The Peak District - Arrival & Wander around Leek

Please don't let the title of this post confuse or irritate you!!  I know that Leek is not, technically, in The Peak District, but that is where we were staying, so I've gone with it to keep consistency with my post titles.  Please bear with me.

It was our first cottage holiday of the year and we were both really looking forward to it. We were staying in a cottage just outside of Butterton in the Peak District.

Considering I had spent most of Thursday packing and getting ready to go away we had a very slow start on the Friday. By the time the car was packed, the bikes were on and we were ready to head off it was 11.00am. 

We had decided that we would visit Sudbury Hall and the National Trust museum of Childhood on the way. It's somewhere we've passed loads of times when visiting the Peak District but we've never actually managed to stop and have a look round. You can read more about our visit here. 

It was then a quick visit to Morrisons in Leek to stock up on provisions to see us through the week, before finally making our way to Swainsley Farm, where we were staying on one of their barn conversions. 

First impressions were very good and you can read more about the cottage and our thoughts during our stay in my holiday cottage review post here. 

We were soon unpacked and settled in for the night with a very easy, chuck it in the oven, tea, hoping that the good weather would continue for the rest of our stay, though the forecast did not look promising. In fact it looked like it was rain all the way. 

We had a very slow get up to wet, wild and windy weather on Saturday morning/  We took our time and had a very late and indulgent breakfast. We'd managed to get some Staffordshire oatcakes from the supermarket, which we love but can't get at home, even though we live in Staffordshire.  

We had these stuffed with cheese and mushrooms, with sausages and baked beans on the side. That should definitely see us through till tea time, which was to be our favourite ... Abruzzi lamb, which was already bubbling away in the slow cooker. Clearly one of us had been up a bit earlier and you'll all know it won't have been me. 

As the weather was pretty miserable we decided to head into Leek and have a wander around the market and the shops. 

This ended up being a very good move. By the time we were parked up the rain had pretty much stopped and we had a really good wander around the town without getting wet at all. We started off in Bibelot, a very nice moochy craft and haberdashery type shop, with plenty of Cath Kidston thrown In for good measure. 

We then headed to the market square which was full of antique and second hand stalls selling all kinds of bits and pieces. We had a good look, but nothing took our fancy, before heading into the traditional Butter Market for another mooch about. 

After that it was up the high street, past the second gold post box we have ever seen, to a really lovely little shopping arcade, which was full of craft and hand made shops and a particularly well stocked wool shop, where I couldn't resist making a purchase.

It was then up to the war memorial for the first cache of the holiday, which was to be our one and only for the day, before heading, via the church, for a tea room for a quick drink and a read of the paper. 

It was then time to make our way back to The Haybarn, which thankfully was a far more bearable temperature to yesterday. Mmmmmmmm, the Abruzzi smelt good too. 

All in all a very pleasant afternoon out. Leek is definitely worth a visit.

We got back just in time. Within 10 minutes the rain was lashing down again.

Sudbury Hall & National Trust Museum of Childhood

We were on our way to our first cottage holiday of the year, staying at Swainsley Farm, just outside Butterton in the lovely Peak District.

We couldn't check in to the cottage until 3pm so had decided that we would make our 2nd National Trust visit of 2015 and stop off on the way to visit Sudbury Hall and the National Trust Museum of Childhood. 

It's one of our nearest National Trust properties, but neither of us had ever visited it, though we have passed it lots of times en route to elsewhere. Today we were really pleased to have plenty of time to stop and explore. 

We started off in the tea room for lunch, before having a really good wander around the Museum of Childhood, which is a real treat and had us reminiscing over the toys and games we had when younger, though, of course, lots were well before our time. We even, kind of, managed a game of hopscotch. 

The first room holds some display cabinets displaying all sorts of things, including some really nice old dolls' houses.  There is also a pretty impressive fully furnished child's bedroom on the ceiling! 

Yep, this really is on the ceiling!

There is also an old schoolroom where the National Trust volunteers told us about the old fashioned lessons that they hold for school children visiting. 

There is a really cool reading area with some fabulous murals on the walls and ceilings, where the letters of the writing in the books just jump out of the pages. 

About the freakiest thing we saw was the swimming doll, which did look pretty scary.

Having had a good look round the museum, we headed outside and had a wander around the gardens, which looked just lovely in the afternoon sunshine.  We then had a quick look at the neighbouring church before heading into the Hall.



















The tour of the hall begins with a view of a very impressive staircase with some really ornate plasterwork and carvings. 

There are lots of rooms to look at, with really good views of the garden and the lake. 

For such a big house we were surprised at how cosy lots of the rooms were. 

Your visit covers two floors, with rooms laid out how they would have been when last inhabited, with some showing good examples of restoration works currently in progress. 

There is also currently a WW1 exhibition on show.

In all we spent about two hours on our visit, including our visit to the tea room.  We really enjoyed it and were glad we'd finally got round to getting to see it.  It's definitely worth stopping off if you are passing.

The Haybarn - Butterton - Derbyshire

How long did we stay?
7 nights

When did we visit?
27 March - 3 April 2015

How much was it?
£550

Who did we book with?
www.swainsleyfarm.co.uk

What were our initial impressions?
The cottage is one of three on a site just inside the boundary of The Peak District National Park and is situated in a lovely spot.

We arrived on a glorious Spring day and the cottage looked really pretty in the afternoon sunshine, with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside across the valley.
We were greeted and welcomed by Chris, one of the owners, who showed us around and explained how everything worked, including the bike storage, which would be very handy, as we had bought ours away with us.

There wasn't really a welcome pack, compared to other places we've stayed at, though there were some very nice scones, with butter and jam, plenty of tea and coffee and a small jug of milk to get us started.  There were also some fresh flowers in the kitchen.
When we arrived the cottage was very warm, so we threw open all of the windows, but thought how nice it would be to get cosied up nice and toasty later on.

There was a lovely big kitchen, with some quirky features, as well as everything that we would need, and a nice cosy lounge, both with really good views of the surrounding countryside.
There were also two lovely bedrooms and a bathroom.  It was exactly as the pictures on the website had described it.
It looked spotlessly clean and Chris was very keen to let us know that he wanted us to have a great week and to just let him know if there was anything that we needed during our stay.

Our likes over the course of our stay

• The location was perfect for what we wanted. There were good walks and bike riding to be had from the front door of the cottage, with no need to take out the car, but it was close enough to Leek and Buxton for when we wanted to venture a bit further afield. 
• The whole cottage was spotlessly clean, with no need to do our usual job of running all the cutlery and crockery through the dish washer before using anything. 
• The beds were lovely and comfy. 
• The lounge was really nice and cosy. 
• On our first night we had a problem with the TV and couldn't get reception on any channels. Chris was very good and came round straight away and, after a bit of fiddling about with the splitter cable in the loft, managed to get us up and running ........ just in time for Eastenders! 
• There were enough dish washer tablets to see us right through the week, which was great, as we normally run out and have to use our own. 
• The outside space around the cottages is really well maintained and cared for, with lots of pots and plenty of outdoor seating.

Anything that could have made it better?

• We really didn't like the heating system which, of course, wouldn't be a problem in the Summer.  The cottage is heated by electric storage heaters so its impossible to change the temperature instantly.  As it was, the control mechanisms had been removed so if we wanted to make any changes, this involved asking the owners to come and do this.
• The two bedrooms are interlinked and, when sleeping in the twin room, you have to go through the double to use the bathroom, which makes it hard not to disturb whoever is sleeping in the double room.  It wasn't a deal breaker, but it would be better if the upstairs layout was a bit different.
• A downstairs loo is always a bonus for us who don't like going up and down the stairs!
• Whilst the outside space is kept really well, it is shared.  We found privacy was not ideal as other holiday makers have to walk past the windows of The Haybarn to get to their cottages. We could also imagine that this would be more of a problem when using the outside space in good weather.
• Big fluffy bathsheets are a must for us.  Sadly, only rather small bath towels are provided.  This didn't cause us a problem as I checked ahead and we took our own bathsheets.
• The shower wasn't as powerful as we would normally like, though there was always plenty of nice hot water.
• The wifi, whilst always available, was very, very slow.

Would we recommend this cottage to our friends and family?

Most definitely, but would say to be mindful of the above.

Would we stay in this cottage again?

I've had to think really hard about the answer to this question and, I feel really bad saying this because in so many ways this was a lovely cottage and the owners were just great.  However,  I don't think it's very likely that we would stay here again. For us, the heating system rules it out for the Winter and the lack of privacy would rule it out for the Summer.  I think, staying here will definitely influence our already very long list of what we look for in a cottage for future bookings, but then we are really picky!

Bacon & Parsley Hotcakes

This has to be our favourite of favourites breakfasts at the moment.

Easy to make, though it does take longer than popping a piece of toast in the toaster, really tasty and filling enough to see us through till tea time.

It's a really nice weekend treat.

Makes 8 Hotcakes
Prep Time - 15 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes







Ingredients
100g smoked bacon lardons, or chopped bacon
100g self raising flour
50g grated mature cheddar
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or substitute with dried
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs
6 tbsp milk
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Oil, for frying

Poached eggs to serve




Dry fry the lardons or chopped bacon until crisp and golden.  Set aside to cool.

Mix the flour, cheese, herbs, lardons, herbs and salt & pepper in a bowl.

Make a well in the centre and drop in the eggs.  Beat with a wooden spoon, then gradually add the milk, drawing the mixture into the centre as you go.  You should end up with a fairly thick batter.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan.  Drop in large spoonfuls of the batter, then cook until the hotcakes start to set around the edges.  Flip them over and cook until golden.  Keep warm, whilst you cook the remaining hotcakes.

Serve each person 2 hotcakes topped with a poached egg and a griding of black pepper.

Oh yeah ...... if taking photos, don't serve it on a white plate!! Unless of course you kept a bit of parsley for garnish. LOL.

Enjoy!!