The Jaipur IPA is still the standard-bearer and the pineapply Jamestown New England IPA is great. Street food vendors pop up on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but the real treat is tasting obscure members of the Thornbridge range. Thornbridge Brewery, which was producing craft beer long before it was cool, sits on the site of a former mill on the edge of Bakewell. Devour with custard, as tradition demands. Obligatory, however, is The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop, which lays on the take-it-with-a-pinch-of-salt history as thick as the eggy mixture on top of the dessert’s jam layer. The Bakewell Cheese Shop, on Market Street, sells novelty varieties like mustard and ale, and whisky and ginger, and the Peak District National Park Visitor Centre doubles as a gallery, selling local crafts alongside the walking maps. It’s three miles back to Bakewell, where an afternoon mooch is in order. Alternatively, just rock up at the car park, take a photo of Monsal Dale and the Headstone Viaduct, then maybe have an al fresco pint at Monsal Head Hotel’s Stable Bar. Several walking routes slug their way up to it. Monsal Head, offering one of the Peak District’s best views, lies four miles west of Chatsworth. Damien Hirst’s visceral Saint Bartholomew, Exquisite Pain was a fixture in the chapel for several years, while works by artist Lucian Freud and sculptor David Nash can be found in the main building. The lavish wood panelling, tapestries and paintings and the showboating fountains dotting lawns sculpted by Capability Brown are as expected, but the periodic injection of modern art adds a welcome twist. The centrepiece of the estate, Chatsworth House, is one of Britain’s great stately homes. The range and quality are tremendous, and the Duchess’ favourite - a lime marmalade with pineapple - is the essential buy. The sprawling Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop in the village of Pilsley sells all the best goodies made by farmers, brewers and bakers on the Duke’s land. If in doubt in these parts, the Duke of Devonshire probably owns it. The boots will still get muddy, but you probably won’t have time to scrape the dirt off. Sleepy rural idyll this is not.ĭays in this part of the country can swing from pottery to puddings, or from deer-spotting to dark history. But the town’s chocolate-box appeal belies its industriousness in converted mills and surrounding villages, brewers, woodcarvers, jam-makers and jewellers are busy giving the area some serious cultural clout. The historic market town of Bakewell serves as the ideal base for exploring the area: here, charmed visitors feed ducks by the river, mooch between farm shops and coo at handsome stone buildings. A weekend clambering over stiles and sipping pints of bitter is both feasible and enjoyable, but linger a while longer in this swathe of central England, and a whole new side reveals itself. The traditional image of the Peak District - rolling hills and country pubs, curious sheep and dry stone walls - turns out to be a gross oversimplification.
This article was adapted from National Geographic Traveller (UK).
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