Cooper_dan
Regular Member
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2025
- Points
- 23
Last weekend myself and my better half had a very rare child free couple of days. Back in December we had a Christmas present of childcare and a B&B in Matlock. Then at the end of January I bought a relatively cheap Z3 as a fun runaround. The promise of a weekend away definitely influenced the purchase a bit!
This weekend finally rolls around and the weather was glorious, could not have asked for better.
I thought I would note down the roads we took, just in case someone in the future is staying in the area and is looking for inspiration (i.e keeping away from the A6).
Starting on Friday in Derby at the Kingsway shopping area:
- Get onto the B5023 coming out of Duffield. Doesn't really matter how, but we went round the back of Markeaton Park and through Quarndon
- Follow the B5023 North, through Cowers Lane and Idridgehay, to Wirksworth
- Stay on the B5023 out of Wirksworth (although you actually have to make a left turn), go through Middleton and join the A5012 towards Grangemill
*Up to this point we were mostly stuck behind massive pick up trucks, and very cautious small city cars. Not ideal. But when we got onto the A5012 it was much faster and more free flowing. Which is good because the roads from here were excellent*
- Stay on the A5012 through Grangemill and Pikehall to Newhaven. We actually took a small detour at Pikehall to check out a carpark for later that night (not for dogging if that's what you were thinking!)
- At Newhaven, turn right to briefly join the A515 north toward Buxton, but come off at the first left, B5054 to Hartington.
- Follow that through Hartington and Hulme End to a T-junction, then turn right to join the B5053 north toward Longnor.
- Stay on the B5053 through Longnor until you meet the A515 again. Turn right and immediately left onto the A5270
- Follow the A5270 until a T-junction with the A6. Turn right towards Buxton then left onto the B6049 towards Tideswell.
- Follow that through Millers Dale and marvel at the Aquaduct, which is now part of the Monsal trail, and carry on through Tideswell
- After Tideswell, turn right onto the A623 and then a right onto the B6465 to Wardlow.
- Follow the B6465 through Wardlow and Ashford in the Water to join the A6 just North of Bakewell.
- Head south on the A6 through Bakewell to Rowsley
- In Rowsley turn left onto the B6012 and then first right onto Chesterfield Road (seemingly unmarked)
- This is a steep road up but bear with it and leave a gap to anyone in front of you on the tight switchback turns going up (some people would rather stall and roll backwards than change down to 2nd or 1st!).
- On the map this is a straight road, but in reality you have to give way and join a road from the left. But stay vaguely straight. Then at some crossroads, go straight over onto Alicehead road. At the next crossroads, turn right onto the A623 to Matlock.
- You can stay on the A623 all the way into Matlock, or you can follow the signage for (Matlock avoiding steep hill) which is what we did as it was quieter.
- This route for us was 80 miles
Friday night we went from Matlock back to Pikefall to the Minninglow Car park (free after 6pm) to do some stargazing at Minninglow hill. Obviously the roof was down coming back in the dark. Wife took some persuading but the heated seats helped.
Saturday we went North to Edale via Chatsworth and Hope. On the A6 to Rowsley, then the B6012 / A623 / B6001 / A6187.
We turned off in Hope to get on the Edale road, but if we went again I would stay on the A6187 to go through Castleton, join Winnats pass and go round the back of Mam Tor. We really missed out here, but we were on a tight schedule for a long walk up Kinder Scout and I let google maps take us the shortest route. Silly decision, although this will be a great excuse to go back another time. Did however see a Ferrari Testarossa on the Edale road which you don't see every day.
We also missed out on the B5055 between Bakewell, Monyash and Longnor. So that's another reason to go back.
Sunday was overcast and starting to drizzle so we had the roof up and just took main roads back to the kids.
Overall we managed just under 150 miles with the roof down in glorious sunshine. The Z3 was pretty much faultless apart from one of the roof hooks is loose and rattles if you close the latch when the roof is down. The M44 engine was plenty. The first time we got some clear road on the A5012 I dropped down a gear, revs up to 6.5k and immediately got shouted at for going too fast. So it was mostly a leisurely drive. I did sneak a few more accelerations to the rev limit but didn't push my luck
Unfortunately I'm terrible at stopping to take photos, so I've got one with the roof down at the start of the weekend in a car park in Derby. And one at home Sunday morning at the end of the trip. With a bonus photo eating pizza somewhere up a big hill. Will try harder next time!
This weekend finally rolls around and the weather was glorious, could not have asked for better.
I thought I would note down the roads we took, just in case someone in the future is staying in the area and is looking for inspiration (i.e keeping away from the A6).
Starting on Friday in Derby at the Kingsway shopping area:
- Get onto the B5023 coming out of Duffield. Doesn't really matter how, but we went round the back of Markeaton Park and through Quarndon
- Follow the B5023 North, through Cowers Lane and Idridgehay, to Wirksworth
- Stay on the B5023 out of Wirksworth (although you actually have to make a left turn), go through Middleton and join the A5012 towards Grangemill
*Up to this point we were mostly stuck behind massive pick up trucks, and very cautious small city cars. Not ideal. But when we got onto the A5012 it was much faster and more free flowing. Which is good because the roads from here were excellent*
- Stay on the A5012 through Grangemill and Pikehall to Newhaven. We actually took a small detour at Pikehall to check out a carpark for later that night (not for dogging if that's what you were thinking!)
- At Newhaven, turn right to briefly join the A515 north toward Buxton, but come off at the first left, B5054 to Hartington.
- Follow that through Hartington and Hulme End to a T-junction, then turn right to join the B5053 north toward Longnor.
- Stay on the B5053 through Longnor until you meet the A515 again. Turn right and immediately left onto the A5270
- Follow the A5270 until a T-junction with the A6. Turn right towards Buxton then left onto the B6049 towards Tideswell.
- Follow that through Millers Dale and marvel at the Aquaduct, which is now part of the Monsal trail, and carry on through Tideswell
- After Tideswell, turn right onto the A623 and then a right onto the B6465 to Wardlow.
- Follow the B6465 through Wardlow and Ashford in the Water to join the A6 just North of Bakewell.
- Head south on the A6 through Bakewell to Rowsley
- In Rowsley turn left onto the B6012 and then first right onto Chesterfield Road (seemingly unmarked)
- This is a steep road up but bear with it and leave a gap to anyone in front of you on the tight switchback turns going up (some people would rather stall and roll backwards than change down to 2nd or 1st!).
- On the map this is a straight road, but in reality you have to give way and join a road from the left. But stay vaguely straight. Then at some crossroads, go straight over onto Alicehead road. At the next crossroads, turn right onto the A623 to Matlock.
- You can stay on the A623 all the way into Matlock, or you can follow the signage for (Matlock avoiding steep hill) which is what we did as it was quieter.
- This route for us was 80 miles
Friday night we went from Matlock back to Pikefall to the Minninglow Car park (free after 6pm) to do some stargazing at Minninglow hill. Obviously the roof was down coming back in the dark. Wife took some persuading but the heated seats helped.
Saturday we went North to Edale via Chatsworth and Hope. On the A6 to Rowsley, then the B6012 / A623 / B6001 / A6187.
We turned off in Hope to get on the Edale road, but if we went again I would stay on the A6187 to go through Castleton, join Winnats pass and go round the back of Mam Tor. We really missed out here, but we were on a tight schedule for a long walk up Kinder Scout and I let google maps take us the shortest route. Silly decision, although this will be a great excuse to go back another time. Did however see a Ferrari Testarossa on the Edale road which you don't see every day.
We also missed out on the B5055 between Bakewell, Monyash and Longnor. So that's another reason to go back.
Sunday was overcast and starting to drizzle so we had the roof up and just took main roads back to the kids.
Overall we managed just under 150 miles with the roof down in glorious sunshine. The Z3 was pretty much faultless apart from one of the roof hooks is loose and rattles if you close the latch when the roof is down. The M44 engine was plenty. The first time we got some clear road on the A5012 I dropped down a gear, revs up to 6.5k and immediately got shouted at for going too fast. So it was mostly a leisurely drive. I did sneak a few more accelerations to the rev limit but didn't push my luck
Unfortunately I'm terrible at stopping to take photos, so I've got one with the roof down at the start of the weekend in a car park in Derby. And one at home Sunday morning at the end of the trip. With a bonus photo eating pizza somewhere up a big hill. Will try harder next time!
