A snowy goodbye to 2014

It was a cold but cosy end to our time in England.

Overnight, the skies opened up, covering the Peak District in a thick blanket of snow and we awoke to stunning views over the hills outside the window.

I stepped outside onto the balcony to breathe in the sharp, cold air and take in the panoramic winter landscape across Hope Valley.

In my flimsy pyjamas, the chill rapidly burrowed itself deep into my bones, and I quickly retreated back inside to a cup of steaming tea. From a cosy seat on the sofa, we enjoyed the view from the warm comfort of home for a few hours.

But nature was calling us through the window, and it wasn't long before we gave in to its summons, bundled up in our warmest winter woolies and stepped outside again. Snow is much more fun when you're in it.

Everybody knows that the best antidote to feeling cold to the core is a long late lunch by the fire in a traditional English pub.

By the time we left our seats and wrapped up in scarves and hats once more, the sun had disappeared and darkness had spread across the village.

But if anything, Hathersage looked even prettier by night. I admired the twinkling Christmas lights which lit up the snow still carpeting the ground beneath them.

It was almost time to bid farewell to snowy England, and to 2014. 

But it really was the greatest of endings.

Thanks to my lovely brother and sister in law for supplying a couple of these beautiful pictures.