Two adjacent holiday cottages in the heart of the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District. See http://ww See http://www.bakewellholidaycottages.co.uk
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There's a good crop of Katy eating apples ripening on the espaliered tree between the cottages which will be ready to eat during August, when we still have availability, particularly in Hartshill.
Here are our updated offers, so come and share in the enjoyment:
Hartshill:
- Weeks beginning17 and 24 August now £740. Save £170.
Ribblesdale:
- Week beginning Saturday 24 August now £740. Save £170
It was Friday 19th July - the hottest day of the year so far - so a good opportunity to see what butterflies were about in Coombs Dale, near Stoney Middleton. This time I did an anticlockwise circuit of approx 5 miles starting with a long hike from the village, up Middleton Lane (continuous 1 in 5 gradient for about a mile), then along Black Harry Lane (named after a notorious highwayman when this was a packhorse route) to Black Harry Gate to pick up the path downhill through the Coombs Dale, which is renowned for Dark Green Fritillary butterflies, which I have posted on here in the past. Sadly this time I didn't see any of those all. There were some other common species but they weren't settling to be photographed! In fact there were relatively few insects in general, which seems to reflect a worrying trend this year.
However my walk was brightened by a profusion of wild flowers, which certainly seem to have benefitted from the summer rain! Here are some to enjoy.
There are some unmissable views all across the Peak District and lots going on in Bakewell and nearby towns and villages. This is looking back to Monsal Head on a recent sunny evening.
Here are the latest comments from one of our Guest Books! It's always nice when our young visitors add their comments too.
Early summer flowers in the cottages' gardens.
As we move from late Spring into early Summer it's a great time to visit the Peak District. New life is all around us and the days will be at their longest before we know it.
So take a break - and bring the family!
The photo of the Greylag Geese family was taken on 16th May at Redmires Reservoirs, which are only a 30 minute drive from the cottages.
Here are a few photos from a recent, peaceful evening walk along the footpaths around High Rake, near Sheldon. A few early purple orchids were showing and clumps of cowslips, but there weren't as many wild birds as usual although I did hear a curlew in the distance.
The clocks went forward, it eventually stopped raining for long enough to get out for a good walk this afternoon and there are young lambs everywhere in the meadows. It must be Spring!
Spring flowers in the gardens of the cottages.
Spring has arrived early this year, as you can see from the primroses and daffodils already out in the gardens, and with the longer days it's an ideal time to pay us a visit and get away to the beautiful Peak District.
Here are some more stunning views from a short walk last week on Middleton Moor, lying to the north of Longstone Edge.
A couple of views from late January/early February!
After the foul weather over New Year it eventually brightened up and has been fine for the past week or so. It's bitterly cold and we've had a couple of light dustings of snow but today was beautifully sunny and clear all day. These few photos are from a walk from the cottages in the last two hours of daylight, across the fields and lanes to Over Haddon, then back via the last part of Lathkill Dale to Conksbury bridge and back across the fields.
To all our guests and all who follow this page:
Here's a quick tour of the Christmas lights and seasonal window displays around Bakewell taken late on Sunday evening. The centre was almost deserted, both of people and vehicles, which is most unusual, but good for photography!
There was slightly different look and feel here overnight and this morning, but it's thawing now!
Another beautifully sunny Friday, albeit very cold and frosty and another local walk to enjoy starting at the Recreation Ground in Bakewell followed by a loop along Coombes Road and back to town along the first part of the Monsal Trail.
It was beautiful today with wall-to-wall late Autumn sunshine so I took the bus to Chatsworth Christmas Market and then walked back to Bakewell along the lanes via Edensor, Handley Lane and then dropping down though Ball Cross Woods, crossing the golf course and over the bridge at Bakewell Station to enter the town over Bakewell Bridge.
This was a nice spot to eat my pack-up yesterday while on a walk around the tailings pond at Middleton Moor which lies between Great Longstone and Stoney Middleton, for a spot of bird watching from the hide and to enjoy the wonderful scenery.
A trip to the tip at Rowsley this afternoon provided the ideal excuse for a short walk afterwards along part of the bridleway above Fallinge Edge, which crosses Chesterfield Lane. It had been a sunny day and the views and Autumn colours were spectacular.
For the past couple of weeks of grey wetness it's been almost impossible to enjoy the Autumn, but the sun finally put in a welcome appearance today and allowed this magnificent beech tree beside Monyash Road in Bakewell to show off its golden coat.
Here are a couple of photos taken last Sunday at the little nature reserve at Rowsley next to the Peak Village shopping centre taken on a short walk prior to an excellent lunch at the Grouse and Claret. The berries on the guelder rose were glistening in the bright Autumn sunshine and the trees and bushes on the banks of the river Derwent were still hanging on to some green tones.
The sun came out on market day in Bakewell yesterday making for an enjoyable circuit around the town and the Recreation Ground.
Finally managed to get out for a sunny evening walk - a favourite short circular route by Hard Rake not far from Sheldon that always gives great views across the high ground and often, as today, some lovely sunsets. The countryside is suddenly looking quite Autumnal with an abundance of ripening Hawthorn berries ripening and the grasses and willow herb already dying off.
In the mid-afternoon yesterday I set out to walk up Coombs Dale, starting form the car park at the recreation ground in Stoney Middleton, to try to catch some glimpses of the Dark Green Fritillary butterfly for which it is now a well-known haven. It was very warm and almost cloudless, with a only a light wind, making a pleasant change from recent weeks of cool, cloudy and wet weather. I did see quite a few butterflies, including the DGF, but not perhaps the abundance I was expecting. Nevertheless it was a rewarding walk - about 1.5 hours continuously up hill to a high point on Black Harry Lane and then about 45 mins steeply downhill along Middleton Lane to the village and back to the car. Here are some photos I took along the way and also a link to a recent article about the dale by Mark Cocker, writing in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/01/country-diary-fritillary-abundance-on-a-blessed-slope
Here's another plug for this great new attraction, which seems to be becoming pretty popular judging by the number of passengers I saw on one of the open topped buses yesterday!
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/yorkshire/peak-sightseer #
Sit back and enjoy the scenery from a grandstand view as our open top bus takes you to some of the Peak District National Park’s most popular destinations.
Oh bring back those long, sunny days of June! I'm just back form an hour's evening walk and it's been so wet today that I stuck to the lane leading from the junction of Crowhill Lane towards Sheldon. This was about the best view in a short gap between showers!
You don't have to go to Ikea to experience the wonderful everyday! These photos are from a short circular walk late yesterday evening at the bottom end of Lathkill Dale starting near Conksbury Bridge.
Yesterday, Saturday 1st July, was the Bakewell Carnival Parade - a jolly and colourful occasion with every opportunity to donate to good causes all the small change saved up during the year. Perhaps the Band of Barbers stole the show, but all the participants had put in plenty of effort with their costumes and transport contraptions!
The willow by Bakewell bridge is now in full leaf and looking splendid in the sunshine!
Ribblesdale & Hartshill, Yeld Road
Bakewell
DE451FJ
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Continuing the ornithological theme, here's a short clip of a mistle thrush feasting on rowan berries taken this morning on my walk around Bakewell in the bright winter sunshine. There were starlings also sharing the bounty. It's a reminder how important planting native trees such as this can be to wildlife when it suddenly turns cold!
Here's a video clip of one of the skylarks - unfortunately it was rather windy which rather spoils his song, but you get the idea.
Riverview - Ashford in the Water
Watts Green
The Coach House at Middleton Hall
Middleton Hall
