Jewels of the Peak A day tour taking in the best of the Peak District, visiting the prominent spa town of Buxton and the market town of Bakewell, with some breath-taking countryside and pretty villages en route. Bakewell is a market town well known for its confection, Bakewell pudding. Visit the pudding shop and try one! There are attractive courtyards and small shops to see and pretty riverside short walks, and a very ancient stone bridge. Stroll up the hill to the Parish Church of All Saints, founded in 920 during Saxon times. The churchyard has two 9th century Saxon crosses and the porch exhibits many carved fragments of Saxon stonework. Ashford in the water is a very pretty Derbyshire and Peak District village, situated on the River Wye. The Sheep wash bridge is both picturesque and ancient – watch the rainbow trout in the river. Monsal Head is a famous beauty spot with a magnificent view down Monsal Dale and up the Wye valley. The route of the former Midland Railway makes its way along Monsal Dale and was carried by a viaduct over the river and into a tunnel which goes right beneath Monsal Head. The well preserved and picturesque village of Eyam is known as the plague village, it went into voluntary quarantine when the plague was imported from London in 1665. The village church has many relics of the Plague. From here we travel through the Edale valley, a beautiful setting below Kinder Scout. The Spa town of Buxton has Roman origins and is considered the capital of the Peak District. It boast fine buildings such as the 18th century Crescent and the Dome which started as the 5th Duke of Devonshire’s stables. The fashionable Opera house and Pavilion gardens of their time offer elegant surroundings..