Blog 217 - A Wet Few Days in the Peaks, Storm Claudia
- Keef Hellinger
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Travel Blog Summary, Storm Claudia, Motorhome Trip No. 62, 96 miles,12th-16th November 2025
NOTTS -> Lickpenny Lane, CAMC site, Tansley / Matlock, Derbyshire -> NOTTS (96 miles)
Created by KeefH Web Designs, November 17th, 2025, 7.23 AM
Probably not the best choice of weather for this trip, Storm Claudia was upon the UK but in my defense when I booked this up the long range weather forecast said this week was much better than the one before, how wrong can the met office be? I read somewhere that in Japan if the weather forecaster gets it wrong they have to commit "hara-kiri" or as we brits like to pronounce it hare-kare #smile
WEDNESDAY
We left home about lunch time and guess what it was pouring with rain. Lickpenny lane site is probably the closest to our home and surprisingly in 62 trips in our lovely Wendy house we had never been to this one, a Camping and Motorhome (CAMC) club site indeed I only came across it as used the site booking app and it was the only one that was open past the start of November. It is only 26 miles from home and takes about 40 minutes so we will definitely use it again.
We arrived in the rain, pitch 16 set up in the rain, got our water in the rain (we love you Claudia) #haha It reminded me of that Marti Pellow group...
It is worth noting that the site has 2 amenities blocks, the one we were nearest was on initial impression, quite dated, 3 showers (no shower curtains) , 2 loos often full even in off season although in fairness despite Storm Claudia it was a fairly full site. Location and being open at this time of the year are key. It had no privacy cubicles and a couple of urinals (ok sorry - too much info #hintsandtips ) Can't speak for the 2nd amenities block which may have been more modern as didn't visit it, that's my site amenities review over. As a site each pitch is hard standing, with great hedge / rhododendrons separating pitches, so you feel quite private on a pitch, it has a lovely forestry feeling overall. Picnic benches in lots of places and a chippie van visits Friday evenings, 5.30-7.30 pm (more about that later).
One disadvantage, in our humble opinion, of the site was that amenity block cleaning was 10-10.45 am each day, a little too early when one is supposedly on holidays and we find being ore relaxed we sleep in in the van, but hey ho it's not the worst thing.
Wednesday really was a wash out so we read, crocheted (Annie not me obvs!) and listened to Peter Kay on audible, hilarious. I read the new Ann Cleeves with Jimmy Perez back but this time in Orkney, so hope there is eventually a TV series to rival Shetland.
THURSDAY
Thursday however was a whole lot better weather wise, maybe the calm before the storm so we took ourselves off the Matlock, parked in the town car park, you will need pay-by-phone app I'm afraid, £3.10 for 2 hours which is the max, for a motorhome. We walked through Hall Ley's park. The river Derwent was definitely fast flowing. At the spring bridge we saw the flood height signs, which would definitely have submerged the bridge and surrounding abodes / shops back in the 60s, hoping the same wasn't true for Storm Claudia. Had nice walk, saw them putting the lights and star on the Christmas tree with a cherry picker. Coffee in Costa, walk around town, fab samosas but less fab and highly overpriced trad (artisan?) pork pie in the trad farm shoppe. Nice Xmas decorations starting to evolve.
After our 2 hours was up we climbed the heights of Matlock to get the views, especially Riber castle on the opposite hill top, amazingly steep, then it was onto Matlock Bath (a place we have walked riverside often) and Cromford and the wonderful Black rocks. Then we decided as it was getting on and we wanted to have lunch in the Tavern at Tansley we better start heading back. Who knew, certainly not us that Florence Nightingale spent her summers in Holloway near Lea in the Peaks mostly because her father (surname not Nightingale which he took when he inherited the wealth from his uncle Nightingale's lead mining company) was born William E Shore in Lea, Derbyshire. You learn something new everyday, or at least I try to! #history
We had a lovely meal at the Tansley Tavern , seem to be full of folk we recognised from the campsite. I especially appreciated the pint of Tim Taylor Landlord.
FRIDAY
Friday was a complete wash out but we expected that and planned for it, having filled up with water on the way back Thursday. We amused ourselves all day whilst hearing not pitter patter on the van roof but a heavy torrent sometimes so loud that we couldn't hear the audiobook #haha We listened to Peter Kay (fab!) and the new Philippa Gregory , Boleyn Traitor about Lady Rochester , George Boleyn's wife and Thomas's Howards spy (pretty good) as well as reading, crochet, eating and drinking, very relaxing even with the constant Storm Claudia backdrop / soundtrack.
SATURDAY
Saturday when we woke was very foggy / misty with a constant gentle drizzle in the air but luckily the worst of storm Claudia was over, so we thought, but her legacy was the floods she caused. We broke camp and decided we would go to the Christmas market in Bakewell which was on for the weekend, big mistake, apart from the satnav taking us up hill down dale must of which were flooded Bakewell town center and Haddon Hall just outside it were heaving. Must have taken 40 minutes to get through it which we decided to do as absolutely nowhere to park and oxford street in the crush was definitely how it felt #sadly
We drove onto to the Thornbridge brewery just outside Bakewell , a couple fave beers of mine being Lord Marples and Jaipur. The tap room even does food so since we don't know Thornbridge Hall we said we would come back for a longer visit next year. Anyhow I asked about Lord Marples in the shop, only a seasonal beer apparently, summer only so bought a case of Jaipur. We came back through Bakewell and I had to follow suit with other offenders by going the wrong side of the road to get around the main roundabout else we would have been marooned there for hours, just to escape the Xmas market carnage.
We stuck to the A6 (main road on the way back) thinking it would be a safer bet flood wise but even it was badly flooded in many places. all in all in a motorhome a bit scary, even scarier than the wonderful flood near Wave rocks in western australia back in 2017.
SUNDAY
Anyhow , surprise surprise and rather annoyingly Sunday was dry, calm and sunny as we broke camp and returned home, but to sum up, a nice 4 day break which was very relaxing and out of season for the ever popular Peak district.
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