobiles here? At home we might see pay-and-talk options advertised as bus stations and youth hostels, but most people have a flat fee monthly, because it's cheaper than paying as you talk. But in England perhaps it's cheaper to pay as you go.

I began a list today of funny things the British live with. It's a very progressive country, but it is, well--is "hampered" the right word?--by some odd cultural baggage. In other words, these are the things you would use to complete the sentence, "It looks great to live here, but one thing you would have to put up with is..."

First thing on my list is something called "Salad Cream." Heinz sells one version, which would lead you to suppose, and correctly so, that it's in the condiment section of the market. It looks like a kind of runny white mayonnaise. Must try some, so can confirm that it is as dreadful as it looks.

Everywhere we go, by the way, I see English flags. Not the Union Jack, but a red cross on a white field: like the Swedish flag, but red on white. It's the cross of St. George; it's the English component of the Union Jack, whose blue cross, the cross of St.Andrew, is the Scottish component. Why do people want to fly this English flag? There seems to be something to find out here.

Made bread with Aprille, which we had with some of her superb roasted tomato soup for dinner. More Risk in the evening. We make it two turns tonight before falling asleep.