34th Trip
Topley Head Farm, Buxton, Derbyshire CC CL 28th – 31st August 2009

This trip was planned for three reasons, one being a personal reason, another being a chance for a main holiday and another being a chance to met up with some friends who live in nearby Hadfield.  We last saw them when we brought the caravan to Flagg Hall last year, 29 trips previous.

Situated on a working farm with cows in adjoining fields, Topley Head Farm is a Caravan Club Certificated Location with the usual 5 pitches with EHU in the main field led from the A6 up an very long driveway.  They have added a 6th and 7th hardstanding pitch just outside the main field with EHU cables laying on the ground covered by a half of plastic barrel to keep the rain off! Hmmmmm.  The normal pitches are (at time of writing) £8 per night but being a Bank Holiday weekend (which we don't normally do save the personal reason) we were offered one of the two external pitches with 13 amp EHU for £7 a night because the main site was fully booked.

The site was OK actually and typical of Derbyshire, rustic with drystone walls and some great scenery of the Peaks with quarried cliffs in the distance but there were three things that marred our (short) stay.  One was the distance to the water tap, the only tap there was, in the far corner of the main field which was at the time rather boggy.  Two was the Elsan, waste and rubbish point in the woods half way along the main site.  The rubbish "bin" was a large coffin-like box and the Elsan and waste were large black plastic containers set in the ground in the woods.  The Elsan had a large screw-cap and seal you had to unscrew, getting shitty fingers in the process before you could empty your toilet waste into. The waste was similar but without a screw-cap and no way was I lifting over 40 kilos of wastehog 5 feet in the air to empty it!!  Instead, I emptied it into the hedgerows.

Which could well explain the flies!!  Seriously, the amount of flies in the air (when it wasn't raining) which also littered the car and caravan was unbelievable!  Many of them in pairs having sex!  They were so thick in the air that you couldn't have put a pin-head between them (view-wise) and you daren't open the door or windows despite it being humid.  We decided to look for an alternative site for the remainder of our stay (we had booked 7 nights here) and eventually decided on Windy Harbour.

As we packed up to leave, I popped to the farm house to pay, finding no one around or available.  Tried their telephone number - answer machine.  Rang one of the two mobile telephone numbers listed on a card in the window of the back door - answer machine.  Looked for somewhere to leave the money in an envelope - no letter box or anywhere safe to leave it.  Time was getting on so we left with the money in our pocket!  No worries though, we WILL be posting them a cheque.

Would we go back?  Probably not.

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