The Peaks District

GPS of our campground: 53.24733N 1.81074W

It's a shame I didn't snap more pictures out of the window, or better yet, have the video camera recording some of the scenery of our drive. Yes, that includes close misses with the lorries that are bigger than us. Honestly, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery. In some places, it was reminiscent of driving through the Carnation Valley. But the stone walls that mark boundaries are something else and your imagination can't help but take over, trying to comprehend how long it must have taken to build the fences.

Stone fences

We drove only 70 miles or so from Drayton Manor, intending to see the "Peak District." Robert and Diane were caravaning with us. Imagine if you will the scene we must have created: a 35' Winnebago with a 45' rig behind it, followed by an American Jeep! We must have been the topic for some dinner (tea) conversations.

The budget side of me keeps trying to put us on the "Certified Locations (CLs)" as they are about 1/3 the cost of a campground. I had confirmed our rig would fit on the next site (Blackwell Hall), but wasn't sure about Robert - though he assured me they would be fine.

Amazingly, the bulk of the drive went without incident through super complicated roundabouts (which had been re-worked so Autoroute had the wrong exit numbers). We were completely fascinated with the landscape. We were driving through the rolling hills of England, complete with stone fences, cows and sheep. Everything is green and lush. I lost about 10-years off my life as the roads are also quite narrow and we encountered a few delicate spots where the lorries passing us were barely able to inch by.

At the prime moment that we needed it most, my navigational skills failed. We missed the left turn for the CL! This suddenly is not funny as we are on skinny, windy roads with no shoulder and no turn offs. AND, I am thinking about the 45' RV behind me. AND our cell coverage gave out, just as I had promised Robert that "yes, we are on the right path."

Several miles and one tiny village (Miller's Dale) later, we finally found a place to pull over and regroup with Diane (who was in the jeep - Robert had the sense to pull off the road by now and wait). Turned around, we found our missed turn and made it (barely) into the CL site. I went running down the hill, just in time to see Robert drive by the turn - and my cell phone still wouldn't work.

There was no way they would be able to get on the site- the final turn was just too tight for their rig. Even if they had made it around the corner, the camping area was long and narrow and they wouldn't have been about to turn around. They decided to move on. Thinking we had parted company, we were surprised to get a call that they had found the coach parking lot in Buxton (about 6 miles away). They came out and picked us up, brought us in to Buxton and treated us to a lovely dinner.

Final turn into the CL.

For the fun of it, here are pictures of us camping in a farmer's field. It's hard to drink a glass of milk in the morning when a cow is staring you down! Dan wondered if they would revolt if we had a steak on the BBQ!

Moo! The field in front of the RV was filled with pregnant cows! We kept expecting a biology lesson before our very eyes.

Camping on farmland.

The surrounding area is simply breathtaking. Weather permitting we hoped to spend 1-day in Buxton and 1-day hiking or take a long bus trip to Nottingham.

Sample views of the surrounding area.

Saturday we took the bus in to Buxton again. We enjoyed a beautiful day of town wandering, taking in the beautiful sights. This is another "spa" town, with natural spring waters in abundance. Renovation work has begun, centered on the "Crescent" to revive the spring baths - would love to revisit when they are complete. There just happened to be a "kid" zone in the nearby park, so we dropped in and the girls were thrilled to bounce on the trampoline. Sophia jumped for nearly a full hour (!) sure wish I had that kind of energy.

Bouncing around!

Example of the architecture in Buxton - seems every town has a pub named "The King's Head"

Sunday (today), we had planned to take the 2-hour bus ride to Nottingham, but woke up to awful weather. It was pouring down rain and we just couldn't fathom a 4-hour RT journey with city wandering in the middle. Instead, we decided to try out the coach parking lot that Robert and Diane had used. Besides, there are some pillows calling me by name in town and I finally decided I have to buy them.

When we arrived, the rain let up and we wandered our way through the Pavillion Park, admiring the beautiful gardens. The girls had a hoot drinking water out of St. Ann's Well, from which the natural springs flow. People were lined up Saturday, filling bottles with the water!

Blick of Pavilion Park

Goslings with a very protective mother (go ahead, get too close and see how she responds!)

St. Ann's Well

We found our way to Poole's Caves and took the guided tour. An interesting outing, but the stalicites I've seen in the US are much more impressive. These caves have been tourist attractions since the 1800's and reportedly were utilized by the Romans at one point in time.

Taking in a tourist attraction - Poole's Caves.

By 4pm, we were back at the RV...nothing much to do on a cool, rainy afternoon. The shops close at 4pm on Sunday. Since the rain continued to give us a reprieve, we took to the playground across the street, letting the girls exhaust their pent up energy. All told, a delightful day.

Train trestle at the town entrance. Where you see the lorry parked is the location of the coach park.

Tomorrow we move on to Southport, our base for visiting Liverpool and just maybe a day-trip to Dublin.

Ciao!