Moving on day today and we packed up the van and awning in the rain – glad to have had some help from Mum today.
Found out that in order to make your new awning waterproof, it needs to get very wet and then the pores close up together to make them water tight for the future. This meant that the inside of my awning was absolutely soaked throughout our stay on the Dales! Made it even harder to pack up and I was hot and very dirty by the end of it. Luckily I have a shower in my caravan, so put the wet awning in there while we were driving with the aim to get it out and dry it out asap when we arrived in Buxton.
After everything was packed away, it was time to brave the narrow road out of the campsite with the van on the back – made it – and then hope my sat nav on my phone would get us to the next campsite. Because of the issues I’d had with directions previously, I went through the whole journey on my phone the night before to check it didn’t take me on any B roads and to reassure myself it would be an easy drive, as I still get nervous getting from one place to the next.
Off Mum and I set and for the 2 hours of the journey, all was fine until the nav sent us off the motorway to Manchester Airport. I didn’t remember this from the night before, but followed the signs anyway, getting anxious as all the signs only had directions to the airport on them, and you don’t want to get stuck in an airport with a caravan on the back of your car.
Lots of traffic cones, no signs telling us where to go, I had to pretty much guess and luckily stuck to the road that took us around the airport. The road we were then meant to go on (A55) was closed, so I had to carry on and hope the phone re-routed me. It did – onto B roads. Got a bit panicky, but it was a easier having Mum’s eyes on the road too, as I was trying to concentrate on driving, but it began to direct us to small roads, rather than ones fit for caravans. I just kept going straight and hoping for the best!
The next panic was a warning that a low bridge was coming up with a height restriction and neither myself or Mum had any clue how tall the caravan was – now that was scary, as it was on a single-carriageway road and there would have been nowhere to turn around/stop and I had a queue of cars behind me. Quick call to Dad to reassure ourselves we would be ok (13ft clearance is fine – who knew) and under we went about 50 seconds after checking! Thanks as always Dad!
More small roads until we eventually started driving through the Peak District with lots of pretty steep hill and we just prayed we were going the right way. Luckily we were and we got to Buxton then followed the directions from the site to where we needed to go. Thank you to my Mum for staying calm and trying to keep me calm! I honestly didnt even notice the views as I was concentrating so hard, so hopefully will head back tomorrow to take a look!
I HATE driving from place to place. I have the set-up and breakdown all sorted and I’m confident I know what I’m doing – I plan my route to try to avoid any issues and check the campsite website for directions and advice – and the sat nav let me down again. Before my next move, I’m going to write the route down as a back-up as not sure how much my nerve is going to hold it this happens again, especially as I will be back on my own again and mum leave Monday morning 😦
Here’s an example of some of the lovely narrow roads you can often get directed onto. Lovely in just a car, but not so lovely with a van attached…..
Anyway, arrived safely at Beech Croft Farm and it’s a lovely site. Clean, friendly and lovely big pitches that have their own water taps next to the electric hook up. Not too noisy either!
Time to get the wet awning out and luckily the weather here is lovely right now. I had to buy some more hard standing tent pegs as it’s very windy here! The awning up and drying off nicely, we set about getting everything else set up and Mum mad us a sandwich and cup of tea. Much deserved after that journey and it was 4pm at this point and we hadn’t eaten or had a drink since breakfast around 8am! We also tried the Yorkshire Curd Tart we bought yesterday and completely forgot about in the fridge! I tried a little bit as it had currants in it and I don’t like ‘bits’ in my food and mum had the rest. I was ok, but not something I would rave about – Mum agreed. Was a very good way of using up the curd from the milk collection throughout the ages though, so can see why it was so popular as a snack..
I went and had a shower – lovely and clean (important!) and calmed down enough we drove into Buxton to take a look around.
Buxton is very pretty and a good amount of history to it. We walked through the older part of the town and went to see the Pump Room, The Crescent, The Pavillion Gardens, The Opera House and St Anne’s Well.
Originally a Roman settlement, the town grew in importance in the late 18th century when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire, with a resurgence a century later as the Victorians were drawn to the reputed healing properties of the waters.
With the increasing popularity of Buxton’s thermal waters in the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of buildings were commissioned to provide for the hospitality of tourists retreating to the town.
The Old Hall Hotel – one of the oldest buildings in Buxton. It was owned by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. He and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, were the “gaolers” of Mary, Queen of Scots. She came to Buxton several times to take the waters, the last time in 1584.
Buxton Crescent and St Ann’s Well – The Crescent was built between 1780 and 1784, modelled on Bath’s Royal Crescent by John Carr along with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. The Crescent features a grand assembly room with a fine painted ceiling. The Crescent had been unoccupied for many years, but plans are in progress for it to be converted into a hotel.
The Natural Mineral Baths – These were opened in 1854 on the site of the original Roman baths, and The Pump Room, built in 1884 opposite The Crescent. The Natural Baths feature a barrel vaulted stained glass canopy — the largest stained glass window in Britain — designed by Brian Clarke, and were re-developed as an arcade in 1987. Visitors could ‘take the waters’ at The Pump Room until 1981. The building is being refurbished as part of the National Lottery-funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. Beside it, added in 1940, is St Ann’s Well.
Buxton Opera House was designed by Frank Matcham in 1903 and is the highest opera house in the country. Matcham was a prolific theatrical architect who designed several London theatres, including the London Palladium, the London Coliseum and the Hackney Empire. The opera house is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller Pavilion Arts Centre. The Pavilion Gardens – designed by Edward Milner, contain 93,000 m² of gardens and ponds and were opened in 1871 and were lovely to stroll around in the evening!
After a lovely stroll through, we headed back to the campsite where Mum was treating us to homemade Macaroni cheese and salad using some of the cheese we bought at the Wensleydale Creamery! It was delicious – thanks mum!
I had some washing to do so went and filled up the washing machine (I bought a token from reception earlier) and only realised I hadn’t put any bloody washing detergent in when I went to get it out to transfer to the tumble dryer! It’s been a very long day.
Off to have a read of our books and sleep the day off – day out tomorrow…
Here’s a photo of how Buxton looked many years ago…
One (wo)man and her (cara)van 