Wednesday 14 May 2014

#CountryKids Poole's Cavern and Buxton Country Park

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall


On our drive back north from Ashbourne we stopped in Buxton at Poole's Cavern. This is one of Derbyshire's show caverns as it contains stalactites and stalagmites. When we went there when my daughter was a toddler she impressed us all by pronouncing these properly! This time both of mine were old enough to appreciate the cavern:

Poole's cavern
Amazing looking calcite formation

whirlpool in Poole's cavern
The river was high enough that a whirlpool formed



water rushing through Poole's cavern
The river was very loud

the wishing stalagmite Poole's cavern
Dip your finger to make a wish
 
dragon Poole's cavern
Dragon!

Flitch of bacon Poole's cavern
Flitch of bacon

Long view Poole's cavern
Long view

largest stalagmite in Poole's cavern
The largest Stalagmite

the fastest growing formations in Poole's cavern
Formations unique to the cavern

By the end of the cavern tour the water levels were nearly too high for us to finish it:

Poole's cavern

calcite pool Poole's cavern
Calcite pool

After a long time underground at 7 degrees centigrade it was nice to get up and explore the country park which was planted on the hillside by a Duke of Devonshire to hide the damage caused by lime kilns:

stairs in Buxton Country Park

Of all the routes this one sounded the most intriguing:


signpost to Solomon's Temple Buxton Country Park

It was lovely walking through virtually deserted woods with the sounds of birds in the trees and fresh green leaves. 

Buxton Country Park

Great tit Buxton Country Park


Eventually we reached the top of the hill which still has plenty of lumps and bumps from lime kilns as you head up to Solomon's temple:

Heading for Solomon's Temple Buxton Country Park


And of course my children had to stand in virtually every puddle:

Puddle wading Buxton Country Park

Paddling Buxton Country Park

The tower itself looked pretty dramatic against the stormy sky:


Solomon's Temple Buxton Country Park


The ground floor windows made for interesting frames:

Arched window Solomon's Temple Buxton Country Park

The views from the top across Buxton and the dales were pretty impressive too:


Buxton from Solomon's Temple Buxton Country Park


The wind soon drove us back to the bottom of the spiral staircase though:

Spiral staircase Solomon's temple Buxton Country Park

The children tried to find the most challenging and lumpy route back down:


Buxton Country Park

Going back through the woods they spotted what they were sure was a fairy hole:


Fairy hole Buxton Country Park

A great way to blow out the cobwebs and stretch our legs before a 2 hour plus drive home!

No comments:

Post a Comment

I love it when people leave a message