Bakefest, Derbyshire 2-6 Jul 25

 

We like this meet. The Derbyshire District Association of the Camping and Caravanning Club meet at the showground in Bakewell is always a lively affair and we were hoping for some better weather this year. The theme this year was the anniversary of VE day and, as usual, a lot of effort had gone into it.The week preceding the event had been absolutely scorching and it was both hard packing in the heat and thinking about taking gear for wet and cold weather. Good job we did.

On Wednesday we set out North along the A1, turning off to cross Clumber Park and Chesterfield. Chesterfield was a nightmare. The roundabouts are very poorly marked, the roads very busy and, to top it all, they decided to move a massive wide load along the narrow streets, necessitating us mounting the high pavement and driving along it until we found a low enough bit to dismount. It was all very stressful! Eventually we arrived at the showground, quickly parked up, decided not to put the awning up as it was very windy, and went for a walk around Bakewell, ending up in the splendid Thornbridge Brewery, where we celebrated some good news with some pints of great beer and a couple of excellent pizzas. We then wandered back, relaxed and had a peaceful night's kip.

On Thursday we decided that we needed another relaxing day so we wandered into Bakewell, had lunch in the Red Lion, wandered back, put the awning up, relaxed and then wandered down to the bottom of the field to watch a live band, who were very good indeed, and drank cheap beer in the bar provided by the DA.

On Friday we took the bikes out to do the Monsal Trail, which we had done before, but it is a very pretty route and we wanted to climb up to Monsal Head to take in the view. It was sunny, but quite blowy, but we had a great ride. We'd stopped at Hassop Station cafe before and it was nice, so we decided to have lunch there. It wasn't particularly brilliant. The food could have been OK, despite the very long wait, but by the time we managed to get some forks the food was no longer hot. The staff were not helpful. "Can we have some forks please?" "No, I can't find any" Duh! Don't think we will be going back there. Just as we neared the end of our 22mile ride it started to rain, but we didn't get too wet. In the evening we went back to watch more music, but it wasn't quite as good as the night before.

Saturday was Carnival Day. We grabbed a bacon and egg banjo made by the superb chef, Paco, then headed into town to watch the event. It was typically British - and great fun!

Returning to base, we were irritated by the bloody noisy funfair in town playing the same track over and over again at deafening levels. £5 a ride nowadays - how can families afford it? The weather forecast wasn't good so we took the awning down ready for departure the following day. We then retired to the bar to watch and excellent lady singer and a bloke in a suit who kept playing rat pack songs that nobody could dance to, so most people packed up and partied on outside their vans.

We were really pleased we packed up the awning the day before as it rained heavily on Sunday morning. We grabbed one of Paco's finest butties (or cobs as they called them up there) and headed off in good time - and torrential rain. As we turned off the M1 onto the A14 we spotted an empty layby suitable for a break. I deaccelerated quickly, pulled in and mangaed to cock up the gears, trying to pull away in 6th. The van stalled - and wouldn't start again! Luckily we were safely in a layby, so we called breakdown and waited until a lovely chap turned up who diagnosed that the starter motor had jammed on stalling and the battery couldn't turn it over. He rocked the van, jump started and away we went. Apparently a common problem on Fiat/Peugeot. You live and learn.

Later than we envisaged, we arrived home and unpacked. In all, a great few days away with a great bunch of people. 

Shropshire 11-21 Jun 25

Once again it was time for the Beardy Folk Festival at the Hopton Court Estate which is in Hopton Wafers, near Ludlow in Shropshire. From our previous trips we knew it was likely to be very cold and very wet, despite being mid June, so we packed for all four seasons.

Ludlow

On Weds 11th we set out to spend the night before the festival in Knowbury in my sister's garden. The journey went well apart from taking a wrong turning when leaving Rugby services and having a 15 mile detour. We quickly pitched up in our favourite spot and went into the Church Inn in Ludlow for a lovely dinner.

Check in for the festival was 12 o'clock so we set out for the five mile journey across Clee Hill, judging our arrival time perfectly. That said, there were already a number of units on site, so I don't think that they stick to the timings too rigidly. We opted for the spot we had last year. The hill has grown: it was more sloped and we faffed around for ages trying to get the van level-ish. Eventually we settled,  put up the awning, had a nap, got our wristband and wandered across to have a beer and listen to some music in the evening.

Yorky Pudding wrap - nice!

Friday 13th was full on music and my sister, my niece and my other niece's mother in law turned up to enjoy the fun.  There were some great bands and we sampled the beer and food, albeit we found some of the Hobson's beers were a bit weak and tasteless. Still, I suppose they have to go local, and the stout and berry cider were good. Typically, it was chilly and then chucked it down and we had to poncho up, finally bailing out before the end of the Magic Numbers set.

Story time

Poncho'd up!

Saturday featured some of our favourite bands and it lived up to expectations, with some excellent sets from Sam Kelly, Skinny Lister and The Barsteward Sons of Val Doonican.

She put her wellies on ready, but it didn't rain!

Sunday - Shropshire still managed to offer us a slight drenching and once again we had to don waterproofs, but luckily it was short lived.

How rude!

Katie being told off for leaving rude signs outside the van

Monday we took the awning down and packed up (didn't take long), wandered across for a bacon bap and watched the festival being dismantled then, being one of the last off, we did the short hop to Jenny's where, exhausted we collapsed for the afternoon.

Tuesday, and feeling fully refreshed we set about cutting and strimming Jenny's two acre garden. This is a mammoth task and the weather was incredibly hot, so we paced ourselves a bit. We were still filthy and knackered by the end of the day.

Wednesday and more hard labour in the endless garden. I can highly recommend this task as a fitness regime! It's bloody exhausting

On Thursday we decided to pop into Ludlow for lunch, parking in the spots assigned for motorhomes in the Smithfield car park. Why can't all councils be as accommodating and forward-thinking as Shropshire County Council? 

Excellent MH parking in Ludlow

Ludlow Castle

Rose and Crown, Ludlow

On Friday it was back on hard labour, just about finishing the garden by 5pm and we enjoyed fish and chips at our hillside home on a lovely warm evening.

Multi tasking

Spruced up garden

On Saturday it was up early (I wont say the crack of dawn as it was  the summer solstice) but we left Jenny's at 0630 and were home by 1000hrs after stopping for LPG and a short breakfast break at Rugby Services. It was incredibly hot at home.

Early morning on Summer Solstice over Clee Hill