England & Wales 2015 – Part 3: Peak District & Chester

Tourist Glut in Peak District

Monday, 06.04.2015

Getting up was really hard this morning after this pure icehockey party weekend. Nevertheless we leap out of bed at 10am, have a brief shower and pack our bags before the actual England/Wales adventure is finally going to start.

Unfortunately this Monday seems to be a bank holiday, thus half of England is on the road and it is only in Matlock where traffic comes to a complete halt on our way to Peak National Park. We need a good half an hour for getting down the 600 meters stretch of Matlock‘s main road. While not really moving we can perfectly watch people’s activities in the beautiful local park where there are hords of picknicking families, old guys playing boules or children riding in small boats on a tiny pond.

After 65 kilometers (40 miles) and nearly three hours driving time we reach our first destination, Bakewell. The historic town in the heart of the Peak National Park is famous for its historic structures and the famous Bakewell Pudding, a small tarte tasting like marzipan. Unfortunately today it has also attracted hundreds of thousands of Britsh toursist as well, so we more feel like in Disneyland than in a town of 3,000 inhabitants.

After two hours we continue through the Peak District, along Monsal Dale, a valley being crossed by a cycle and walking trail along an abandoned railway line with several tunnels and viaducts.

At Winnats Pass the Peak District shows it’s presumably most beautiful side. Lush rolling hills, rugged cliffs and a narrow windy and with an incline of 1 in 5 unexpectedly steep road show that this is one of England’s few real uplands.

We save a visit to famous Blue John Caves for another journey due to the advanced time, putting it on top of a bucket list.

At the upper end of Winnats Pass the road offers wonderful views of England’s rolling hills before we hit the motorway towards the West near Manchester.

In the evening we arrive in Chester with its historic old town worth seeing. Since it is going to start to darken soon we are only doing a short stroll through the city. Most distinctive feature for Chester are the Rows, roofed arkades on the first floor along the main (shopping) roads. They were presumably built for customers in order to not having to walk in muddy roads during regular rainy weather, so you could count the Rows as ancestors of our modern shopping malls.

Shortly before dusk it suddenly becomes foggy, making finding a campground not really easier. After a real odyssey, the realization that English campgrounds are not necessarily public and open for everyone and some phone calls later we find a nice spot for the night at Clays Touring & Leisure Park in Llan-y-Pwll across the Welsh border.