From the Lake District to the Peak District.

Friday 23 July

Today was a travelling day so they packed me up and set off to the Peaks. They stopped at Halfords to see if they could buy some chocks, as the campsite they are hoping to go to at Bakewell has very little level ground and recommends you bring chocks. The only ones they had looked like toy ones so they forgot about it.

Alan set the Tom Tom and the lady seemed pretty happy and Mary did as she was told. It works like this. Alan holds the Tom Tom in his hand. When the lady talks he holds it to his ear so he can hear it and then he relays the message to Mary. It is a bit hard to hear otherwise, not that I am noisy of course!

Mary knew that the Moto at Lancaster services had free Wifi so they timed their morning tea to take advantage of this. She had a great session over a cup of coffee, checking email, checking the bank accounts and posting the blog.

Then it was back on the road again and I got to go quite fast and actually passed a truck. Then we got into the slow traffic and it was first and second gear for ages and lots of stopping and starting. It gave me time to read a few things on other vehicles. One was Graduate Cleaners Wanted. Do you actually need a degree to clean now? The other one was on a TK Maxx truck and it said, “does my chassis look big in this?” Further down the road I saw a sign to Last Drop Village. What could that mean? Speaking of last drops, Alan is keeping me satisfied with liquids. He checks on my oil and water daily, but it is the spirits that I am really fond of and he keeps me well topped with these.

The Tom Tom lady confused them once with her directions when she said to keep right which they did and then a 5th lane suddenly appeared in the middle that they were meant to take. She replanned the route and successfully turned them around at the next roundabout.

Mary was hopeful that they would get to Hardwick Hall, but time was going by and it was now the middle of the afternoon. However when they reached the turn off to the campsite where they were planning to go for the night, they saw the signs to the Hall and followed them. It was a short distance down the road and they thought they had time to squeeze a visit in. Had it not been National Trust they would have been very reluctant to pay the asking price £10 50 each an hour before closing time. The drive in took nearly five minutes. To say the property is secluded is an understatement. It is certainly are not “overlooked”.

The little kiwis weren’t really interested in bunch of old furniture and tapestries, so they stayed and kept me company while Mary and Alan went into the house and Mary will write about it.

Hardwick was the home of Bess Hardwick built in the 1590’s when she was in her 70’s and had already seen off four husbands. There is a stunning collection of rich tapestries hanging floor to ceiling in every room; some of the finest tapestries in Europe. There is also amazing plaster work throughout the house. It is very light and airy described as having more glass than wall. The whole place is quite beyond description, the scale is enormous. The tapestries are complimented by one of the finest collections of Elizabethan furniture in England. We managed to get through the house before it closed at 4.30 and then spent some time in the immediate garden but didn’t have time to explore the extensive grounds which were several acres.

Back in the van they turned the Tom Tom on to find the campsite at Teversal. It was amazingly close but down a narrow lane with passing bays. On arrival we wondered if we would get in as they were turning another couple away. Seems you have to stay two nights in the high season if you book ahead. However they are prepared to fill up any vacant spots late in the day with casuals, so we got in.

The vans are big and flash here and so are the cars that pull the caravans which are also very luxurious. The ablutions block is 5 star. We have never seen anything like it. Each shower has its own toilet and hand basin. The showers are automatic, you just stand under them to make them work. The floor tiles have under floor heating. It is all brand new and no expense has been spared.

We talked to the custodian about finding a campsite in Bakewell and he pointed out that the clubsite has no showers and toilets. He kindly printed a list of all the campsites in the area and Mary started ringing and found them all full. As they really need to stay in or around Bakewell tomorrow night they started to despair. In the end she rang the club site and they had a space, with no ablutions, so they took it, but had to take it for two nights as that is the condition of pre booking in the high season. So they are going to have to make the most of these beautiful facilities before they move on. They have a 60th birthday party to go to in Bakewell on Saturday evening and can catch a bus from the campsite which is good.