At the WI Christmas party last week, I'd gotten a tip that the best charity shops in the area were to be found in Alderly Edge, about 45 minutes south of Didsbury. Alderly Edge was a very charming little village but every few minutes the air would be punctured by the incongruous sound of a souped-up car aggressively revving. We had a modest haul, although I was sad to see that one of the four charity shops in town was shut for the day. The lady at the "Scandinavian Lifestyle" store told my mom that there was an illegal car meet somewhere in town that would go on until the cops came, and that all the store owners hate them because people don't like going out when they happen, and if they are the reason that the last charity shop had closed then I join them in their opprobrium. She also told my mom the larger sizes are piling up in the store because "Everyone's on the skinny pill."

People keep telling us we simply MUST go to the Peak District. A chatty man in the train station told us about a spot where the cover of a Verve album was shot.