4 kids, 2 guinea pigs one happy family: yha

Since November last year, we've have set a target to have a weekend away every month. November was Whitby, December -Wales, January Haworth and February we had a two night stay at YHA Ravenstor, near Buxton. Not having a car at the moment these have all been done on public transport.

Every weekend we've been away, the weather has been freezing

and February was no exception.

YHA Ravenstor was originally built as the family home of the local mill owner.

On his death it was donated to the National trust and for many years has been on lease to YHA. Set in 60 acres of magnificent grounds with spectacular views, it was here that David Bellamy first got his inspiration,

on what is now called Bellamy bank.

On our first full day we went for a walk to the nearby village of Tideswell.

It was barely above freezing for the whole weekend

and the icicles were everywhere.

Tideswell Church - Cathedral of the peak.

We were originally going to walk to Tideswell and then get the bus back, but we weren't very tired and decided to walk back as it was mainly downhill.

But then Reuben decided we should take a detour up Ravenstor.

So off we set...

Having to almost crawl up the last part!

Spectacular views fron the top of Ravenstor,

with surviving patches from the last fall of snow.

The kids were pleased to see the youth hostel not too distant.

Almost home?

But the slope was so steep we couldn't get back down and from here you can't even see the steep gorge with it's sheer cliff on the hostel side.

So off we had to go in almost the opposite direction to the hostel.

looking for a way down...

and eventually we did!

It was worth the extra miles to see the old mill.

Back at the hostel, cup of tea and time to enjoy the view back to Ravenstor.

We all slept very well that night!

The next day we got the bus to the spa town of Buxton.

The pavillion gardens were created in 1876

to add to the attractions and increase the prosperity of Buxton.

The playgrounds are great, but again it was very, very cold!

Luckily there was a toy fayre in the pavilion, so we headed inside.

I was so excited to see this yellow car with two little figures. It brought back lovely memories of playing at my Nanan's house when I was about four or five. She had a china cabinet filled with all sorts of stuff, my three favourites, a silver donkey, a porcelain horse with a wooden cart and a little yellow car, like the one pictured above.

Slightly scary old mechanical toys.

At last we found some Barbie things!

Next door were the Buxton winter gardens

with the added excitement of hidden dinosaurs

And some beautiful splashes of colour and scent to lift the spirits.

In the Elizabethan era Buxton enjoyed considerable fame as a spa. Mary Queen of Scots visited to take the waters on several occasions during the time she was prisoner in England. In 1572 Dr John Jones wrote the first medical book on Buxton waters entitled The Benefit of the Auncient Bathes of Buckstones, which cureth most grievous sickness, never before published'. Many others then wrote on the curative values of the waters and Buxton continued to develop as a spa throughout the 17th century. Modelled on the Royal Bath Crescent, the 5th Duke of Devonshire financed the building of the Crescent at the end of the 19th Century. The Crescent has lain empty for a number of years but is about to start being redeveloped as a modern Spa Hotel complex.

The Hot thermal baths at the side of the crescent are now an arcade shopping centre. Built in approximately 1820 the facilities were elegant. The baths closed in 1963 following a steady decline in the number of treatments from the mid 1950s.