- Specific motorhome parking
- Amazing architecture
- Bustling local cafes and shops
- Rich in History
We have been in the Peak District for just over a week now and quite honestly, we can’t believe we have never been here before. Logistically, it would never have been a weekend break for us when we lived in Hampshire as it would have been a few hours drive at least, but that doesn’t explain why we couldn’t have planned a longer visit here. We did, after all, make a trip to Fort William via the Lake District on two different holidays.
That was for a specific reason though (to watch the UCI MTB World Cup!) so maybe thats it, unless you know what is in the area you might think you have no reason to go there. Everybody has different interests and it does depend on what you like to do with your leisure time, but let me share our experience of just one of the beautiful places we have visited and maybe you too will find a reason to visit.
Our afternoon out in the thermal spa town of Buxton started well when we were able to park up super easy. There is a coach park next to the Sylvan Park car park and motorhomes are allowed to park there. £5.20 for 4 hours is pretty reasonable and it definitely makes a visit anywhere more enjoyable when you have somewhere comfortable to park. Note that you can park for longer but the only options are 4 hours or 24 hours. Turns out the parking is right at the bottom of the town which is a bonus.
We got there around lunch so we were quickly seduced by the many cafes and tea rooms. We decided to stop in Hargreaves & Son as they have a tea room on their first floor. Turns out it’s a charming Edwardian tea room, decorated in the style as it would have been and they have these cool glass display cabinets full of memorabilia and antiques. The shop itself was established in 1913 as a fine China, Crystal and Glass store. Hargreaves & Son has been trading ever since, with 4 generations of the family making sure it continues to be a success but stays true to the original ethos of providing quality, value, and variety. They have some gorgeous stuff, Jon was definitely admiring a lot of the kitchen ware (he is the chef in our team, I’m more comfortable cleaning than cooking).
The food was delicious and after filling our faces and having a look through the displays, we thought we better head off as 4 hours isn’t that long when you’re exploring! We loved the fact that the high street had so many shops and places to eat & drink and that on a week day it was still busy. Sadly, we have seen the two towns closest to where we used to live decline over the years, with so many empty shops and new complexes being built out of town drawing business away.
Something we have both started to enjoy is looking around antique and, for want of a better description, ‘nic-nac’ shops. There are a few dotted around here but there was one in particular we liked looking around, probably because of its location in a historic promenade of shops at the top of town, opposite what was the Buxton Baths. We then realised that above those shops was the Grove Hotel. Now a listed building, it closed its doors in 2013. It originally opened as a coffee house in the late 1700’s before becoming a coaching in.
We continued over the road and headed over to the Cavendish Shopping Arcade, developed from the Thermal Baths in the 1980’s. The beautiful history of this building is still very much evident with the steps to the baths still visible below glass floor sections and the original plunge pool still in the middle! It also features Britain’s biggest glass stain window in the vaulted ceiling.
The baths were originally built in 1811 to accommodate the increasing number of visitors during the spa town boom. It stands at the end of The Crescent, a Grade I listed purpose built hotel that is currently undergoing major renovation work to re-open once again as a luxury spa hotel. The site of the Roman Baths, which is where the Natural Baths are now, will form the centre of the new hotel Spa. The Crescent was originally built in 1790 to be the centre piece of the town, people were flocking from all over to ‘take the waters’ here for their supposed healing properties and its purpose was to establish Buxton as a fashionable place to visit. Even behind all of the building works, it still looks spectacular in the landscape viewed from The Slopes opposite.
We then visited The Pump Room, which has been restored under the same project as The Crescent renovation and is now used as the Buxton Visitor Centre. It was built in 1894 to deal with over crowding at the previous Well which was located in the Thermal Baths. It is free to get in and you can still see the Well and the stairs leading down to it. Right outside is St Anne’s Well, added in 1940, where you can fill your water bottle with some of the thermal mineral water the town is so famous for. It is still dressed annually as part of the Buxton Well Dressing festival.
Buxton has been a settlement since Roman times, when they established Aquae Arnemetiae and its just oozes rich history as you walk around. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to see all of the places of interest so we missed out on the Pavilion gardens, Opera House and the Old Hall Hotel (which I didn’t realise was right near the arcade!). Now, my Tudor senses are tingling here as the the hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Buxton. It was owned by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, whose wife was none other that Bess of Hardwick. She was one of the richest women of her time and a friend to Elizabeth I. She and her husband were the gaolers of Mary Queen of Scots and as such, she had accompanied them here ‘to take the waters’ on more than one occasion.
Even if history is not your thing, this town is still extremely charming and very pleasant to walk around. The architecture is pleasing to look at and there is the right mixture of independent and retail chain shops to peruse. There is also an abundance of Arts here to be enjoyed from the Opera House, Pavilion Arts Centre, the Buxton Museum & Art Gallery plus live music across various venues. If none of that takes your fancy, the town lives up to its spa reputation with two spa hotels for a relaxing experience plus the all new Buxton Crescent opening in the near future.