Clare
19 June 2017
Emily and Dave made a big life decision to leave the city behind and live at a different pace with a complete change of lifestyle in the Derbyshire Dales.
They chose The Peak District and Baslow because it remains unspoilt yet has so much to do particularly for lovers of the outdoors and dog owners like Emily and Dave.
Taking time to get to know and enjoy the area whilst they renovated an old farmhouse and Robin Hood Cottage they now have lots of inside tips for a perfect holiday escape to The Peak District with recommended places to eat, shop & visit to help you live like a local at Robin Hood.
Can you suggest some good places to visit, perhaps with children?
The adventure playground and farmyard at Chatsworth makes a wonderful day out as a family. It is a working farmyard and adventure playgrounds were they have animal handling, milking demonstrations plus a woodland adventure playground with slides, trampolines and more.
In the summer Hathersage Lido, (6 miles) is a lovely place if you fancy a dip, enjoying lovely views too (that is if you don’t have your head down swimming lots of lengths). There’s a nice cafe there and they run an ‘Aqua Fun’ session every Monday from 5-6pm, a bouncy castle on water – it looks really fun.
Burbage Brook on the Longshaw Estate is a real favourite of locals with children, with Derbyshire having no close by beach this is where children can paddle safely as well as picnic on the banks of the brook, just lovely!
Where can you recommend going if you just want to have a lazy afternoon?
Edensor village, (pronounced ‘Enza’) combines a variety of architectural styles making it a picturesque village which is very much at the heart of the Chatsworth community. There are beautiful gardens to look round and a brilliant tearoom – very quaint and traditionally English. Some of the cottages have homemade jams or home-grown veg you can buy from tables outside with honesty boxes.
Take a stroll around Lathkill Dale national nature reserve, near Bakewell and afterwards enjoy a slice of cake in a local pop-up tea room, The Garden Team room in Over Haddon, which is dog friendly too.
What are your top 5 places to visit locally?
Bakewell
- Bakewell (4 miles); for Puddings and tarts. Every Monday is Market day and last Sat of the month is the Farmer’s Market – Amazing!
- Matlock (12 miles) – loads of antique and vintage shops. We bought a table from there plus the coat rack and bread bin in the cottage. The Vintage Rooms is our fav shop.
- We LOVE walking with our 2 dogs and our favourite walk is Monsal Head – Litton –Monsal Head. The Stables Bar at Monsal Head does great real ales and mulled wine in the winter. The Red Lion in Litton is always a stop for lunch, serving generous portions of honest, hearty pub grub.
- Chatsworth Farm shop (1 mile) is Dave’s favourite place to go. They always have tasters and the quality is excellent. We always try to go near closing time (5.30pm) to avoid the crowds.
- Dovedale (22 miles). Another amazing place to walk with stepping stones over the river.
What restaurants and pubs do you recommend?
- The Robin Hood Inn next door does excellent homemade food and dog friendly, no need to drive.
- The Packhorse Inn at Little Longstone is a proper ‘locals’ dog friendly pub, very small but with a dining room of about 6 tables which must be booked. Food is outstanding and all locally sourced, Quiz night is on a Wednesday which is lots of fun.
- For a really special occasion we love The Peacock at Rowsley. We particularly like the bar and the bar tenders always know loads about spirits and will mix you anything.
Which Pub does the best Sunday lunch?
Robin Hood Inn next door.…they serve until 4pm on a Sunday and is popular with the locals, you will soon see why.
Can you recommend some nice, local food shops (Butchers, bakers, deli etc..)
- Chatsworth Farm shop (it is quite expensive) we get bacon & smoked trout from there for breakfast treats.
- New Close Farm Shop – Bakewell. We get our sausage, black pudding, butter & eggs from there.
- Hartington (15 miles) but worth the drive, has The Old Cheese Shop selling homemade cheese plus the Local Stores sells various locally made produce and still has the interior of an old fashioned village store.
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