Our Derbyshire Weekend ♥ Part 1

Hello lovelies,

since having children Mr BM and I have only had one night away together, just the two of us, and that was about 9 years ago.

A few weeks ago we decided it was time for a proper weekend together. A mini holiday. Some time for just us. Our boys are quiet happy to be left with willing grandparents these days. There was no need to feel guilty.

It didn't need to be far away, no point in spending much of our short break on the road. 

So, on Saturday morning, after a journey of an hour or so we arrived in the pretty market town of Bakewell in Derbyshire.

We parked behind the cattle market.......

And crossed over the footbridge into town......

Which was sporting many, many Love locks.

Bakewell looked so welcoming in the morning sunshine.........

But we had a walk planned so there wasn't time to hang around. Soon we found the start point and headed out of town over the 14th century bridge over the river Wye.......

Soon we were climbing our first hill and,  turning around momentarily to gaze back down on the town, we were rewarded by the gorgeous view.....

We climbed through woodland that was so steep it seemed almost vertical at times. It was hard going and this picture back down the slope doesn't really give you an impression of the gradient......

Thankfully the going soon got easier and we were striding across open pastures..........

and saying hello to the sheep.......

After walking through another woodland we arrived at the Chatsworth park........

And found a bench to rest on..........

To admire the gorgeous view...........

towards Chatsworth House in the valley below.......

After a snack it was time to carry on towards the estate village of Edensor.......you can just make out it's church spire in this photo.......

It was such a pretty spot to wander through...though not quiet real feeling in a way.........

In the church porch I noticed a Norman arch...though of course it was not really Norman, but Victorian..........

I liked it all the same.

Crossing the road we passed beautiful Deer.............

and approached Chatsworth house it's self.........

There was a festival of art going on and the place was heaving.....so after a quick loo stop we gladly waved the crowds goodbye, and walked along the bank of the pretty river Derwent........

Thankfully the cloud which had descended for a while dispersed and the sunlight made the most attractive reflections on the still water..........

Before it rushed over the weir.............



 and flowed past the disused mill..........

Here we stopped again for a drink and another snack. It was so warm and more like a high summer's day as families played and relaxed on the riverbank....some even braved a dip.... 

For us it was time  to move on though. We passed pretty farms.........

and climbed up a shady track..........

We loved this stone trough, where water flowed out of the hillside..........

And the stone cottages up in the hills..........

The mid afternoon sunlight was so pretty ........

And back up on the high pastures the views were gorgeous..........

We did feel a little unsure of our route at this point despite having a guide book and the appropriate O.S. map with the paths highlighted........

So we felt relieved to spot this marker ......which the sheep were using as a handy scratching post :0)..........

Here we hopefully followed the twin tracks and that proved to be correct. Phew........

Then it was just the steep descent back down into Bakewell to navigate.

Ten miles and five and a half hours after we set off we were feeling tired and hungry. 

Time for high tea......

And a little wander around the pretty streets.........

The rive Wye looked even more beautiful than it had in the morning.......

It had been such a lovely day and next was the short drive to our hotel in the hills. This was the glorious view from our bedroom window........

The weekend was turning out to be such a lovely treat. The walking , the weather and the time for we two alone. So precious.
Jacquie x