So Holly and I went on our trip to Bakewell last week. We wanted a relaxing, slow paced, fun few days. We most certainly had fun, but it wasnt as relaxing as we'd might have expected!
Day One.
On our way to Bakewell we decided to stop off at the Chestnut Center to see the otters and owls. Holz and I LOVE otters, they are so so sweet. We had a lovely wonder around the sanctuary, chatting to the otters and looking at the curious owls!
When we got to Bakewell we had a wee look about, settled into our room and headed off to the pub..actually two pubs. I enjoyed a local Homity pie, which is yummy! We took part in the pub quiz and came second from last..its the taking part that counts!
Day Two.
One of the main reasons for going to Bakewell was so that we could do lots of walking, but mainly we wanted to walk to Chatsworth House. (The house that is supposed to be Pemberly in Pride and Prejudice). So we got up raring to go. We'd been told that it would take one hour and a local chap drew us a map. We woke up to flip loads of snow..yes, snow, a damn blizzard infact. But did this deter us, no. We took ourselves to Millets to buy wellies, anoraks, hats and gloves. We felt confident..we
looked amazing!
We set off, not in any way fazed by the weather, just surprised, as a week ago we were sat on the beach getting a tan..thats global warming for you. We followed our map..kind of. We went up the road and over the bridge as we were told. 5 minutes into our journey we got confused so guessed the rest of the way! Looking back on it, it probably wasn't the best idea. We got to a wood and marched on through it, pushing our way through brambles and climbing over fallen trunks. We pulled ourselves up a steep hill by the roots of the trees trying to avoid the yellow snow and preying that we wouldn't fall through the snow and plunge into freezing water. We climbed and climbed and slipped and fell, but we made it to the top and finally found a foot path. The foot path took us along to a creepy little abandoned barn next to a trickling stream. There were foot prints heading up to a wall, so we followed them only to find a great expanse of white fields and chilly sheep.
For some reason turning around and going back to the path didn't even come into our thoughts, so after being a bit taken back by the depth of the snow, we decided to continue on, like explorers! (We did find time to make a few little videos)
We hung about in this field for a while actually trying to figure out where the hell we were and where the heck we were meant to be going. Good times. Panic and concern weren't an issue, I personally was having a great time.
Then the snow became like razors being blasted at us at a ridiculous speed. Our legs became drenched and frozen..but we trundled on like utter fruit and nut bars.
FOOT PRINTS! Hooray!..We followed the foot prints to a fence which had a sign pointing to Chatsworth and to somewhere else. We walked in the Chatsworth direction ignoring the foot prints because, that must have been right...not so much. At this point the snow was up to our knees..a good time to get back to the foot prints. We were in pain, our legs and bottoms were numb. The wind was extreme.
HOUSES!! In the valley were three or four beautiful little cottages and we thought it best to knock on a door and ask for directions, or help, or a hot drink, anything!!! no one in..arse. alas, on the hill a family were sledging, our saviors! They may not have offered us a lift or hot drink but they did tell us to go over the hill and walk for another 40 minutes.
HALLELUJAH! There in the distance, the magnificent Chatsworth House! We'd made it. Ofcourse now we could see our destination, could we be arsed? could we buggery, so we decided to turn around and go back..JOKE..that would have been seriously stoopid.
No, we walked to the house, decided that actually, walking around the stately home utterly drenched, freezing and uncomfortable would not be enjoyable. A taxi was called, the uber friendly staff took us to get a cup of tea and guided us to a warm room. A few minutes later a lady came in, asked us how we were feeling and felt our temperatures..'come with me' she demanded..oh shit..what the hecks wrong with us?..'Are we going to die?' Holly genuinely asked..no, we didn't die. We did however have potential hypothermia, so, the lovely first aid lady wrapped us in blankets and gave us biscuits. We were slowly defrosting but feeling a bit loopy and like naughty children. The taxi arrived and we were sent off wrapped in foil sheets like roast chickens..a tad embarrassing!
We stayed in bed for the rest of the day.
We'd like to say a massive thank you to the wonderful staff at Chatsworth house, especially the first aid lady Kirsty, who were so so kind and caring.
When Holz and I told our families and friends about our little adventure most of them replied..Only you two..or trust you two..or typical Dora and Holly..what are they trying to say?
Day Three.
Holly and I went back to the house to have a look around. We took Kirsty some biscuits to show our appreciation.
Its a stunning house, inside and out, with beautiful paintings and gardens. It also has some lovely shops.
That evening we went to another pub quiz and came very close to winning.
Day Four.
On our way home we stopped of in Buxton for lunch and talked about our adventure. We will never forget our trip to Bakewell..
Ps. I had to try the Bakewell pudding! Its an odd thing, but very tasty!
Pps. Anyone got any idea what this is?!!
