Peak District

The next day we went to the Tittesworth Reservior, which we walked to from the cottage. We went intending to do only the short walk, and ended up doing the whole 5 mile walk! The sun was shining and it made for a great day out together, and put my camera to use. 

A place that I had been hoping to visit was Bakewell, purely because of the chance to buy some bakewell tarts. In the centre is a bridge which has been used as a lock bridge. The weather wasn't very good so after a (cold) picnic by the river, we wondered about the shops - we were lucky that it happened to be a market day so we had lots to see. We took back with us a traditional bakewell pudding and bakewell tart.

Once we'd had dinner back at the cottage, some of us wanted to go to the top of the Roaches. As it was a bit of a grey day, there wasn't a very good sunset and it felt like it was getting dark fast! So after a speedy trek up, we found a little seat in the rock, time to catch our breath before walking up even higher. Just as I was taking a video of the view to capture how high we really were, my phone ran out of battery.. typical! Luckily the others were able to take some photos!

Me and my brother-in-law Andy, climbed even higher and with a lot of encouragement, and fear of falling to my death, I managed to stand up at the top (again photo doesn't do it justice or put it into perspective - the other side of the rock was a sheer drop).

The next day was a visit to the Blue John Caverns, near Castleton, one of the unique parts of the Peak District - I'm not going to lie, the tour guide was very informative but I wouldn't be able to repeat anything he said! That said, it was very interesting and an experience to go so far underground!

We drove round to the town of Castleton, where we stopped for pub lunch to re-fuel, then a walk up to Peveril Castle.

The weather wasn't great and the forecast didn't sound very promising, so as my sister was going to visit a friend nearby, we decided to go to the Trafford Centre in Manchester to do some shopping! I then made the decision that we should get Wagamama's for tea - which has to be done when in the UK!

Chatsworth House is another place that I was very much looking forward to seeing (although pricey to get in!).  It had said on the website there was a small amount of scaffolding, but when we got there it was so much scaffolding, I'd have said it covered at least a third of the left side of the house - which was very disappointing. My parents went in the house itself whilst me, my sister, brother-in-law and nieces opted for the gardens, farmyard and play area. The play area was probably my highlight of this day out, as it's designed for both children and adults! 

 In the middle of the gardens is a large maze, because of the size we decided to race and split of in pairs, my niece Georgia and I stuck together and I have to say we probably took longer than we should have, but eventually we found the middle!!

On the drive back from Chatsworth my dad and I drove along the Cat and the Fiddle, taking in the stunning views. 

Our time in the Peak District sadly came to an end and we spent a couple days back at my sisters house. We went out for lunch nearby (where I must have eaten the best potato wedges in the world!). As the sun was setting some of us went for a walk around the nearby fields and village, followed by a game of pool and darts in the local pub. 

Easter had arrived, and we spent the day at home with a delicious roast and I made a lemon swiss roll which went down well. We all put our coats on and ventured out for a walk in the park afterwards and then finished the day watching Moana.

It was my niece Florence's 4th birthday and we had lunch at Ask Italian, for pudding we had a slice of honeycomb cheesecake. 

There was some time to spare so we did a bit more shopping and then a little party at home in the evening. It was the perfect end to our little trip away.

♥