Trip to the Peak District

On the weekend just gone 26th - 28 Sept 2014 I visited the Peak District in Derbyshire, Northern England. I travelled up there Friday evening with my boyfriend and we was staying in Ashbourne at a place called Callow Top Holiday Park, it was a pretty nice park.

We didn't get there till around about 9pm but as soon as we got there we noticed how clear the sky was. I love looking up at the sky at night to see all the stars. There was so many out as it was a pretty clear night. I did take a few shots with my camera, shame I didn't have my other camera with it's 3 minute exposure. This one I had with me only had a 30 second exposure, but still the photos came out pretty good.

Night sky 1

Night sky 2

Night sky 3

The next day we went to visit Matlock, but first we stopped off at a place called Carsington Water. We only had a quick look around but the place looked pretty fun if you wanted to do some water sports such as; Sailing, Windsurfing or Paddlesports. Also you could hire a bike here, so this would be a fantastic place to visit if you are into water-sports.

We then went on to Matlock Bath where we visited the Heights of Abraham which is a major tourist attraction. It is on top of a big hill which is called Masson Hill, which you get cable cars up to the top. At the top there is a number of attractions you can visit. You pay to get the cable cars up there, which is £14 per person which gives you entry to the attractions. There is caves and exhibitions to explore plus a cafe and children's playground. The caves are really fun to explore you have a guide and go in with a group of people. The guide tells you about the caves and rocks inside.

In the caves

Rocks in the caves

In the caves

Going up in the cable car

View from the top.

The map of what to do up there.

Playing around. Photo by Gareth.

Fossils

More fossils

More fossils

and more fossils

Waterfall at the top.

After we had finished looking around we got the cable car back down to the bottom and had a look around the town. The town was quite busy. There was a river festival on in the evening that day, where they had illuminations. It featured a unique parade of illuminated and decorated boats on the River Derwent. I don't think it started till about 7pm and we didn't stay that long so we didn't get to see. We had a walk along the river side which was pretty. After that we headed back to the campsite and tried out the outdoor heated swimming pool, which was pretty cool. The next day we left the Peak District and drove over to Lincoln.

So that's the end of this story. I hope you enjoyed reading and keep a look out for more.

Thanks. Aimee

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The Lake District, Cumbria 2nd Time

So I decided to start up a travelling blog. I've been travelling around quiet a lot lately. I'm going start with what's become my most favourite place in England, The Lake District, in Cumbria.

I have visited here three times, once last year 2013 in November and twice this year so far. So I went up there on 23rd - 25th August 2014 (Bank Holiday Weekend), I travelled up on the train on Saturday afternoon and arrived at Windermere at around 5.30pm, where I went to find my bnb that I had booked up which was called Brendan Chase, it was a lovely cosy room with breakfast included. I only stayed there one night, as I was camping the next night at another place.
After I had checked in, I went on a little walk to a place called Orrest Head which was just up the road by Winderwere train station, it was a very enjoyable walk and once you get to the top of the hills you get the most beautiful view of Lake Winderwere.

Some photos I took while I was there. Such a wonderful view.

After coming back down I went on to Ambleside where I went for a lovely Indian meal, and took a few more photos. This one below is one of my favourites. Ambleside lakeside.

The next day I visited a place called Striding Edge, Helvellyn which is a really amazing mountain which involves some scrambling, I really wanted to do it but I wasn't wearing the correct shoes. If I ever go back there I will do it, it looks like such an amazing experience. There was many people doing it, men and women. I did however walk to it and sat by a nice lake and watched people climb. I did get to take a lot of very nice photos and here are some of my favourites.

Looking up at Striding Edge.

There is so many wonderful things to see and explore in the Lake District I would really love to spend a week up there and explore more.
So I'll go on to my next visit which was around 3 weeks after on the 12th - 14th September. I met up with my best friend at Manchester Piccadilly station we had a bit of trouble getting to Winderwere this time, as the trains were delayed quite a bit, though the train company gladly got everyone who was going to Windermere a taxi from Oxenholme to Windermere. We arrived about 11.30pm Friday evening. This time I was staying in Windermere-on-Bowness in a bnb pub, called Ruskin's, again this came with breakfast and room was very nice, it had 2 singles and a double.
This was the first time my friend Rebecca had visited the Lakes so lots for her to see. Next day we checked the local shops out in Windermere-on-Bowness, there are some lovely little shops. We then went down to the Lakeside and hired out a motor boat for an hour which was only £11.50 each. I got to drive it about half way up Lake Windermere, it was really fun I would definitely do it again. After that we got one of the tour buses and went to Grasmere which I hadn't been to before so this was a new place to see. I didn't really know what was there but I did notice hikers going up this road, so while we was in coop stocking up on water I asked what was up there and they told me it was a tarn. It was Easedale Tarn in the centre of the Lake District, about two miles west of the village of Grasmere. So we decided to have a walk there. Little did I know that this Tarn was a little further than I had expected and since it was gone past 5.00pm we sadly didn't get to reach the tarn, but I think we made it half way along the walk, which was still fun. I got to see a really cute cat and a nice waterfall in the distance, we got back to Grasmere just in time before it got Dark. Then we had to wait around for about 40 mins for the bus back to Windermere.

The next day we again got the bus, but this time to Ambleside and we went to the visit this really beautiful waterfall which was called, Stock Ghyll Force. It is a short walk from the centre of Ambleside, which can be found behind the Salutation Hotel. This is a spectacular 70 foot waterfall, which can easily viewed from a safe rail view point. I got some really good shots of this. I really enjoy seeing things like this they are so beautiful. There is a bridge that goes right over the top of it. What was also cool up there was there money trees or branches that had all these coins put into them. Me and Rebecca decided to put 2ps into one of them.

After we came back down to the town centre we had a look around the shops, bought some postcards then had a bit of trouble finding where the bus left from to go back to Windermere. After we found it we got the bus back, but I didn't realise after the bus came back to Windermere-on-Bowness lakeside it was going to carry onto the next town. I thought it was going to turn around and go back up to the station. So we was going on a bus tour and didn't know where we was going. We did get to see a bit more of the lakes and countryside though, even though we missed the train we was planning on getting back. But never mind once we did eventually get back to Windermere again after about another 40 odd minutes. We got the next train.

It was a really fun trip and I do really want to go back again. So that's it for my first travelling post! There will be more soon. Hope you enjoyed reading about it.

-- Thanks Aimee --

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