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.