We move on from the Caravan and Motorhome clubsite at Buxton tomorrow so we spent much of the morning packing away the awning and preparing to leave.
For lunch, we headed to the Parks Inn at Harpur Hill and ate their carvery. A week ago, we were lucky to get a table outside as the pub was absolutely full but today, we were able to eat inside with plenty of social distancing.
The food was good and the carvery priced at 11.95. If you are staying here, be sure to check it out.
This area around Buxton is known as the White Peak region because of the lightly coloured limestone. The Dark Peak area is renowned for it’s dark granite stone.
Thursday morning and we headed over to Macclesfield and the National Trust Gardens at Hare Hill. Not a great amount to see – the Lakes in need of some algae removal but there is a nice walled garden. According to the National Trust literature, those who visit Hare Hill “gain aesthetic and spiritual” refreshment. Never did find the bar…
In the afternoon we headed back to Fernilee reservoir and walked some distance along another section of the High Peak railway. This was an industrial railway, constructed with the standard gauge connecting the canal at Cromford Wharfe with the Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge. The railway, which was completed in 1831, was built to carry minerals and goods through the hilly terrain of the Peak District. It was closed in 1967 and has been converted into a multi-use trail between Dowlow and Cromford.
The section we walked ends with a closed off tunnel nearby the reservoir.
Saturday and the weather was a little better than the previous day which had been pretty much a washout.
An early start for us and we loaded the bikes up and headed off to Parsley Hay car park on the High Peak Trail. Parking was plentiful here today, in contrast to our trip along the Monsal Trail earlier in the week. Whilst we started on the High Peak Trail, we took the branch trail to Ashbourne – the Tissington Trail.
We cycled around 30 miles, from Parsley Hay to Ashbourne, enjoyed a picnic and then we retraced our tracks. By mid-afternoon some of the gloom had lifted and we enjoyed a pint or two in the sunshine at The Waterloo Inn, Biggin, Hartington. Moe was not impressed with the route we took from Hartington which was steep and around 3 miles in duration. In reality, The Waterloo Inn lies a mere 300m from the trail.
There is also a nice looking campsite at the pub which would be a great location with virtually direct access to the Tissington trail.
The ride was actually just over 30 miles but Joe forgot to stop the GPS tracking at the end of the trail.
Monday morning and we’d arranged a visit to Hillside Leisure, Derby to consider buying a replacement Tow car. This would not be a typical towing vehicle but a VW Transporter Highline, converted as a small motorhome.
The idea being that we would tow the caravan but also be free to do some wild-camping along the way.
Anyhow, like everything post Covid-19, they had not a single automatic in stock. They couldn’t even provide a delivery date as to when one might be available for conversion. That and the eye watering prices (circa £60k for a converted VW Transporter) suggest the Sorento will have a reprieve for a few more years.
We attempted to stop off for lunch at Bakewell but the traffic and amount of people in town convinced us to give it a wide berth!
In the evening we ate at Simply Thai, Buxton. The food and service was superb, fully explaining why this restaurant was a sell-out, even on a Monday.
Tuesday and we spent the day in Buxton. Walked from the campsite at the former Grinlow quarry through Grinlow Woods / country park and finally meandering through the immaculately kept Pavillion Gardens of the spa town of Buxton.
Wednesday and we cycled along the Monsal Trail from the trail head near Buxton to Monsal Head where we would leave the cycle route and head to the Packhorse Inn at Little Longstone.
We have cycled this trail previously. https://www.caravanramblings.co.uk/?p=1611
We met Keith and Carolyn for a very peasant lunch at this fine establishment.
As it’s fathers day today, Joe got to choose the itinerary, and it was a run-out with the bikes. A route recommended by our neighbours would pick up the White Peak Loop trail – it is an ambition in these parts to join the main off-road cycle trails into a single loop, connecting seamlessly the towns of Cromford, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton and Ashbourne. Once complete this will be an amazing place for off-road cycling.
Our neighbour had already made a witty comment about how steep this track is (for our hybrid bikes) as it heads upwards from beside the Parks Inn car park at Harpur Hill. He wasn’t wrong and our bikes struggled to gain traction up the steep hill – wrong kind of bike, tyres and electric motor spring to mind. Clearly his mountain bike didn’t have a street legal motor on it, judging by the size of the rear wheel hub!
Anyhow, we made it to the top of the peak where we would join very quiet country lanes. Perfect for cycling but the one thing about this part of the Peak District is that the terrain is very rugged and mountainous in sharp contrast to the the usual area we stay – Carsington Water.
Our return would encompass a stop at the Parks Inn for a couple of pints of draft Bass. Not a common ale these days but was always one of my favourites.
An apt Fathers Day card from my daughter Sue.
Before any wise cracks that we could have walked the route quicker, I hadn’t turned the tracking off for our picnic nor the ale stop!
The once-magnificent country house of Errwood Hall, enjoying wonderful views over the picturesque Goyt Valley, is now just a sad pile of stones. It survived for less than 100 years. It was built around 1843, and demolished in 1934.
The ruins are accessible from the same car park we used for our circular walk of Errwood Reservoir. The walk was some 5 miles and classed as moderate. It certainly wasn’t an easy trek around a flat body of water.
Part way around is the Packhorse Bridge – this has seen better days and has been flagged as having a structural weakness and, had we been able to read the notices, we would have had to turn around. Having failed to produce our reading glasses until after the bridge, our walk continued un-abated and the bridge didn’t collapse under our combined weight.
Here are a selection of photographs from the walk, including a spectacular show of Rhodedrums, which had been planted along the river towards the derelict hall.
Back at the caravan, it’s now time to watch the Exeter v Sale semi-final and then a BBQ for dinner.
Thursday was a short journey from High Onn heading north east through Stoke-On-Trent, Leek and arriving at the Buxton Caravan and Motorhome Club site just after noon.
The only thing notable about the journey was that the A53 from Stoke To Buxton was an absolute shambles for pot holes and poor maintenance – won’t be long before the caravan needs screwing back together yet again!
The site is extremely peaceful, situated on the floor of a dis-used quarry – judging by the road names, presumably this was Grin Low quarry. Given we are almost at mid-summers day and the daily high temperature was a cool 13 degrees, maybe this should be called “Grim” Low!
The views over the campsite are pleasing enough.
Facilities here look all recently refurbished and we have a nice spot tucked away in one corner of the campsite, complete with a fully serviced pitch.
Spent much of today (Friday) sussing out access to the various off-road cycle trails – there are three well-known ones in the area:
We have cycled these routes before on a number of occasions but never from the Buxton end and access from Buxton is challenging. The roads are in poor condition and the traffic is heavy, Buxton being a major crossroads for many routes criss-crossing the Peak District.
In addition to this there are direct routes to Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield. We really don’t intend cycling on any of these routes to access the cycle trails!
We stopped briefly in Buxton, and one can fully appreciate the communications hub it is / once was. There are railway lines, a number appear to be for freight / quarry materials heading in all directions and a plethora of viaducts overlook this small market town. Pictures just don’t seem to do justice.
It’s market day in Buxton tomorrow so perhaps we will head into town on foot.
Arriving at High Onn after a 3.5 hour event free journey from Devon, it felt like we had travelled back in time. High Onn is only maybe a 30 minute journey from the hussle and bussle of Birmingham and the M5 / M6 interchange, yet High Onn and its campsite could be a 1000 miles away.
There is not a single sound of traffic, save for the occasional caravan rolling in and it’s a fantastic day weather wise. Hot and sunny with temperatures in the mid 20s.
This Caravan Club site consists of 65 pitches but no toilet blocks – this going some way perhaps to explain why the site isn’t fully booked and why we were able to secure a last minute change of dates.
Our pitch at High Onn:
The wardens were helpful pointing out a variety of local pubs, all of which were either allegedly closed or not serving food. A couple of phone calls revealed that the Hartley Arms in Wheaton Aston was indeed open and serving food (must update the wardens) so it is time to don our walking shoes and head off on a 3.5 mile walk, much of which is alongside the Shropshire Union canal. The Hartley Arms will be beside bridge 19.
A quick Google search revealed the “bio” of the owners of the Hartley Arms: “Having studied at Birmingham College of Food Phil has worked in a variety of restaurants from a beach side bistro in Fuerteventura to a 2 rosette restaurant in South Wales and Le Caprice in London’s West End. He is excited to bring his knowledge and passion back to the pub where it all began, his first real job was behind the bar at the Hartley.”
The walk from our campsite passed the old RAF Chapel and Cinema and a little further on we passed 2 old green wartime storage buildings.
The entrance to the old RAF Wheaton Aston airfield was shortly after on the right. Further one we would pass a beautiful black and white building which was originally the South Lodge of Little Onn Hall.
We would then join the Shropshire Union canal at bridge 23. Just four bridges until number 19, the site of the Hartley Arms.
And finally, bridge 19!
We sat at a table overlooking the canal and ordered Salmon Fishcakes – Moe and mixed Kebabs – Joe.
The food, despite being reasonably priced was just excellent. The Kebabs cooked and flavoured to perfection. The fishcakes full of flaky salmon chunks.
We returned to the campsite via country lanes, which shortened the journey a little as opposed to the canal route. Nevertheless, a decent 7 mile walk for a couple of pints and some very nice food.
