After a very blustery night (I honestly thought we would blow over at one point!) at our Brit Stop we awoke to a really rainy murky day which thankfully cheered up by the time we were ready to start our 1 mile drive to the Hartington Station car park of the Tissington Trail. Our plan was to have breakfast there, then a wander, then move back towards the Monsal Trail for the afternoon.
When we arrived at the car park we noticed 2 other motorhomes that had clearly stayed there overnight- and realising it was a nice spot, and that we were tired after our sleepless night we decided to copy! We chatted to the other motorhomers and they said we’d be fine to stay there, so we did. And we were. In fact, we had a great time- we walked from Hartington to Biggin, had a lavish meal at the Waterloo Inn in Biggin, and some beers ( well we were out of supplies!) wandered back, fell into a deep sleep, awoke about 8pm, had a sandwich and went back to sleep until 7am!!! It’s a hard life!
We really enjoyed walking down the section of the Tissington trail, and it’s such a nice time to enjoy these trails as they aren’t too busy!
Next morning, we headed to Matlock, via Tissington
Tissington is very pretty- it’s a good job, as it took us two attempts and a 15 mile detour to get there!! We missed the turnoff and then got locked into a small road where we couldn’t turn round! Never mind, in the process we saw some lovely little villages.
Matlock Bath- hmm, I’d been looking forward to showing Keefy round Matlock Bath having spent many a happy childhood days here. I don’t know if it was because we were out of season visiting (although still school hols??), whether since last visiting I’ve visited other nicer places, whether I just wasn’t in the mood, or what- but I couldn’t stand it there! No! I’m sorry Matlock, Derbyshire, fellow Midlanders – I just wasn’t feeling it there. It didn’t help that we wanted to go on the cable cars but just couldn’t bring ourselves to pay £14 EACH when we had already payed £4.40 in the car park, that we weren’t even supposed to be in due to the weight of our vehicle exceeding 2.5 tonnes but having no other options so had too.
Cor, it really cheeses me off when you see signs forbidding motorhomes to park tourist towns. Do councils not realise the majority of motorhomers have a disposable income that they want to spend in their town?? And that by putting up a sign preventing them to park there means people who are driving expensive vehicles (expensive vehicle= money to spend surely??) are unable to park in their town and therefore spend money?? Argh, this country needs to wake up and provide decent parking for large vehicles ie motorhomes rather than treat us like scum. Sorry rant over
Not wanting to waste our car park fees, or be defeated, but feeling nervous due to the signs all the same, we wandered the town but not fancying fish and chips at 10am or playing the amusements (that’s pretty much all there was shop wise) we settled on a chocolate shop and a fancy hot chocolate. Once ordered we went to pay on card and she didn’t accept card, so we spent 20 mins and 3 failed attempts at broken cash points, before trying somewhere else. Same problem, no card payments only cash. By this time, not to mention my run in with the tourist info lady who couldn’t tell me whether we could walk up the hill or not, I was ready to jump ship.
Sorry Matlock Bath, I feel like I’ve betrayed you, I still have my many happy memories of visiting here, but unfortunately this time won’t be added to those memories. Maybe another time?
By this time, my mood had plummeted which I took out on the top up food shop at Sainsburys in Matlock- returning with Ben and Jerry’s, cakes, crisps, you name it. Meanwhile, Keith had been studying the Brit Stop book, the road atlas and google, and in a desperate attempt to salvage the day, we hit the M1 southbound, bidding fairwell to lovely Derbyshire and heading for BritStop 505- nr to the site of the Battle of Bosworth, where King Richard III died, and a site we’ve been wanting to visit for ages.
As luck would have it, they were serving one of the finest Ales I’ve tasted yet- Old Trip, a fellow Nottinghamer and after several pints my mood lifted and all thoughts of Matlock had drifted away and the day had been saved.
I’m not going to lie, I definitely am a lightweight these days, as I awoke with a mammoth ale head this morning! Whoops! And although Keith denies he was hanging, the joys of being in a small confined space like a motorhome means I heard him rummaging in the early hours for a sneaky annadin extra or two!! Busted!
The weather once again was on our side, so we set off to the Bosworth battlefield Heritage Site nice and early. The visiter centre has won lots of awards and I can see why- it was well presented and had lots of interactive features to help you guide your way through the history surrounding the death of Richard III, including some archeological finds from excavations on the battlefield itself. It was interesting and good value for money, however I would have preferred not to have to pay £2.50 to park in their carpark given that we were already paying £7.95 each to get in! I really hope that doesn’t make me sound cheap!
Anyway, all in all, a great end to a brilliant week away! We’ve been beyond lucky with the weather, met some lovely fellow motorhomers, walked some terrific trails, ate and drank in some awesome pubs, and generally rested and recharged our batteries.
All thoughts are now turning towards our Easter adventure- Scotland! Whooo
So, thanks for reading, feel free to comment and enjoy the rest of your weekend, oh and sorry for the rant!
Until next time
Lx
Tissington, lovely place. Good blog, easy reading, I’m enjoying it.
Thanks! It was beautiful there. I also enjoyed leafing through yours last night too! Happy travels 🙂