02-Nov-2024
From Winster, you can catch a bus to Bakewell or Matlock. Derbyshire, it seems to us, does buses very well, and this particular route is run by Hulleys of Baslow.
Even if you have a car, going to Bakewell by bus is a really good idea. Firstly, you don't have to worry about queueing and parking when you get there; secondly, you're treated to an incredibly scenic trip on the way (you do a couple of diversions, heading off to the villages of Elton and Youlgrave, turning round, and retracing your tyretracks to the main route -- all of which makes for a nicely varied and panoramic trip); and thirdly, you get to enjoy all this, while the professionals manage the avoiding-parked-cars and negotiating-single-track-roads thing.
We popped in at Bakewell back in 2019, while on a family trip to Buxton. But the weather was cold, so the main stand-out of Bakewell that time was its eponymous pudding. Today we wanted to sniff out a bit more.
Aside from the pudding, you have the Jane Austen connection.
Ah, yes... Difficult one.
You'll read in lots of places (eg, here) that Austen was a great fan of Derbyshire (reckoning there was "no finer county in England"), modelled Lambton in Pride and Prejudice on Bakewell, and stayed at the Rutland Arms.
Others (eg, here) disagree, claiming that not only did Austen NOT stay at this hotel, but also that there's no evidence she visited Derbyshire at all... Go figure...
Less controversially, we have All Saints, Bakewell, an absolute treasure trove of early Christian faith:
In the churchyard, for example, there are two Anglo Saxon stone crosses, with a mixture of Christian and Pagan motifs:
The porch is full of Anglo Saxon fragments:
There's a 14th-century font:
And there's lots that's just very beautiful:
Aside from these specific points of interest, Bakewell has a generally picturesque quality that explains why the crowds had really built by the time Saturday morning was petering into afternoon:
After your very satisfactory morning comes the unwinding of your outward journey, as you head home on your Hulleys bus:
Three cheers for simple outings.