Peak District & York

The tour continues…

Day 3: The Peak District had us enthralled! Large rock formations, steep mountains, rolling green hills and picturesque villages scattered with buildings built with the local stone – so much character! In the tiny hamlet of Castleton a stream runs through the town and actually under buildings. This place is a mecca for the adventurer with all manner of energetic activities available such as rock-climbing, pot-holing, canyoning, hiking and bike riding, resulting in lots of very pretty little B&Bs to accommodate these enthusiasts.

Chatsworth House was next on the agenda. A spectacular manor house dating back to mid 1500s, set in a ‘picture perfect’ site overlooking the river with 35,000 acres of forested land filled with deer, pheasant and other wildlife used for royal and aristocratic guests for hunting. It has been used in many movies e.g. ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

Our next little village was Bakewell, famous for the Bakewell tart. Another pretty place of stone buildings, narrow cobbled laneways, ancient arched bridges and plenty of cake shops! We had our first Cornish pastie here for lunch by the river, but no, we didn’t try the tarts!

We then arrived in the ancient medieval walled town of York and caused a little controversy! Our beautiful 3 storey Victorian B&B was located down a narrow laneway with roadworks narrowing the laneway even more. We were the first of the passengers to be dropped off for the night and Ambrose had quite a challenge trying to navigate his way out again. He got there eventually… to the relief of the rest of the group!

It was very late in the day when we set off to explore York. Matt has travelled through this area and he recommended the Yorkshire Pudding which we enjoyed at a little pub called ‘The Hole in the Wall’. There we met up with some of our fellow travellers, which was quite a coincidence since York apparently has a couple of hundred little pubs. A young local artist was performing that night, and as we love listening to live music, our plans for an early night were history.

Day 4: Up early the next day to enjoy a hearty home-cooked and delicious brekky. We opted to spend the whole day exploring York as we love medieval towns and did another 2.15 hr walking tour. Parts of this tour piqued our interest, but it was a little like history class with all the names and dates being hurled at us. Yes, it’s all about history, but there is a way of presenting this information that captivates the audience, but we were all looking a little glazed after a while. (Maybe like the readers of this blog perhaps?!!)

Anyway, we walked the city wall, browsed the famous ‘Shambles’ laneway (very narrow with tiny ancient buildings leaning at all angles) and had a lovely afternoon tea. We loved the York Minster – a truly awe inspiring building – and sat and enjoyed a service inside. No choir that night unfortunately. Dinner was at the Guy Fawkes Inn and the food was really delicious (the pea risotto was amazing).

Note: I am writing this post as we hurtle through the English Channel tunnel on a very fast Eurostar train. Trying not to think about all that water…