We don't seem to be at home much these days. Maybe making up for not being able to get away in the spring and early summer?
After returning from Slimbridge on 23rd September I whisked Herself away for a cheeky weekend on the North Wales coast on 4th October. We didn't bother dragging the van there and back for 2 reasons. Firstly it was only for 2 nights and secondly I got a cracking deal with Marstons, two nights B&B for just £70 per night!
This break's been booked since we returned from Exebridge, but Herself is getting twitchy about leaving Grumbles for any length of time now, understandably so as he's not getting any younger. The nearby hotel doesn't have availability for our full stay so he's following us up with a full set of printed directions and a Satnav to stop mid week.
The forecast for early doors on departure day is pants, so we take advantage of a bit of space outside Home is Where You Drag it Towers to inch the van out and hitch up while it's dry the evening before.
I'll not sleep a wink tonight with it being out there!
Friday 18 October
Today's very early start didn't happen, and it's 7.45am before we're in Trude and pulling away. I surprise |Herself by pulling off the M4 at Llandarcy and take the Heads of the Valleys road, my logic being it'll be better than fighting with stop start traffic through south Wales.
All was going well until we got near Merthyr, when things ground to a halt. Herself is giving me looks but daren't say anything, as that would result in me asking her of she would like to drive!
It soon cleared and we had a straight run through onto the A40, A449, M50 and M5. Joining the M6 however was a different matter, with the going being decidedly slow for 15 miles or so.
Generally though we've made good time and threading our way through Leek we know we're early, and have 3/4 hour to kill before the allocated 1pm arrival time. Luckily I'd watched a site arrival video thrown together by @legsdown yesterday and know there's somewhere to park up close to the site.
We're tantalizingly close, and can see the site entrance in Trude's windscreen. We sit it out and are waiting at the barrier bang on 1pm.
The next few hours were fraught. The club's app froze while I was trying to make payment, and not wanting to pay twice Heir In Charge allowed up to pitch and allow time for payment to go through. We pull into our "road" and choose pitch. Now that we've arrived safely I fess up to Herself that we have done so without the safety feature of the breakaway cable being intact, my have broken it in the dark last night!
It's quite tight, and after watching next door make a hash of reversing onto the pitch I decided not to embarrass myself and unhitched on the road letting the mover work it's magic.
At least that was the plan. Movers engaged, handbrake off, isolator key turned and two buttons on the remove pressed simultaneously to complete the pre-flight procedures.
Nothing, ziltch, dead as a dodo. We try again, but to no avail. We now have the van blocking the access road. I go to turn on the control panel and that's dead. We have no 12v power in the van, which is strange as all was fine outside home this morning!
I faff about with a few fuses with big numbers before going out to wiggle some wires in the battery box. Herself shouts we have power and I waste no time in getting the van on the pitch and leveled. With that done we plug in and start to turn stuff on. We're dead again and hearts are in our throats. I press a reset button but nothing. We start on the awning, and while unraveling it we hear a click and our control panel has come to life!
With the awning in the rail Herself sorts out the poles. She hands me the middle roof pole which I duly hook onto the quicklock pad and try to extend. Do you think it would move? Would it hell! No matter how much i tried to twist it and pull it. I also swore a lot at it cos that always helps doesn't it! I even got out the grips for changing the gas pigtail over, but all that succeeded in doing was gouging the fiberglass pole!
I've got that sinking feeling that we'll be awning less for the week, another disaster that vloggers would post teasing thumbnails about, but as a last resort dig out the toolkit and dismantle the locking joint. Success! Oh, and at the same time the control panel beeps into life!
I hate pegging out on hard standing, with a passion. Crawling around on gravel when you're the wrong side of 20 stone isn't a pleasant experience at any time, but a flare up of gout in my ankle ensures the experience is rather more painful, add to that my rock pegs are well passed their "best by" date and resemble a bunch of arthritic fingers, which means that my borderline arthritic fingers get numerous glancing blows from my swinging lump hammer!
Having just announced to Facebookville that "We is arrived!" Heir In Charge rocks up to let us know we're trespassing and Plod had been called ........... well, what she actually said was "Sorry, the payment hadn't got through, could you pop down to deception to settle up."
After chilling for a bit we jump in Trude for a little explore of the local area, firstly up passed The Roaches then back down to Tittesworth Water. The dogs get let out to have a run around, but we decide we're too tired to go for a proper walk, that and my gouty ankle screaming at me whenever I walk over anything other than perfectly smooth tarmac.
We also make the decision that going back out for food tonight isn't on the cards so divert to Asda to procure a curry from their takeaway range and some high strength Ibuprofen.
Surprisingly good it was too, and at just £6.50 for the two of us ticked many boxes. Our electrical woes continued as the hot water heater was refusing to operate on electric, throwing up various error codes on the control panel. I shut it down and put the kettle on to boil some water for washing up.
Luckily we have internet signal here on Smarty, not great but enough to serve our Android box so I can stream Scarlets v Bulls on the TV.
After a shaky start we came back to win, yes win mind. That's two weeks on the trot now.
Saturday 19 October
After a great night's kip I'm up at 8am to have a potch with the furnace. Seat slats get lifted to confirm that no trip switches have tripped, I go through the settings to ensure the voltage limited hasn't been set before gingerly putting the water to heat up on eco mode on elec 2. No error messages for 5 mins so I shut it down before firing up the room heater function. That too runs Ok and is left on long enough to take the chill off. Now the real test, hot water to Hot setting on elec 2 with fingers crossed.
At the time of typing we have no error messages and it's been running an hour.
Now if I was running a vlogging channel on YouTube I'd be tweeting tantalising tweets right now about a disaster, not revealing the actual disaster of course and answering any concerned replies with "You'll just have to watch it." There would also be thumb nails of alarmed faces of course enticing you to watch the vlog of the disaster which would entail listening to 10 mins of waffle before you find out what the disaster was.
Usually there is no disaster, just a minor inconvenience Herself gets up and goes to make a coffee, opens the locker and declares "I won't have a coffee then." upon realising she'd used the caravan locker as an emergency supply for home just last week.
Disaster was however downgraded to a minor inconvenience by walking down to reception to buy a jar.
First stop today is Tittesworth Water again to let the dogs have a run and sort themselves out before heading off out proper for the day. We take in the view and have a look at some oversized chairs and a sofa carved out of wood before dropping off quite few green bags in the red bin.
The plan was to stop off at Peak Leisure to procure a replacement breakaway cable. Yes I know I could get one off Amazon, but we like to support local businesses when we're away.
They were shut, and not opening back up until Monday! I ordered one off Amazon before heading back down the hill into Buxton.
Never been here before and only seen the name on bottles of spring water, so don't really know what to expect. We park up in Sylvan Long Stay, clip on the dogs and make our way up Spring Gardens.
I'm on the lookout for a new pair of walking trousers, so we call in on both Crag Hoppers and Mountain Warehouse. It was wasted time as neither appeared to do anything with an inside leg that would suit a midget! We carry on through the myriad of coffee shops and we're really not feeling it yet.
Just passed the visitor centre a crowd is gathered around a fountain. It appears we've unknowingly stumbled across one of the "Seven Wonders of Peak". St Anne's Well of Living Waters has had that status since 1678 apparently and the thermal water are said to "cure palsied members of the old, and cherishes the nerves grown still and old".
We had a slurp, and so did the dogs as someone has thoughtfully left a dog drinking bowl. With my gout ridden ankle now cured by the waters we carry on up The Crescent and passed the Natural Mineral Baths to The Square in front of the Buxton Opera House.
To our left is a gate that leads up to the Pavillion Gardens where we see some tables outside The Octagon Hall, where in among those drinking coffee are a few with pints of beer.
This grabs our attention and we take a table in the sun opposite the band stand. I go inside and seek out the Buxton Brewer Tap House. They had a mouthwatering array of samples, and I could have quite easily spent the afternoon getting shitfaced sampling them all, but settle on their Cavern. It's their flagship lager that's thirst quenching and refreshingly clean tasting as the crystal clear waters that filter endlessly down through Derbyshire's mysterious, millenia old caverns.
All I know is that it was a bloody nice slurp in the warm autumn sunshine as we soak up the atmos while people watching, even if I did risk strangers questioning my manhood because I was drinking halves (they'd run out of pint glasses).
I must say that Buxton grew on me, what a lovely town it is.
We take the A53 back towards Leek, soaking up the spectacular Peak scenery all around us and take a right close to the Roaches, where after arguing with a local we park up opposite Ye Olde Rock Inn.
A very late lunch consisted of a prawn sandwich and chips before we go back to site to enjoy the last on the afternoon sun outside the van.
It's getting late in the season though, so by 4pm we've retreated inside as the sun drops down behind the surrounding hills.
Sunday 20 October
We wake and it's raining, my timeline tells me much of the country has it worse than us being battered by Storm Ashley.
We fire up the Mind Me app on our phones and see that Grumbles has ignored all the weather warnings and advice to travel only if absolutely necessary and is making his way along the M4,onto the A449, M50, M5 and M6 up to stop for a few nights.
We're taking no risks and he's got a full set of printed directions, including pictures of every junction when he has to change roads. We're also heading back down to J15 of the M6 ourselves to pick him up so he can follow me the 20 miles back to site.
We get back to the van and feed him until it's time he can check into The Three Horseshoes just down the road. We're dropping him off and I get an e mail to say my breakaway cable has been delivered to Morrisons in Leek. Shame it wasn't a few hours ago as Herself and I were in there getting supplies.
Leaving him to settle in we head back into town, parking up close to the collection point.
I hop out and follow the instructions on the screen. It won't scan my barcode though. I'm not too worried at this point as Nelson had warned me the scanners don't always work. So I look up the six digit code I've also been provided. Punch that in and I get an error message.
I repeat the whole process. No luck, but try again. Same result. Ringing the helpline I'm asked to verify my identity and provide the parcel number. We now have another problem as there's no 4G signal here. Nothing.
Things are getting fraught, and the young lady caught the wrong end of my tongue. The cogs must have been turning slowly on the other end, and she asks a question.
"Is it an Amazon parcel?"
"Yes, of course it is. Why?"
"We don't do Amazon parcels, you must be at the wrong set of lockers."
With a crushing feeling I head inside to look for a different set of lockers.
I now have a replacement breakaway cable, so that's another disaster averted so I won't be able to tweet about it for days in a pathetic attempt to drum up some interest in my mundane life!
The rain has now stopped so we divert once more to Tittesworth for a walk around letting the dogs run free for a bit. Bit of storm damage last night and a big branch has come down in the car park we were in yesterday.
I'm wishing I had my chainsaw with me, well that and we were 200 miles nearer home!
A quick tea back at the van before a bit of a scrub up and a short walk down to The Three Horseshoes. It looks really inviting as it starts to get dark, and we find a cosy little corner to have a slurp.
It got messy, really messy, and by the time Grumbles is toddling off to his room at 10pm, Herself and I are not looking forward to the walk back in pitch black.
Monday 21 October
We pick Grumbles up at 10am and head off out for the day, firstly heading over to The National Tramway Museum at Crich.
What a pleasant few hours it was. We looked at the exhibitions, rode the line on 2 of the 3 trams operating today and had lunch in the pub.
From here we make the short journey to Matlock Bath. Parking up at the Station Car Park we clip on the dogs and make our way up through the town alongside the River Derwent.
A bit weird for a place to have such a seaside town feel with it being about 80 miles to the nearest coast. All shops are either Amusements, chip shops, sweet shops, gift shops, cafes or pubs ..... with an aquarium thrown in for good measure.
Herself's knee is starting to give her some serious gyp, so we stop off at Fishpond for some anesthetic while watching the cable cars make their way up and down to The Heights of Abraham.
We wont be going up to The Heights of Abraham though because essentially Herself is scared of heights. I was also scared on the £26 per person they want for you to sit in a wheel barrow hanging off some rope!
Back at the caravan we've some Lamb Cawl that's been festering in the slow cooker all day. That gets demolished with half a loaf of crusty bread and some cheese before we settle down for a cosy evening.
Tuesday 22 October
Trude needs fuel, and I'm quite convinced that if I hosed off the mud and grime covering her she'd return a few more MPG as well with less weight to lug about.
I leave Herself with a coffee and head into Leek and Morrisons petrol station to do the business. Breakfast is procured from the golden arches and kept warm on a heated seat for the return journey.
Grumbles and his full belly is collected at the allocated time and we stop off briefly down the reservoir to let the dogs sort themselves out before hitting the road. We're shrouded in mist at altitude as we take the A53 to Buxton, but it stats to clear as we drop down Winnatts Pass into Castleton.
It's a coat colder up here with the wind, and the buildings either side of Back Street and How Lane are forming a wind tunnel. Grumbles is grumbling.
I have never seen so many jewelers or Gem Stone shops in one place, even if they are owned by the same bloke, Blue John, whoever he is?
Herself is on the look out for a ring, with an amber stone. To my relief she couldn't find one that she liked enough to buy in any of Blue John's gaffs, so thank you John for having poor stock at the time of our visit.
This place also has lots of pubs, and they must make a killing in the main season, as I can't see how such a small village could support them through winter.
We take refuge in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Inn from the howling wind (Grumbles would have you believe it was anyway) and take a table under a leaky ceiling to enjoy a late morning tipple.
Heading back we divert following the brown signs to Market Place. Pretty as it is it appears to be sans market, so we carry on down Castle Street and Trude.
Don't know what to make of it really. Unless you want to do the caves and caverns there's not much tpo hold your attention for much more than a few hours as a visitor. That said, Herself and I would come back to stay at the nearby CAMHC site here as it offers so many pubs within walking distance. We like pubs.
The sun is out now and Winnats Pass looks so much better than when we dropped down through it a few hours earlier.
We liked Buxton on Saturday, so much so we returned today with Grumbles. The walk through Spring Gardens was more successful today. Grumbles got himself some tops, I got a pair of walking trousers from Craghoppers and Herself scored herself some ear drops in the pet shop for Gwen!
The shop Herself had told Grumbles about, that had stacks of trains for his model railway that he's never put together, and he'd been looking forward to seeing was closed, with a sign on the door advising that they only open on weekends!
Crossing the road we stop for water again at St Annes fountain, this time armed with a water bottle to fill, before carrying on passed the Opera House to the tables outside the Octagon. the sun was once more playing ball.
We picked up some pasties from a ponsy bakery on Spring Gardens and enjoyed them washed down with a pint of Buxton Brewery's Cavern ale.
Grumbles and Herself's knee have had enough by now, and I know how far I can push my luck, so we head back to site so they can relax. I slid under the caravan to fit my new breakaway cable and got covered with grease for my troubles.
After a quick scrub up adjourn to the Three Horseshoes, where Gwen takes up a spot in front of the log burner. She soon wants me to raise a complaint with the management though as it's not lit like the one we have at home!
A pint of Guinness serves as a starter before mains comes out. Interestingly the sides also came out long before the mains, about 10 mins before actually. Questions as to why fell on deaf ears and Herself dares me not to complain. So I kept my gob shut.
I started playing darts when Coupons had her diagnosis, bough a board for at home and used it as a coping mechanism. I've not thrown a dart since her funeral.
I return from attempting to blast the stains off the porcelain and Grumbles, who plays every other week at hope is warming up. He wants a match.
I win the bragging rights and he sits down after 2 legs declaring he's had enough.
Wednesday 23 October
We're picking Grumbles up at 9.30am and making the short journey across country to the Churnet Valley Railway. Parking up at Frogmore Station Grumbles fights through a bus load of ankle biters on a school trip to procure some tickets.
Thankfully we're allocated space in a different carriage to the school trip, and stand on the platform to await the arrival of the s160 Locomotive.
A very pleasant morning it was too. The 10 1/2 mile round trip took just over 2 hours and passed through some stunning scenery. Herself had spotted a nice looking pub close to Cheddleton Station while we halted there, so Satnav was set to seek it out.
That's all I can say is the Boat Inn looks a lot better from the outside, still the Tuna Mayo Bap filled a gap.
We're on the way back to site and spot a roadside sign for Oakleys Farm advertising that they sell their own Buffalo Burgers. That sounded like a plan to me, so we're spraying gravel taking a sharp left into their yard.
Very nice they were too, cooked to perfection on the ninja for tea.
Thursday 24 October
A serious dose of CBA this morning, so throw enough clothes on the be decent and jump into Trude for a quick dash to pick up some breakfast. There's an unusual food van sites less than half a mile from site, sells the usual stuff but has a theme.
While Only Fools and Sauces throws together a few bowls of muesli bacon and sausage baps I have a quick look at the three wheel van while trying to pretend the few clothes I threw on to be decent were enough to protect me from the biting cold wind.
Grumbles is heading for home today, he would have stopped longer but the Three Horseshoes is full. We arrive at 9.50am, a full 10 mins before the agreed time, and he's sat in his motor drumming his fingers on the dash with the engine running. He's got a list of directions and TomTom programmed to take him home. We'd already agreed to escort him back as far as J15 of the M6, but he was a bit worried about getting on it the wrong way after his Cornwall adventures, so we escort him as far as J14 before turning around and heading into Stoke.
Herself has noticed on this trip the dogs must be feeling the caravan floor a little cold over night, well they are all getting on a bit now, and are fighting over Herself's discarded fleece throw. Jolleys comes up trumps and in the bright sunshine we head back into the hills. I'd seen a sign for Danes Head on the Buxton road, and a winding single track leading up onto higher moorland, promising spectacular views.
Unfortunately as we started to climb up onto the high ground the views diminished and the Danes Head road was traversed very slowly with fog lights on.
We travel through Buxton, down Winnats Pass and through Castleton before the clouds clear and we can see some blue in the sky once more. Approaching Ladybower I'm dismayed to note that Snake Pass is closed, but after crossing over Ladybower on the bridge we turn right to take the scenic road up passed the Derwent Valley Dams and reservoirs.
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The scenery is breathtaking, and we're happy to have had the opportunity to see it for the 2nd time in a different season. Last time we were here was in the depths of December with snow on the ground.
Thoughts turn to a late lunch and Herself had spotted a pub she liked back in Hope, The Travelers Rest. Herself gets on the blower to Grumbles, who has arrived home safely, while I go in to check if they're dog friendly. They are but stopped serving food 10 mins ago!
Never mind, Castleton isn't far, and we're parked up in the car park belonging to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in no time. We take the same table as on Tuesday and are happy to note the leaking ceiling has been repaired.
I went for a light option. The sign outside declared that have the best home made pies in the valley, and having sampled their "Famous Inn Keeper" variety I wouldn't doubt it. Trude's nose is pointed towards home and we once again marvel at the number of gem shops in such a small village. By the way, I've now been informed by Herself that Blue John is a gemstone and not a bloke as I thought!
Approaching Winnats Pass I'd had thoughts about Winnats Pass Viewpoint, but as we approached Speedwell Cavern the sight of people trudging up the 45 degree slope ensured they remained just thoughts. Well that and the recently consumed Innkeeper sitting rather heavily in my belly!
Pressing on at the top of the pass we turn right to take in some different scenery as we head towards Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge. I have friends and followers who live up this way, and having spend a week up here I am really envious of the scenery they have on their doorstep.
We've spent a lot of time in the car today, so back on site we make straight for the dog walk that follows the perimeter of the site, taking in views of The Roaches at various stopping points.
This site has an interesting history, once a settlement camp for Polish soldiers after the 2nd World War. You can read the history HERE. The club has funded a monument which greets you on entry, and serves as a reminder as to what our generations owe. Those that bang on about immigrants could do worse than take time to reflect.
Herself indulges herself in watching a few movies and I catch up on tapping keys for a few hours until cabin fever sets in. Herself was all set for an evening in the van but I start dropping hints about maybe going out for a late night walk.
All the way to The Three Horseshoes for a slurp!
Friday 25 October
Wake late this morning, very late for me at 8.45am, and to my relief the first night we've had since we got here without having had any overnight rain.
No dew on the windows so I pop outside to give the Isabella canvas a feel. That too is dry, so I set about breaking camp. Herself is still in the land of nod, so I carefully make as much noise as is possible to wake her gently from her slumber.
She soon catches on and is by my side catching poles and collecting pegs while I take down the awning.
I know I say it regularly, and it will seem boring to some, except my caravanning friends and followers who fully appreciate the joy of packing away a dry awning, especially at the tail end of October.
Breakfast is a few Hobnobs with a cup of coffee before we head off out for our last day up here. Last night we'd spotted a car park area reasonably close to The Roaches and promised ourselves a climb up there this morning with fresh legs and a belly that wasn't full of pie.
The site here is 800ft above sea level and the Buxton road rises steeply out of the village. By the time we're up passed Ye Olde Rock Inn we're in a white out once more and can hardly see the end of Trude's bonnet, let alone the rocks we were going to walk up to. The idea is abandoned.
Thinking caps on, and I recall some signs for Poolsbrook Country Park. I punch it into satnav and it's 36 miles and over an hour away. Too far for today so we have another rethink. Forking right just after The Winking Man we follow the road in the murky white and carefully thread our way through Lognor and onto to the car park at Hurlow, where we abandon Trude and set off for a walk along a section of The High Peak Trail.
Dropping down into Bakewell it's busy. We manage to park up in Bakewell Bridge car park, clip on the dogs and head off for a mooch.
First stop is the visitor centre browsing their wares. Herself fancies a stuffed cow thing, but resists. I find a waxed Dai Cap that fits my big head, and didn't resist.
Having missed out on breakfast thoughts turn to lunch. First port of call is the Red Lion. I go in but all tables are taken so we carry on. We take a left and Herself notices they have some outside tables at the back and it's warm enough to sit out. We settle down and I go in.
"Could I have a menu to look at please."
"The menus are on the tables."
"But we're sat outside."
"We don't serve food outside."
"Then why is there a sign out there instructing customers to make a note of their table number before going to the bar to order?"
"That's only for when we are busy?"
"But it is busy, you have no spare tables inside."
"It's not busy enough. Do you want drinks?"
I turn around before I lose it. We walked over to the Wheatsheaf where they had room and we enjoyed some enormous filled baps with a side of chips washed down with a pint of Aspall.
Suitable refreshed we set off for a look around. Herself failed to find a ring with an Amber stone in it she liked, but the dogs get some rather posh treats for tonight and Herself buys some Bakewell Puddings to take home.
Is it a tart or a pudding? I'm undecided, as indeed are many of the shop owners here. Some calling them a tart and some a pudding. I'd estimate a 40% to 60% split.
With Bakewell done and dusted we divert through the Chatsworth Estate before heading back to site to relax for the evening.
I settle down up front with the Scarlets streaming on my Android box and Herself retreats to the back end to watch a film in bed. We won, and we won well. I'm thinking Herself and I need to be away more often, as The Scarlets seem to play a lot better when I'm not there watching them.
Saturday 26 October
Slept well last night, in fact we've slept well all week. Probably a combination of fresh air, exercise and away from the stresses of work, also helped by the fact that we love the firmness of our caravan bed.
We'd done as much as we could last night so really all that was left was to unplug, drain down and hitch up this morning. We're pulling out of the gate by 9.30am with insulated mugs of coffee between us and ham butties in a bag for breakfast on the move.
In the main the 206 mile tow home was Ok. The rig behaved perfectly but there seem to be far too many drivers on the road today who on seeing a white 4x4 towing a caravan in their door mirror in the process of overtaking them think it inappropriate, and speed up a little!
Traffic at the M6 M5 junction was horrendous, as was it through the roadworks south of Birmingham on the M5 and the usual chaos ensued to circumnavigate Newport, but we're pulling up outside "Home is Where You Drag it Towers" 4 1/4 hours later, with just a brief stop at Cardiff Gate.
We've had a great week exploring the Staffordshire Moors and Peak District. We didn't get to look around Leek, but having driven through it on numerous occasions there wasn't really anything that drew us in, especially when there were so many other prettier places to explore when out and about.
We liked Buxton, we liked Buxton a lot and will no doubt return, maybe stopping at Castleton for the variety of Pubs close by, because to be frank, we were not really impressed with The Three Horseshoes.
