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Published: June 22nd 2013
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A Ruver Runs Through it
Lovely Bakewell with the sun shining down Today saw the start of our UK adventure with a quick get away for our 4th Wedding Anniversary.
We needed somewhere that wasn't too far away from home so we could get back early on the
Thursday Morning so with a little recommendation from the parents we headed to the Derbyshire Dales and the gorgeous little town of Bakewell, home of the infamous Bakewell Tart!
Deciding to take the more scenic route and coming off the motorway early north of Chesterfield we admired the vast views up and over the M1 as it meandered its way in the valley and envied the houses to our right that woke up to the view everyday.
With no sat nav and no map we were reliant on our noses and the odd road sign that thankfully didn't let us down and after our 1 hour 45min leisurely drive we rocked up into Bakewell with its 'river running through it', swans, geese, coots and ducks not to mention its hundreds of cafes and cake shops..... ( we were starting to see why my Mum likes it so much).
Popping 2hours on the meter we headed for a wander around, sampling a sandwich
Our Anniversary Treat
Steak on the Barby.... Beautiful .... by the river, watching some very huge trout or salmon not sure which fight the current up stream over the weirs.
The weather was lovely and it would have been so easy to stay there and catch a few rays but we headed up the hill to the church and nosed at a few of the cute houses before making our way back via the Coop for a bottle of wine to go with our steak we'd bought earlier as our anniversary treat!
Onwards to our campsite for the next two nights...
Lathkill Dale just on the outskirts of the tiny village of Monyash. It's only about 8 miles from the town of Bakewell but it has that in the middle of the Dales feel to it. Miles and miles of rolling green hills with animals grazing in them and dry stone walls separating them and very few houses to be seen.Being almost
6pm when we arrived we knew all we were going to do on our first night in the campsite, where we were one of only 2 couples there, was chill out, enjoy the views and the sunset, cook our steak and drink our beverages!
This was the first time our tent had been out since T in the Park 2007 and it was filthy, not too smelly mind, so all good! Not being avid campers we'd paid for electricity not realising you needed a transformer to operate it and we couldn't just plug our kettle into it, so having the pick of almost all the campsite we opted for one of the pitches at the top of the site next to the cows with much better views and just that bit further away from the road... (And the toilets!!!!)Unfortunately the weather turned a bit chilly and clouded over so we were huddled in the tent by
10pm but it was still light... One if the joys of British Summers, the endless days....A bit chilly for me to sleep whilst the sun was down but thankfully by
4am it was up again and warmed up a bit so managed a good 5 hours kip before we got up and stole the power socket in the shower block to make our early morning cuppa!
After reading all the walking guide books in the tourist information office in Bakewell the previous day we had a
Burning the steak off
14 miles, thank heavens for the cake stop ;) nice big 12 miler planned taking us from the campsite, through Lathgill Dale to the village of Over Haddon, then up and over farm lands towards Youlgreave then back along the Limestone Way down into Monyash.Not being your run of the mill campers it was just gone Midday when we headed left out of the campsite, down the road, past the WCs and right onto Lathkill Dale Path. It's definitely a well trodden path and the first couple of hours which is in the valley with water to your right is pretty flat and easy. There are some little juts off the side, which take you up to the top of the valley walls and give your heart a bit of a work out as well as your legs not to mention some rewarding views when you get there. As you hit the natural reservoir you get to see more wildlife and this time of year baby birds in abundance. As we passed the little waterfall, dippers and cray wagtails were a welcome reason to stop and observe for a minute, whilst a bit further on baby coots were taking what looked like their first swim out of the nest,
whilst another coot was still on her nest and Mrs Mallard was still guarding her fluffy new borns!Plenty of wild orchids to see too along with the native 'Jacob's Ladder', which is named because of its leaves looking like a ladder, the ones we saw were purple and very pretty.
Like I say after about 1 hour 30 mins we hit the end of that part of the trail and headed into the little village of Over Haddon, well after a pretty energetic hike up the hill that is.... Thankfully the first house on the left had decided to make an extra bob or two and had a board out advertising cakes, coffees and teas in their garden! Just what the doctor ordered a cake stop!!!! Jon surprise surprise went for chocolate fudge brownie and I thought it would be rude not to have a slice of homemade Bakewell Tart.
Over Haddon is another really cute little village but surprisingly some of the houses aren't as old as they look, like the one we stopped at for a cuppa, it looked like a cute little stone cottage from the 1900s but in fact was built in the 70's!
Onwards and very much upwards.... If the first half of the day was easy the second half of the day certainly wasn't! Lots of hills, lots of styles, looks of lambs and calves and more undulating hills, a couple of wrong turns and long cuts and we finally saw the welcome site of the church spire of Monyash in the distance and after 3 hours 30 mins since our last little pit stop we were having a welcome beverage and a packet of Guiness Crisps in the Bulls Head!
Time to head back to our campsite for another barby and hot shower as the sun went down on a lovely couple of days in the Peak District.
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Lis
non-member comment
Yummy Bakewell Tart
Hi there, so good to hear from you, I love the Peak District. Rebecca's at Sheffield Uni (well just finished) but going back there in Sept, & its great to visit that area when I visit her. I always come off the M1 at Chesterfield & look at the twisted spire that doesn't fall down ! Lots of lovely walks in that area & all so different. Last time I visited friends in Castleton a tiny village with a stream & ducks but also a huge cave under the cliff. It was shut when I got there but was impressive to look at through I closed gate. Take Care, Love from Lis ( last seen at the Hostel in El Calafate :) )