Friday 26th May to Monday 29th May 2023.
We are spending a long weekend, four nights, here on Lees Meadow Farm Campsite courtesy of the Derbyshire District Association of the Camping and Caravan Club who have organised a temporary holiday site here for one month at £10 per night. We have a spot with very good views across the fields to High Peak Trail, once a railway track. The neighbours are great too.
Saturday we caught the local bus into Matlock, there wasn’t a great deal to do there but we enjoyed a drink in the cafe in the park before wandering around a small outdoor market where I bought Michelle some ear rings to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. We walked from Matlock to Matlock Bath where we enjoyed a very pleasant meal alongside the river in the Midland pub.
Matlock Bath is a Mecca for motorcyclists on Bank holiday weekends and hundreds were pouring into the town as we walked through, bikes and bikers of all sizes poured into town, a great spectacle and not threatening.
We then walked on down the valley to Cromford where we visited an old mill established by Richard Arkwright he of the Spinning Jenny fame.
Sadly the country bus system then let us down, they were supposed to run every 45 minutes but when there was no sight of one ever turning up we took a taxi back instead . All in all an interesting day out.
Sunday, again we woke to a beautifully sunny day but with a cool wind blowing, we opted for a local walk and did a circular walk across flower filled meadows and through disused quarries which have left a large visual scar on the landscape.
The afternoon was spent relaxing and chatting in the sunshine.
Monday, we again set off on the same route as yesterday but this time with Wirksworth village as our destination. En route we visited the Star Disc an intriguing “ sculpture” high up on a hill.
We had headed to Wirksworth as it was one of the villages that participates in to annual tradition of well dressing which is an ancient custom here in Derbyshire with the earliest recorded account being at Tissington near Ashbourne. Originally wells would have been decorated with ribbons and garlands but this has developed into boards covered in wet clay into which are pressed natural materials to make a picture.
After lunch in a pleasant pub we walked back, all up hill taking in on the way The National Stone Centre a free to enter educational 40 acre site featuring 330 million year old geological formations making it a Site of Special Scientific Interest. From there we walked back to the camp site via the High Peak Trail which was a killer. At one point there was a three quarters of a mile incline that, when it was a railway line was so steep trains couldn’t get up without the aid of a pulley system run by a steam engine that hauled them up the incline. Sadly there was nothing to haul us up and I struggled somewhat with my hay fever asthma breathing to achieve it, thankfully I did but wouldn’t do it again unless I had to.
It’s been a good weekend break, weather has been kind to us albeit with a cool wind, we will return with a suntan and far more knowledge of this region that I had prior to this visit.
taraabit 