Zebedee has been to Bridgnorth, Stafford, Carsington, Buxton, Chatsworth, Leek and Tewkesbury

For our next campervan adventure we decided to visit The Peak District and see our families on the way.

On Wednesday we travelled to Stanmore Hall Touring Park in Bridgnorth for a few days as we thought we would try a new site before visiting Steve's family.    It was a very hot day for travelling so we were glad to arrive on site.  We were allocated a pitch on the edge of the site away from the road, which also had some shade from nearby trees.  After setting up we had a walk around the site, which is lovely with a large lake in the centre and a couple of peacocks walking amongst the pitches before returning to Zeb to sit outside for a while.

Pitch 106 Stanmore Hall

Thursday started cloudy but warm and we decided to visit Bridgnorth.  After having a look around High Town we walked to Low Town to have our lunch by the river and walked through the park to back to High Town.  We caught the bus to the site mid afternoon as the day was getting hotter which was making us feel tired.

On Friday we walked from the site to Stanmore Country Park in the morning.  The country park is on the site of the former RAF Bridgnorth and there were several information boards around the trails which were very interesting.  After exploring the various paths around the park we went back to Zeb for lunch and then walked to Quatford in the afternoon, returning to the site when it started to get too hot.

War Memorial (former cookhouse chimney) Stanford Country Park

On Saturday we saw Steve's family before travelling to Spring Paddock Caravan and Motorhome Park near Stafford. We should have visited this site earlier in the year but our booking was cancelled as the site was flooded. The site is lovely with five spacious pitches and excellent facilities as well as a small shop with an honesty box.

Pitch 5 Spring Paddock

We travelled to Rugeley on Sunday to see my mother and sister and spent some time with them.  We  returned to the site early afternoon as my niece and great-nephews were coming to see us.  It was another hot day and we were all glad to find some shade outside Zeb.

Monday was our travel day and we drove to Carsington Water Club Campsite. The temperatures were forecast as being very high so I had contacted the site the previous day to see if we could arrive early and sit in the shade on their car park until it was time to check in. It was the first time Steve had experienced extremely high temperatures and we were both being careful. The Site Manager was happy for us to use their car park so we arrived late morning and waited until we could check in before setting up on site amongst the pine trees. It was far too hot to walk in the afternoon so we sat in the shade for the rest of the day.

Pitch 56 Carsington Water

The temperatures on Tuesday were forecast as being even higher than the previous few days.  After breakfast we had a short walk around the site and then sat outside Zeb - moving around the van during the day to try and get some shade. The temperature increased all day and we found it difficult to cool Zeb – it was still in the early 30s when it was time for bed.

Thankfully the temperatures cooled a little on Wednesday and we were able to go for a walk. We walked from the site to Carsington Water – the ninth largest reservoir in the country.  We walked the trail around the reservoir making a slight detour to Carsington village where we had our lunch and a pot of tea at The Miners Arms.  The water level was very low in the reservoir but we enjoyed the trail and the Visitor's Centre.  Rain was forecast overnight so we wound the sun canopy in and put a few things away before settling down for the evening.

Carsington Water

On Thursday we travelled to Buxton Club Campsite, stopping at Asbhourne on the way to pick up some shopping and have a look around the town.  We were surprised how many shops had closed as we remembered it as a thriving town from our previous visits.  The site's location is lovely as it's set in an old quarry - we chose a pitch on the outside of the lower section of the site.

Pitch 23 Buxton

The weather turned very wet on Friday and we stayed in Zeb for most of the day going for a walk around the site when the rain eased.  We made good use of the time in planning three more 'adventures' - one for October and two for next Spring.

After a lot of overnight rain Saturday saw a dry start to the day so we walked to Buxton through the Country Park.  After a visit to Charlotte's Chocolates for one of the best hot chocolate drinks we've ever had, we walked around the town.  Like Ashbourne, Buxton had a lot of empty shops and we were disappointed to see that it looked quite run down..  After lunch we walked through the Pavilion Gardens where there was a Festival taking place, before returning to the site in the afternoon.  We sat outside Zeb for a while before the rain returned and we headed inside.

On Sunday we walked around the Country Park to Solomon's Temple.  We had hoped to walk a few more trails through the park but as it started raining again we headed back to the site.  We enjoyed the Buxton site and were disappointed the weather had stopped us from doing some of the walks we had planned around the area.

From Solomon's Temple towards Buxton

On Monday we travelled to Chatsworth Park Club Campsite - this site is the most expensive one we have booked this year and it is very hard to get pitches so we had high hopes of a stunning site.  It was very busy when we arrived and we set up on the best pitch that was available.  Our first impression of the site, and one that didn't change whilst we were there, was that it was very cramped and nothing special to justify the high cost - other than it is at Chatsworth!  In the afternoon we walked through the back gate of the site into the parklands and walked towards the house, returning to site when it started to rain.

Pitch 64 Chatsworth Park

Tuesday saw a bright start to the day so we walked around the parklands to see the Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man sculptures. They were all very good, but our favourites were the bears with pennies to simulate fur and the amazing mermaid which was made from upcycled bits 'n' bobs.  We visited the exhibition hub and were told that the Wings of Glory automaton was set alight on Thursday afternoons, so we made a note to ensure we saw it.  We returned to site for lunch and then walked through the park to the hunting lodge in the afternoon.

On Wednesday we walked to Bakewell for the day.  The town was as we remembered it and seemed to be thriving well and popular with both locals and tourists.  We sat by the river for our lunch and, of course, a Bakewell Pudding from the The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop.

We had a lot of rain overnight but Thursday morning was dry to we walked through Stand Wood in the morning, returning to Zeb for lunch.  In the afternoon we headed back into the parklands for a river walk, returning to the House to see the Wings of Glory automaton set alight.

Wings of Glory Automaton

On Friday we travelled to Blackshaw Moor Club Campsite - this used to be our regular weekend site when we lived in Staffordshire and is still a lovely site.  We arrived before the weekend rush so were able to get a pitch on our favourite part of the site.

Pitch 78 Blackshaw Moor

After setting up we walked to Tittesworth Reservoir and walked a couple of the reservoir trails as well as looking to see how low the water level was in the reservoir - 52% on the day we visited.

Tittesworth Reservoir towards The Roaches

There are no buses in the area at the weekends, but there is an excellent Community Bus Service which we booked on Saturday to take us from the site into Leek.  We used to know the town well and I worked there for a while.  It had changed a lot although from our previous visits but it was still a busy town and there were only a few empty shops.  We had a lovely lunch at DuckGoose before getting the bus back to the site.

We had more heavy rain overnight and Sunday morning was very wet so we decided to stay on site and plan our trip for next June/July when we're heading back to Yorkshire.  The rain stopped early afternoon and the sun came out so we had a few short walks around the site.

On Monday we travelled to our final site Tewkesbury Abbey Club Site for one night to break the journey home.  The site was very busy but we found a good pitch on the edge of the site and set ourselves up quickly.

Pitch 29 Tewkesbury Abbey

In the afternoon we had a walk into Tewkesbury and a pot of tea at The Abbey Tea Room before returning to site to sit outside Zeb for a while on our final day of the adventure.

We enjoyed our visit to Stanmore Hall and Spring Paddock and will definitely return to the sites in the future.  Carsington Water was a lovely site set amongst pine trees, but we probably wouldn't return as there's not much more walking we want to do the in the area.  The Buxton and Leek sites are lovely - definitely ones we would return to the in the future.  Tewkesbury is another site we would like to revisit - staying for longer next time to do more walking in the area.  The only site that was a real disappointment was Chatsworth - very overpriced for an average site.  If we do return to the area we would look for another site.

15 July-2 August 2022