One night in Buxton

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With Dame Shirley having been away for a week or so getting her connections polished, we decided to take her for a quick spin over to Buxton for the night to test her out. It was chucking it down in Rotherham as we prepared for departure, great for taking a look at her little problem, which involved her lights coming on in the rain and draining the battery. We programmed three goal championship striker and top sat nav, Sir Georgie Kelly, with the coordinates of the Caravan and Motorhome site and set off. For some reason Sir Georgie thought that we wanted to take the narrowest, most torturous possible route to Buxton. This involved turning right up a side street in Bakewell on what appeared to be the busiest day of the year for pudding eaters. Thankfully Ian is amazing at driving Dame Shirley and we eventually spotted the gates of the sight through the rain and thick fog, the later having made the trip doubly tricky. It turns out I had booked a serviced pitch, which is essentially a normal pitch with your own water tap. It was lovely and wide though, and surrounded by little hedges.  



Dame Shirley and her little hedges in the fog

Ian got everything set up and we had scrambled eggs on toast. Then I had to go to bed as I was feeling a bit unwell! Not myself at all. While resting we had a massive shower of rain, at least it sounded that way in Dame Shirley. And The Millers contrived to lose 1-0 to Cardiff. About 5pm, the rain having stopped,  Ian decided to take Misty for a stroll, and I decided to try and blow the cobwebs away by joining them. Now that we got a good look around we could see that Buxton club site is really rather nice. It’s in an old quarry and all the pitches have little hedges. There are also loads of showers in the toilet block. 

Our walk took us through a car park right next to the site and up a path to Solomons Temple, a folly on top of a hill overlooking the town. Thank god I decided to go as the sunset was spectacular.



Climbing the hill


Solomons Temple





From the turret


And the inside


And the outside


Back down again

We returned to the site and I threw together a tuna pasta bake before retiring ill for the night, leaving Ian watching his favourite, I can hear your voice.

Luckily the clocks went back overnight as we slept until 8am new time. I was feeling much better so got up, fed and walked the dog, and made coffee. After a peruse of the paper and the crossword off, which Ian won, he made a lovely full English which we both tucked into with gusto.

On the agenda today was a walk into Buxton itself. It was a very nice day but the forecast was for rain so we both pulled on our waterproof trousers. From the camp site we made our way back towards Solomons Temple then turned left down the hill through glorious woodland. There were dogs galore and Misty had a wale of a time. 


The Temple on the Hill


Gate buddies



Woods


At the bottom of the hill we came to ‘The famous Pooles Cavern’ and were soon walking through the Pavilion Gardens.



Gardens

There were an inordinate amount of superhero’s and villains around in Buxton, especially near the opera house. Turns out it was the weekend of Buxton comic con. Thank goodness for that! We were just having a little look around when the first drops of rain fell. A few drops became a shower, then an absolute torrent. Thank the lord for waterproof trousers.



Rain


We sheltered in a doorway for a while before making a dash for Cafe Nero and a couple of hot chocolates


Heaven in a mug

Once the rain had eased we made our way back up the hill, stopping for a snack at the Pooles cavern cafe. By now the weather was once again glorious. We arrived back at Dame Shirley in bright sunlight. We made a coffee and relaxed a little before packing up and heading for home. It was at this point that something very exciting happened. I drove Dame Shirley for the very first time! Granted it was only from pitch 22 to the Motorhome service point in order to empty the waste water, but I was very proud of myself. I had to negotiate the one way system. Before I could get too cocky Ian took over and drove us safely home. It had been a lovely couple of days for what would be our last trip of the year. 
Or would it……….

Neighbour watch

Nothing to report I’m afraid, except a couple of kids on scooters that made the roads a nightmare.

Strava watch

Up to the temple


Down to town




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