We had a lovely 3 nights staying with Loni & Peter Papprill in the Cheshire village of Prestbury, [One of those evenings we contacted Alan and Joy via Skype so they could speak with Loni & Peter with whome they visited about 3 years ago]
It had been 20 years since I last visited with them so we had much to catch up on as the annual Christmas letter does not do the connection justice. Their home was as I remembered it; beautifully designed with many lovely art works on the walls, interesting books to browse and a sunny kitchen. The garden is huge with different aspects to it - a wooded, more wild section on the lower slopes overlooking the river & rail line, a flower garden beautifully ordered closer to the house & a more opem area at the front. The whole area must be an exploration & play treat for the grandchildren.
Both Loni & Peter are now retired from their Cheese Detective role but are just as busy with community activities and looking after the delightful grandchildren who live locally. It was lovely to meet the boys with their parents, Simon and Kim as the last time I met Simon was when he was still a lad way back in 1987 and I had never met Kim. Simon works for the Canal and River Trust so it was very interesting to talk with him about his work and the experiences we have had on the canals in England so far. Kim is about to start a new job but before that they are all going on a holiday break to Samos in Greece.
Sadly we did not get to catch up with Adrian though he was up Chester way on the Saturday visiting with his in-laws over from Brisbane. That was the day we went to Hebden Bridge so were not able to join Loni & Peter when they went over to for lunch in Chester with Adrian, Jenny, their girls & the in-laws.
The time we spent with Loni and Peter meant we learnt much more about their lives and the things they are interested in. Peter continues to be passionate about local food and the stories that go with them, and is excited about the potential for cycle routes being also gourmet routes for tourists. Loni enjoys family life - the immediate family in the UK and her family in Germany - she will celebrate her 80th birthday with as many family members as possible later this year. She certainly has her finger on the pulse of family and community life.
Through their eyes we gained an insight into the vibrant village of Buxton when they took us there on Friday afternoon and on Sunday (after we had spent a bit of time putting new front brakes on my bike) we drove with them to Macclesfield where we enjoyed a Thai meal at Chilli Banana and a walk on the hills above the town in an area called Teggs Nose. Later in the afternoon we went with them to the Prestbury Village Street Festival - the first of its kind - and enjoyed browsing the stalls and watching the interactions of the locals. There were lots of activities for the children such as donkey rides and farm petting zoo as well as face painting stalls. Loni & Peter were stopped by so many people and were enjoying catching up that, as we had had enough, we said we would mosey on back to their place so they could talk longer. This we did, giving us time to write postcards and read the paper. When they returned we ate a cheese board supper before I talked Peter through some tips for using his email system. Later Simon joined us to talk further about his work and his family life.
All to soon Monday morning (3rd July) came around & it was time for us to move on so we packed up our gear - much of it freshly laundered - and cycled to Knutsford via Cheshire Way. The weather wasn't settled so we got a couple of showers on the way but the sun came out by lunchtime when we arrived in the cute village of Knutsford.
[Photos on my other camera - to be added later]
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