Sat: A good pack-up and journey as we begin the second leg of our summer tour! Weather still great, very pleasant. All went to plan bar a hold up on the M1 due to roadworks. We arrived at the site in good time, booked in and found our pre-booked pitch. We were soon set-up again as not everything had to be packed away. The sun was beating down and we retreated inside to cool off a little before tea.
Sun: A trip to Barrowhill Roundhouse was the order of the day. We arrived early at 10am, enjoyed the signal box tour and seeing the turntable in action. We then had a coffee in the cafe before returning to the site. It’s well worth a visit, nice way to spend a few hours. Lots of locos to keep you entertained. Weather still very hot!
Mon: Stay on site day, just relaxed with the heat. Although night time was getting a little uncomfortable with the humidity, we could literally have been in France!
Tue: A walk to Rother Valley Country Park today. On the map it looked straight forward, but alas, the undulations were not shown and it was quite a hike. Fine on the way down, but a steep climb back up. We nevertheless made it to the South lake, Cath was a little exhausted and sat down as I walked further around to the North lake and managed to take in the railway line that runs past. Disappointingly, no trains passed during my brief time there! Upon return we decided that I would go back to base and fetch the car, which I duly did. Returning with the car via the road to the park, I discovered that it was pay upon entry, so £1.70 later I collected Cath and we returned to the site. Weather scorthing again, all windows open in the caravan.
Wed: Peak Rail was on the cards today. About an hour’s drive from the site, we headed off to catch the 11.40am from Matlock. The journey there was pleasant, mostly good roads. The line itself isn’t too long, only 3 stations, with a nice 30min turnaround at Rowley South. There was an interesting delay on the way due to a token being stuck at the middle station, so the line couldn’t clear the bock, but it eventually got sorted. We completed the journey and then headed back to base.
Thu: Weather has turned cooler and windier, relax on-site day!
Fri: Usual last day routine, some packing down and away and then just staying in the ‘van. Site is filling up again for the weekend The site is very nice, very ‘French-esque’ with the higgledy-piggledy layout (all flat pitches though), burnt cut grass, low hedges, outdoor washing-up spaces and bar on-site. And with the extreme hot weather we’ve just had, this really made it feel like we were back on a French site. The pitch we were on was a very good large size, good size of gravel, so didn’t get everywhere and was fully serviced. We would certainly return.
- Date: 22nd June 2024
- Nights: 7
- Pitch #: 65
- GPS: 53.342418, -1.312985
Approach: M1 > A57 > A618 > Delves Lane