Garden and grounds
Be sure to bring your dogs to sniff and snuffle their way around the ten acres of lawn and woodland. You’ll simply want to take in the awesome view from the terraces, 1400 feet above Buxton. Make the most of it with a barbecue with meat from Geoff Mycock’s. Say hi to the horses.
Living spaces
Flexibility is the key here. Be with people or be apart, depending on how much juice is in your social battery and how convivially you want to play things. All cottages come with a living space, while the manor house offers toasty toes, care of the logburning stove, and panoramic views on two elevations and extra seating on a higher level.
Pick from four TVs and bring your passwords for family film nights on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video streamed over the in-house Wi-Fi. Splash away an afternoon in the indoor pool. Then stage your own miniature Olympics in the games room over table tennis, pool and table football.
Cooking and dining
In the main house, the fully equipped kitchen comes with granite worktops, a central island and luxury dining area (for 14), while smaller properties offer ovens, hobs, microwaves and fridges. Eat in the conservatory dining area or out on the terrace with meat from Geoff Mycock’s on the coal barbecue.
Shop at Aldi in Bakewell or Morrison’s and Waitrose in Buxton, with wine from Booze and Bites in Buxton. Raid the Pig and Pepper deli for cinnamon swirls and sausage rolls. Treat yourselves to Buxton takeaways from Taj Mahal, Big Chef and Kwei Lin Chinese. Or put an expert in-house chef on the menu and put your feet up.
Fill up on gorgeous pub grub at the dog-friendly Queen’s Arms in Taddington. Consider chicken with Stilton or fillet of salmon in a prawn-and-white-wine sauce at the Church Inn in Chelmorton. Treat yourself to tapas at Santiago in Buxton, including calamari, chorizo braised in red wine, and pork and beef meatballs.
Head to Bailey’s in Buxton for prime Derbyshire steaks, fish and an eclectic range of traditional British and American style choices. Try the Rutland Arms, birthplace of the Bakewell Tart, for confit duck leg or mince and rosemary dumplings. Or go full bore with Michelin-guided The Blind Bull, Lovage and Fischer’s.
Living spaces
High above Buxton, with just grebes and curlews for company, you’ll sleep beautifully in 13 bedrooms across four properties offering fine features such as sleigh beds, marbled bathrooms and rolltop en-suites. Here’s how it breaks down:
In the Manor House you have two king/triple bedrooms with an en-suite and two king bedrooms and two twin/king bedrooms with shared bathrooms. The Swift’s Retreat includes a king bedroom and a bunk room both sharing a bathroom. Next, the Robin’s Nest consists of a king bedroom and a twin bedroom both with their own en-suites. Finally, in the Badger’s Wood you have a king bedroom and a twin bedroom both with their own en-suite and one bunk bedroom.
What people say
Beers, meerkats and tree-trekking
Taste the Peaks in Buxton Brewery’s nine beautiful beers. Get sober to blast clay at Cold Springs Farm or play the ‘inspiration for Augusta’ Cavendish Golf Club. Brave the big rides at Alton Towers, walk the play trail at Coombes Valley Nature Reserve, Go Ape tree-trekking in Buxton, and meet the meerkats at Beaver Hall Pets Corner.
