Touring the Peak District in a motorhome

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Monday 11th September 

Mileage 14320. We leave the pub 'The Half Moon' near Jackfield up at Ironbridge where we did a diversion visit and stop off at RAF Cosford to tour the exhibits but also to see if there is an archivist available to talk to. We have been given several volumes of war diaries spanning the entire length of WW2; written by the wife of a Bomber Command RAF senior bomber station commander whose job it was to train up bomber pilots and to inspect all bomber stations.

And then we brave the M6 and head for Buxton. We are going for a week at least, possible two ro three, depending on the weather! 

(For details of our trip to Ironbridge - see previous post) 

It takes around two hours which we thought was pretty good. We choose to park in the Pavilion Gardens car park because they allow overnight parking. A great location we think – peaceful with stunning gardens behind. However, paranoia sets in and I consult the website which is on the parking notice boards only to discover that you can park a vehicle overnight for free but you can’t sleep in it. Didn’t say that on the notice boards – we find this somewhat deceiving in a way, especially as the app says you are parked for free until 0800 net morning!

We stroll into Buxton, walk the streets, see the crescent, opera house, theatre, pavilion gardens. Buxton tourist information office is very helpful but there aren’t many free leaflets about things to do in area.

But they did give us a tip on where to park for free – eleven minutes’ drive out of town up near a lake at Errwood Hall Lake car park. The road to it is narrow in places so motorhomes bigger than 7m might struggle.

The car park is next across the road from the lake under some trees. It is remote, lonely. Sort of ‘end of the road’ type location. Midge infested, it’s on a slight slope but we managed to just get away with not having to use chocks. Did we feel secure and safe? Sort of, just! There was one more van with us overnight. Boy racers turned up at 11pm but didn’t disturb us too much. Some door slamming and laughter for thirty minutes and then they were gone. It was at this time of year, isolated. During the summer, we suspect it will be a busy location for motorhomers and therefore safety in numbers. 

At this point you are asking quite reasonably "And a photo to show us of this site please?"

Well, it was midge infested; it was pouring with rain; it was a gravelly mud stream outside; it was lonely; it was very, very cosy inside Bryony! Ok, dereliction of duty - sorry!  

Tuesday 12th

A very wet day so we visit Chatsworth. We felt it was very overpriced with insufficient ‘English language’ information boards in any of the rooms. Felt rushed around on a conveyor belt. Heavily commercialised – lots of shops selling merchandise and two good cafes. Did we enjoy it – it was interesting and stunning but we didn’t quite warm to the place. Strange!

Bakewell proved to have a quaint charm with lots of little independent shops. Finding a parking space for a motorhome proves a nightmare. We go over the bridge and turn into the road to the car park on the corner, missing the signs which say ‘Private road, 7’ high barrier at end, no turning!’. You know where this is going – we drive down and discover the height barrier and so reverse back into a cul-de-sac to turn around. We head back up the road where a kind car park attendant calls us over and tells us he can fit us in behind his hut – tight fit but we did it. God bless him.

(Postscript: just under two weeks later - I get a £100 parking ticket! Reduced to £60 if I pay within the fortnight. I can appeal it within fourteen days. Guess what, it was posted to me five days before the fourteen days were up - Go figure! Apparently there were signs saying no turning into the cul-de-sac and ANPR cameras. These signs were at the entrance to the lane. What I should have done is reversed all the way back up the lane - ho hum - you live and learn - don't make my mistake! )

The ‘Honey Bee’ cafe gives us a lovely welcome and great food. Bakewell is a pretty town with nice strolling and a good little second-hand bookshop. The Tourist info office again doesn’t have many leaflets of things to do. But they do give us a great tip for free overnight parking outside of town. 

Not that we take up one of their ideas. S4S shows us that there is parking available overnight along Coombs Road. And so there is, either at the far end by the viaduct – wooded, remote and on muddy pull ins, or along the road just before the houses pulled up against the hedges into the neighbouring fields (which is where we end up for the night). We could pull to one side onto gravel right up against the hedge and leave enough room for fire engines etc. Local town workers park down there during the day but by 6pm there is plenty of space. Be aware that on the Bakewell town side of the road, the hedges have big ditches just under them – you can park on the gravel along side the hedges but it was muddy and with the ditch the other side of the hedge, we didn’t want to test the verge stability!

Filled up petrol today -  £85. So far, we have had three nights off grid and one on a campsite with EHU. We are averaging around £14 per night at the moment which is better than £25+ so the battery modifications are paying off already. 

Wed 13th

We had a peaceful night on Coombs Road. Some late night joggers and dog walkers but no traffic. We had pulled back slightly to a wider stretch of road late last night after the car behind us departed. But early this morning, around 0700, a car tries to pull in front of us; one has already parked close behind. We will be blocked in because the hedge is right up against the side of the motorhome. The car decides to go and turn around. I am out of bed, in the driving seat and moving forward to take up the room in front. A rare display of speed and agility! The car pulls in the space behind. Phew! Close call!

By 0830 we are in Millers Dale car park having breakfast and planning the day. £4.95 for all day parking and there is a café too. This car park is on the Monsal cycle trail and it fills up quickly. It is a tight fit getting a 7m motorhome into any space where you are not overhanging the slot markings. We find one space where we can do it and leave some swing room to get out of it!

Geologists paradise is this area - which is great news for one of us at least 

And then we are off down to Bakewell on the e bikes and then back up to the other end of the trail. On the way back we stopped off at a café next to a cycle hire place – nice coffee and cake!

Lunch stop back at Bryony and ice cream on the station platform outside the café. Then a stroll along the cycle trail, down under the viaduct, along the river and back across the fields.

Plenty to see today - several tall viaducts, five long but lit tunnels, a river gorge carved by meltwater, some extraordinary lime kilns, good info boards about the railway. Great views and the meandering Wye river. Cotton mills in valley. Stunning scenery and views.

Today’s sunshine is most welcome after yesterday which was a complete wash out!

We need showers. We have water onboard but we opt for a night on a site. Beech Croft Farm up the road - £29 per night. A little more than we were budgeting for but great hot showers, good level gravel hardstanding, big pitches across three terraces, each with water, EHU and aerial socket.   ‘Daisies’ onsite cafe for breakfast but sadly it was closed when we stayed there.  Clean facilities on a really nice site but in summer months it could be crowded and with only two showers for men and same for women, expect queues. There were more showers available in a mixed area section as well. Some noise from the main road, a quarter mile away but otherwise birdsong, gentle winds and the sounds of sheep and cattle. And a quick cycle down the road and hill to access the Monsal bike trail.  

We are on site around 3pm and after showers, we chill in the late afternoon sun. Lovely, as it was a cold night, last night. Thick 11 tog duvet out for first time. 

 

Thursday 14^th

Rain is forecast. We opt for a visit to Eyam, the Plague village. We park on the road, just along from some of the cottages; making sure we aren’t in front of any houses or blocking the road. There is a pay and display car park outside the museum, but a free one further up the road from that.

The museum is very informative – small with lots of information boards. It cost £5 each, takes around an hour and expect to get ‘information overload’ but, it is fascinating stuff – a great insight into how the black death plagues affected one village. You can get tour leaflets of the village and it is worth walking around. Good brief information boards scattered along the route. Down in the town square you will find two good coffee shop/cafes.

The weather has turned and it is forecast to be far worse. We make the decision to curtail the trip and head for home. We would have spent longer in the Peak District but the side diversion to Ironbridge lost us a few days. We promise ourselves we will return to walk and cycle more the Peak District next year. 

We call in at Matlock briefly before starting the journey back south. Our stop off is at a little site next to a canal junction just outside Stafford. The White Lodge, had good level hard standings. The toilet block was a portacabin and the outdoor showers – tin roofed cubicles – not what we were expecting. Rustic!  Five minutes’ walk up the road is a deli café and a good local produce deli shop. You can walk along the canal tow paths as well.

Friday 15^th

We are heading home. It takes around 6 hours with stops.  Good journey with only one traffic hold up.

So, a summary:

 Fuel £85 and £70

Campsite fees - £25, £28 and £29 – total £82

Other night fees - £15 at pub stop. Rest were free.  Eight nights! The average per night works out at £11 per night. We think that is pretty good and we weren’t really trying. It is our first ‘off grid’ just go where we like trip and it has boosted our confidence. Where we will really get payback is on our next continental trip, where the opportunities to go off grind each night are far greater.  The battery and solar panel conversion are paying off. It will be a good long-term investment and we are pretty sure that we can go three nights in the UK before the toilet cistern becomes the limiting factor. On the continent with its wide availability of servicing points, we may never have to call in at a site again!