Afternoon folks!

I'm back home after my second day at the School of Artisan Food, & my legs are killing me!  The cycle ride to School & back, whilst not particularly strenuous, is beginning to tell...  I haven't ridden a bike with any regularity for a number of years, so three 3 mile bike rides in 2 days is quite a shock to the system!

But I'm confident that after a few more days I'll get used to the exercise & the ache will have worn off  =)

Day 2 has been quite hectic really; it started with a talk about the history of the Estate & the various owners from Derek Adlam.  It was quite interesting really, although I doubt I'll be able to remember all the details! 

The Estate boasts some beautiful buildings, some of which are pictured below...

Including our lovely School  =)
These are the main gates into the courtyard...

And here you can see some of my fellow students hurrying to the entrance to get out of the rain!

 After the talk, we headed out to the Welbeck Farm Shop, for a chat with Michael, the manager, & a look round, sampling the breads & seeing what other wonderful produce they sell.  After that, a quick stop at The Harley Gallery for a tour & to learn more about what they do & sell.

We then headed back to School for a lovely lunch, this time tasty homemade soup & bread!  After lunch, we went for a tour of the Welbeck Abbey Brewery, one of the newest additions to the Estate.  It was fabulous in the Brewery, the smell of malted barley was wonderful & hit you straight away!  We sampled two of the different types of barley they use, & we saw the hops they use.  No sampling of that one, but you could rub some between your hands & smell the wonderful citrus aromas; almost grapefruity, but less fresh & zingy.  We were even able to see a batch of beer brewing, with the lovely foamy yeast on top! =D  Almost makes me wish I was a fan of ale... Oh well!  I've plenty of time to learn!

After the tour of the brewery it was back to School for a study skills refresher course.  A little overwhelming, but it will all come in handy, especially for those of us who haven't been in education for some time. 

Sadly, the heavens had opened again this afternoon, so it was another wet ride home, & I'm fairly certain the hills were steeper than yesterday too!

Tomorrow we've got our Introduction to Dairy, which I'm really looking forward to; we're going to be making a soft cheese I think, & we may even get to go see some goats!  Hopefully there will be lots of pictures!  =D