Bank Holiday Sheffield: Peak District Day Trip Guide

Bakewell is the Bank Holiday default for good reason. The market town on the River Wye, twelve miles from Sheffield, has the pudding shops, the Monday market (the best day if the Bank Holiday falls right), the river walk, and enough of a town centre to occupy several hours without effort. The Bakewell Pudding – a genuine almond and pastry tart that predates and should not be confused with the Bakewell Tart – is worth eating at the source. The drives through the Wye Valley to get there are part of the pleasure.

Chatsworth House and its estate, eighteen miles from Sheffield, is the grand Peak District day out. The house is one of the finest in England. The gardens, designed by Capability Brown and expanded over centuries, are particularly good in spring and summer. The farmyard and playground make it work for families. The park itself is free to walk. It’s a significant day in the spending sense but not a ruinously expensive one, and it’s the kind of place that earns the money.

For the people who want to walk rather than browse, Stanage Edge and the Hope Valley do Bank Holiday well. Park in Hathersage, walk up to the edge, walk the length of it, come down and eat in Hathersage or carry on toward Castleton. The Bank Holiday crowd is on Stanage but it’s a long edge and the path is wide; the crowds disperse. The view from the top is the view that Sheffield people carry as their mental image of what the Peak District actually is.

If the Peak District is already everyone else’s idea, Sheffield itself is good on a Bank Holiday. The parks are at their best, the city centre is quiet, and the Fat Cat’s beer garden fills with people who’ve made exactly this calculation and are comfortable with it.