The Epic Adventure Around England Day 4 Birmingham to Manchester

Day 4 started bright and very early in order to get out of Birmingham before the traffic hit. We headed straight towards Ashbourne on the very edge of the Peak District after managing to find a car park we headed into a tea house for some much deserved breakfast (elevenses for some of us). After a bit of shopping in Dorothy Perkins in Ashbourne we headed up through the peak district. Along amazingly small windy roads to a beautiful spot called Dovedale where we walked along the river and across some stepping stones a very relaxing and very English thing to do.

On our way again we headed up through the peak district to the insane town of Castleton. This place is absolutely insane. The pictures don't do it justice and only going there could explain it is so small and windy and all built of stone. Our destination was a cavern called the 'Devil's Arse.' There are heaps of caves and tunnels all around the area and there are a few you can do tours through. After saying no to the tour that took you in a boat down a very small tunnel in the pitch black we decided the 'devils arse' was for us. The cave was amazing and a bit spooky, their used to be an actual township inside the front of the cave it is that big. Then it became a rope factory, we saw how they hand made the rope which was pretty cool. Probably the best bit was our guide a rough and ready English man who was a bit nutty. He told us heaps of stories about the legends of the caves about the Queens visit and how it got its name the devils arse. They call it that because when it rains really heavily the bottom of the cave floods when the water recedes it is like a huge bath when you take the plug out. Apparently it makes a gurgling noise that you can hear in the town itself and so it is called the devils arse. I love it.

Adventures in the cave over and we finally found a loo. Fiona was practically running to make it. We found some lunch in another tiny town on the edge of the Peak district called Chapel-en-le-frith (something like that) and we bolted to make it to Lyme Park.

Lyme Park was a huge moment for me. It is where they filmed the Lake scene in Pride and Prejudice. Fiona and I were nearly losing it. There were tears in my eyes. We were too late to look through the house. But a lovely young man (elderly gent) told us girls all about the architecture and stuff which was very cool. We could walk around the back and into the deer park to see the outside of the house though which was absolutely fabulous.

After the emotional Mr Darcy experience we were off headed towards Manchester for the night. Not going to say much about Manchester none of us really liked it and we didn't do much there. The funniest thing that happened was that at the pub I asked the barman for a 10 inch steak instead of a 10 ounce steak and I went bright red, he told all the barmen and we had to leave as soon as we had finished eating.