Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the baths were reactivated. Mary, Queen of Scots took the waters here while being
held captive by the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, at nearby
Chatsworth House (p. 537). Bess's descendant, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, had
plans to turn Buxton into another Bath; he failed, but what you see today is largely
the legacy of his 18th-century development, including
The Crescent,
modeled on
Bath's Royal Crescent and finally greenlighted in late 2010 for transformation into a
five-star hotel, thermal spa, and natural mineral-water spa (the previous thermal
baths closed in the 1970s).
Buxton's
Pavilion Gardens
, St. John's Road (
&
01298/23114;
www.pavilion
gardens.co.uk), restored between 1998 and 2004 to their Victorian splendor, have
lakes, a bandstand, a minitrain, a cafe, and an ice-cream parlor. Events here include
farmers' markets, fine-food fairs, books and antiques fairs, and the
Great Peak Dis-
trict Fair
each October, which includes the Buxton Beer Festival, family activities,
and music. Gardens are open daily 9:30am to 5pm; admission is free.
On Buxton's outskirts is
Poole's Cavern
, Green Lane (
&
01298/26978;
www.poolescavern.co.uk), a limestone cave inhabited by Stone Age people, Romans,
and finally medieval outlaws. The cavern's chambers are studded with stalactites and
stalagmites. After a tour (call for times; £8 for adults, £4.75 children 5-16), stroll
through the surrounding
Buxton Country Park
up to the leaning Victorian folly
Solomon's Temple on Grin Low Hill, with views across High Peak. The Park is home
to a
Go Ape!
forest adventure course (
&
0845/643925;
www.goape.co.uk), with
admission prices from £20; call for hours.
THE NATIONAL PARK
Dark Peak
(or
High Peak
) is the highest, wildest section of the National Park, and
though it's dramatically scenic, it's bleak in bad weather (an impression reinforced by
the military aircraft wrecks). In summer, staff at the
Upper Derwent Visitor Cen-
tre
(p. 535) near the dam will advise you on getting the most of its moorlands, forests,
and reservoirs (Howden, Derwent, and Ladybower). At the base of
Mam Tor
(“Heights of the Mother”), pretty
Castleton
attracts visitors with the imposing Nor-
man ruins of
Peveril Castle
(
&
0870/333-1181;
www.english-heritage.org.uk;
daily 10am to 4 or 5pm; admission £4.30 adults, £2.60 for children aged 5-16).
Castleton is also home to four underground show caves, including
Blue John Cav-
ern
(
&
01433/620642;
www.bluejohn-cavern.co.uk) and
Treak Cliff Cavern
(
&
01433/620571;
www.bluejohnstone.com/pages/cave.htm), the only two places
in the world where the blue-and-yellow semiprecious mineral Blue John is found.
The first is the best for visitors; it's open daily 9:30am to 5:30pm (10am-dusk in
winter) and costs £9 to enter (£4.50 for children up to 15).
East of Castleton, scenic
Hathersage
plays up its possible links with the Robin
Hood legend but has a firmer claim to fame as the place where Charlotte Brontë
wrote part of
Jane Eyre,
while staying at the vicarage to visit a friend. Walkers and
rock-climbers flock here for its surrounding moorland, gritstone edges, and tors (high
rocky hills). It's also home to the David Mellor museum (p. 542).
About 12 miles southeast of Buxton,
Bakewell
is another good base and indeed
the only town within the National Park itself. (For the Monsal Trail between Buxton
and Bakewell, see “Best Peak District Trails,” p. 535). This pleasant market town is
best known as home to the eponymous pudding (though not the Bakewell tart, which
hails from elsewhere). It's available all over but best sampled at
The Old Original
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