Peak District Town on the River Wye

Bakewell is the largest town in the Peak District and is often referred to as as the 'Capital of the Peak District'. It is a market town of Saxon origin and still hosts a regular agricultural market on the purpose built market ground. The architecture of the market building resembles a marquee and looks unusual but not intrusive in this town of traditional stone buildings. The name of Bakewell is believed to originate from 'Badeca’s well'.

The Three Fords of Bakewell

Bakewell grew up around three fords over the river Wye. The town is situated a short distance south of Ashford-in-the-Water. These fords were eventually superseded by bridges. Holme bridge to the north of the town was originally a pack horse bridge dating from the 17th century. The main bridge in the centre of the town dates back to the 13th century. It may have been built wide enough for carts to cross rather than just packhorses. Much of Bakewell was rebuilt during the nineteenth century. Before that, it had narrow streets and timber framed buildings.

Image: Derbyshire village of Bakewell, one of the gateways to the Peak District.

Both bridges have pedestrian refuges, built atop the 'cutwaters'. Cutwaters are streamlined bases to the supporting arches. They are designed specifically to allow easy passage of the river water, especially in times of winter floods. There are paths along either side of the river Wye from the main bridge. A favourite pastime of visitors is to feed the many ducks that congregate there. If you do decide to feed them, please remember to give them something other than bread. The latter has no food value for them. To be honest, it's better if you leave them to feed themselves. Keep an eye open in the clear waters of the river Wye. It's not hard to spot some quite large rainbow trout.



The modern footbridge from the main car park it creaking under the weight of padlocks. Yes, the bridge has been subjected to the environmentally unfriendly human activity of love locking. At some point, hopefully the local authority will remove them. I suppose this modern form of vandalism is better than carving tree trunks.

Books and Maps

Walks South Peak District: Including Bakewell and Dovedale

Bakewell & the Wye Valley Through Time

Derbyshire Cookbook

Landranger (119) Buxton & Matlock, Chesterfield, Bakewell & Dove Dale (OS Landranger Map)

Bakewell 1897: Derbyshire Sheet 23.11 (Old Ordnance Survey Maps of Derbyshire)

Walking in the Peak District - 42 walks in Derbyshire including Bakewell, Matlock and Stoney Middleton

Peak District Administrative Centre

The Peak Park Authority is based at Bakewell since it is the only sizeable market town. The Peak District National Park was 50 years old in 2001, when the country was subject to a restrictions thanks to foot and mouth disease. That messed up celebrations a bit!

Bustling Bakewell

Bakewell is quite often a busy place especially on market days and bank holidays. At these busy times, travelling the roads hereabouts can be difficult owing to traffic volume. Just don't expect to get anywhere in a hurry! There are a wide variety of shops, including outdoor clothing shops, supermarkets, two filling stations and a great deli (on the corner by the roundabout). There is also a tourist information centre, worth checking out for the architecture, library and small swimming pool. If you are peckish, there is a good choice of places to eat such as pubs and cafes. The Bakewell car boot sale is well worth going to, both as a seller and a buyer.

For walkers, Bakewell offers a good base to access the rest of the Peak District National Park. There are some decent short walks near Bakewell that are worth an hour or two of your time. The old station provides parking (paid) and access to the Monsal Trail. There is a golf course and a few mountain bike rides in the vicinity too.

Bakewell Accommodation



Booking.com

Long-standing Transport Hub

Bakewell is an important cross-roads of the A6 and the A619. The A6 which carries on northwards to Buxton, Manchester and the Lake District. To the south, it leads to Rowsley, Matlock, Matlock Bath and Belper. The A619 heads off towards Baslow, giving access to the North Eastern Peak District, Sheffield and Chesterfield. Turn off this road before you leave Bakewell and you pass through Hassop and Calver. From Calver, there are several options to get to the Dark Peak.

The railway station is out of the centre of town and is now a business unit. The line closed down in 1968 and was re-opened as the Monsal Trail about 12 years later. The Monsal Trail follows the track bed of the former Midland Railway Line and now carries foot traffic and cyclists. It was not a particularly satisfying one to follow on a bike as it was discontinuous owing to the number of unsafe tunnels, which were closed to to the public.

However, after massive investment, the tunnels were made safe in 2011 and the Monsal trail now offers almost 9 miles of traffic free cycling from Bakewell to Blackwell Halt. It is well worth the effort. The most interesting section comes between Monsal Head and Blackwell Halt. The first of the tunnels is the Headstone tunnel. At the northern end, it plonks you straight onto the Headstone viaduct. The trail passes through the beautiful Monsal Dale. Beyond Millers Dale viaduct is Millers Dale station. The trail continues through the Chee Tor tunnels into the spectacular Chee Dale.

Saxons and Normans

Bakewell Church was largely rebuilt during Victorian times but if you look closely there are remnants of earlier versions. For example, the western front is in partially Norman, as is the west end of the nave. The eastern part of the church and also the south transept date from the 13th century. The chancel stalls with their misericords and also the font date from the early part of the 14th century. There is a collection of Saxon carvings which date from the ninth century - it is even possible that Bakewell had a school for Saxon carvers. The Saxon crosses in the churchyard were originally placed elsewhere in the parish and were probably used as preaching crosses.

The Eponymous Pudding

Probably the reason that Bakewell is a household name in the UK is the pudding (often incorrectly called a tart) that is named after the town. The pudding was apparently invented by accident at the Rutland Arms Hotel. There are various stories concerning the origin of the Bakewell pudding. One apocryphal tale is that the cook misunderstood some instructions. He or she ended up pouring an egg mixture on top of the jam of a jam tart. The visitors complimented the landlady on her unique pudding - so the cook’s job was safe and the Bakewell Pudding was invented.

Image: Eating a Bakewell pudding in one of the cafes in Bakewell Town, Derbyshire.

The main Bakewell pudding shop is a charming ‘olde worlde’ building. It is the main claimant to the original recipe. Even if you do not purchase a pudding, it is worth seeking out for its architecture. Two other shops also claim to have the original recipe, naturally it is a secret wherever you go! For a recipe for the tart as opposed to the pudding, here is the recipe from the BBC.

 



Bakewell Old House Museum

Guess what, the museum gets its name because it is in an old house. Apparently, it is in fact the oldest house in Bakewell, built during Tudor times. It was almost demolished at one point (I think during the 1960s?) but happily was saved and restored. During its existence, it has served as a tax collection centre, a parsonage, a gentleman's residence, workers cottages for Arkwright's Bakewell mill and of course a museum. It has a bit of a mish-mash of items but they all have local provenance.

Literary Bakewell

The most famous literary figure associated with Bakewell is Jane Austin. I don't think it is fully substantiated but she is alleged to have stayed in the newly built Rutland Arms. She is also alleged to have based Lampton in Pride and Prejudice on the town. Whatever the truth of these claims, it is a fact that the two local stately homes were used as filming locations for the 2005 film of the book. Haddon Hall is a short distance south whilst Chatsworth is a bit further away. These two major visitor attractions are both within easy reach of Bakewell.