PUDDINGS PIES & PITS'

Derbyshire beckons for Susan Taylor as she fills up on the best of Bakewell

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When is a tart not a tart? When it’s a pudding, of course. Best not to get the two confused, especially in Bakewell, in the Derbyshire Peak District. As every local will tell you, the pudding is the original – an egg-custard-type mixture over a layer of raspberry jam on a puff pastry base – which came about thanks to an inexperienced chef pouring the eggy mixture on top of the jam instead of stirring it into the pastry. The tart is a more recent invention, with shortcrust pastry and a frangipane-style sponge filling, usually topped with icing.

Before you start wondering if you’re reading a cookery magazine, I should explain – I discovered the delights of the Bakewell pudding on a recent visit to the charming market town for which it is named. Eaten in the spring sunshine on a bench beside the river, it was a lovely treat.

Bakewell lies within Britain’s oldest national park, the Peak District, and the town is full of mellow stone buildings and cobbled streets that are perfect for wandering – and for walking off some of that pudding!

It is also surrounded by verdant countryside, hills and streams, and has a river (the Wye) running through it, making this an ideal base for exploring if you enjoy being out and about in the great outdoors.

Add to the mix its shops, pubs and eateries, and Bakewell is pretty much an all-round destination.

Setting up at the campsite

Greenhills Holiday Park is just over a mile away, the perfect location for a few days of exploration. Handily, on the day we arrived after the long drive from home, there was a pizza van on site. Mind you, our first order of business, apart from setting up our pitch, of course, was taking a stroll around the large dog-walking area – we were all in need of some leg stretching.