Pudding or tart?

"This is the real thing, we don't have tarts in our part of the world! Just puddings, which are a rich egg and almond mixture in a flaky pastry base with sieved strawberry jam on it's bottom" quotes the Bakewell Pudding Shop and who am I to argue. Warmed up with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream, they are something to die for.

I'd never heard of the damned things until Sal suggested we go to Bakewell for the day and told me how scrummy they were. I'd been brought up on Mister Kiplings Bakewell tarts and slices which are topped with icing sugar and a cherry and are nothing like the pudding so I didn't really know what to expect; what a commoner I am!

Bakewell is a lovely little town situated in the Northern Limestone area of the Peak District but being as everything is geared to the tourist trade, it can be hard to get off the beaten track. We did manage it though and found a nice little Cafe set in a courtyard called surprisingly enough *nice*. A bacon butty for Sal and a couple of Cappuccinos set us up nicely for an explore of the town.

All Saints Church is impressive with it's stone sarcophagi and beautiful mosaic floor. Also, with it being situated half way up a hill, you get a really fine view over the valley and surrounding hills. Just behind the Church is The Old House Museum which has a very interesting past. It first starting out as a tax collectors house and in 1777 Richard Arkwright, the founder of the factory system, built his third cotton mill at Bakewell and divided this house into 5 cottages for workers at the mill. The museum is spread over 10 rooms with most of the exhibits being supplies by the local community.

We then had a wander around the shops and bought some Bakewell Puddings before calling in one of the local pubs for a drink. Then it was back to the car for a short drive to the village Eyam where the great plague started in August 1665. The plague was brought to the village in a flea-infested bundle of cloth that was delivered to one of the local tailors. The villagers cut themselves off from the outside world to prevent further spread of the disease and the plague raged in the village for 14 months, reportedly killing at least 260 villagers with only 83 villagers surviving out of a population of 350.

Unfortunately the weather let itself down for the first time that day and we were unable to get out of the car to explore Eyam so to drown our sorrows we decided to call in Castleton on our way back to Sheffield where we shared one of the best pizza I can recall eating in Ye Old Nags Head pub.

The drive back to Sal's parents was a bit of a Jeckyl and Hyde affair. One minute there was fabulous rainbows and the next there was hail or rain. We also did our usual by getting lost in Sheffield even though we had the sat nav on. Eventually, we found our way back on to the A57 and Kiverton. The coffee when we got back was most appreciated.

The two highlights of our day had to be the rainbows and the puddings.