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bakewell |
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BAKEWELL , flanking the banks of the River Wye some four miles south
of Baslow - and twelve miles east of Buxton - is famous for its Bakewell
Pudding . Known throughout the rest of the country as a Bakewell Tart,
this is a wonderful slippery, flaky, almond-flavoured confection - now
with a dab of jam - invented here around 1860 when a cook botched a
recipe for strawberry tart. Almost a century before this fortuitous
mishap, the Duke of Rutland set out to turn what was then a remote
village into a prestigious spa, thereby trumping the work of his rival,
the Duke of Devonshire, in Buxton. The frigidity of the water made
failure inevitable, leaving only the prettiness of Bath Gardens beside
Rutland Square as a reminder of the venture.
Famous tart apart, Bakewell is an undemanding place today, its main
street too crowded by traffic - and tourists - to be much fun, though it
is within easy striking distance of several first-rate attractions. In
town, there's some interest in the web of narrow shopping streets around
Market Square as well as in the adjacent riverside park , but the most
agreeable part of Bakewell trails up the hill at the west end of the
centre. Here, strolling up North Church Street, with its line of comely
stone cottages, you soon reach All Saints church , the result of
centuries of tinkering from the Normans onwards. Outside, in the church
yard, is a rare Saxon cross , carved with saints and decorative circles
and scrolls, and inside are the elaborate tombs of the Vernons, local
bigwigs who long ruled the Bakewell roost.
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