Rotherham The Unofficial Website

Bakewell

Bakewell is in North Derbyshire, a market town situated in the wooded valley of the River Wye. This is an hour or so's drive from Rotherham and was a regular port of call for many years. We discovered Haddon Hall one day by accident when we had taken the dog for a walk right down the river valley. Since it was a nice day, the birds were singing, the sky was blue, and Bakewell was heaving because it was Bank Holiday market day we walked much further than we had intended and found this lovely old house. We called back to see it another day without the dog since places like that are a bit funny about dogs.

Warm springs were known at Bakewell in Roman times and the name of the town comes from the Saxon 'bad-quell' meaning bath well. I guess that this proves even the Saxons had baths from time to time whether they needed them or not. The old stone bridge in the centre of town (a real bottleneck for modern traffic) is about 700 years old. There are many other fine buildings including All Saints Church with 8th and 10th Century preaching crosses in the churchyard, the Old House Museum (15th century Mediaeval house), The Old Market Hall, The Old Town Hall, Holme Hall (1626) and Bath House built in 1697 for the Duke of Rutland, which still uses the warm springs.

Market day is Monday, and the town still has a busy cattle market. Bank Holiday Monday market used to be very busy indeed - in Yorkshire parlance 'It were throng'. Traffic through town is difficult but unless they have changed things in the last few years there uses to be plenty of parking. Shopping is limited, but there are some interesting small shops (amongst them The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop) and antique emporia. There are plenty of pubs and restaurants but these can be full. There is a very pleasant walk along the river Wye down past the cricket ground at the other end of town.

Don't imagine the Bakewell Pudding is anything like a Mr Kipling's Cherry Bakewell because its not. Legend has it that one day the cook at the Rutland Arms spread a mixture of eggs and almonds on top of a strawberry tart instead of the usual pastry crust. And there, after a suitable time in the oven, there was the famous Bakewell Pudding. A Bakewell Tart now that's a different thing altogether! When I tried one it seemed to consist of puff pastry with a tasty but very heavy filling, in fact definitely a pudding and not a tart. If you are counting the calories don't even think of it!

Links to Bakewell Websites

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