If you and your brood are active, outdoorsy types, and your kids enjoy nothing better than a good brisk walk scrambling up and down hills and rocks, then Rowter Farm deserves a visit.

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Rowter Farm

UK England East Midlands Derbyshire Edale

Wonderful sense of space, but if you’re feeling a bit too far from the madding crowd, bustling Castleton is just down the road. Relaxed policy as to when you leave.

If you are an active, outdoorsy type, or have kids that desperately need wearing out with a good brisk walk scrambling up and down hills and rocks, then Rowter Farm deserves a visit. A short walk from the site takes you past Windy Knoll Cave, where prehistoric bones from wolves, bison, bears, hares and reindeer were discovered, to the summit of Mam Tor (or Mother Hill), once the home to ancient Celtic tribes.

To give you some idea of the wonderful sense of space here, site owner Sarah Mark grew up on Rowter Farm and finds the wideopen landscapes of nearby Edale a bit ‘claustrophobic’! The farm sits at the head of the Hope Valley, some 230 metres above sea level, and just above the spectacularly steep-sided Winnats Pass.

The site has unmarked pitches and can take up to five caravans and about 40 tents, although it only gets really busy here on Bank Holiday weekends. The facilities are quite basic, but nobody seems to mind; they’re all too busy enjoying the space.

The best time for families to visit the farm is during the early summer, when the children can enjoy some country sights and sounds – sheep being rounded up for shearing, lambs frolicking in nearby fields and swallows swooping in and out of the farm buildings. The chickens scratching around the farmyard and goats and cows in the fields can be seen all season.

Given the ups and downs of camping, Rowter Farm should be high on anyone’s list.

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Facilities

While Sarah thinks ‘there’s not much here for kids’, growing up on a farm means you tend to take farm animals and wide-open spaces for granted. The middle of the camping field (tents mainly pitch around the edge) is perfect for family games of French cricket, football and rounders. The site has unmarked pitches and can take up to 5 caravans and about 40 tents, although it only gets really busy on Bank Holiday weekends. The facilities are basic, with a dishwashing room, 2 women’s and 1 men’s toilet, hand basins, and 2 showers (50p). The small shop is usually open from 8am to 9pm and sells eggs, long-life milk, chocolate and bread. It also has matches and disposable BBQs (which are allowed, although campfires are banned). Dogs are welcome.

Nearby

Mam Tor – which has superb views over the Hope Valley – is a short walk with kids, while a longer walk along the Limestone Way takes you into Castleton. There, Peveril Castle (01433 620613), perched high above the town, has what English Heritage calls ‘breathtaking’ views over the Peak District.

Food & Drink

The site is quite a long walk from the nearest pub, but there are plenty of pubs in Castleton serving food. Children are welcome at the Bull’s Head (01433 620256), Castle Hotel (01433 620578) and the George(01433 620238).

Open

Easter–Oct.

Family Friendly

No particular hazards, although it’s a working farm, with plenty of machinery and farm vehicles.

Location

Rowter Farm, Castleton, Hope Valley, Derbyshire S33 8WA

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Getting There

From the North: Follow the A6 through Chapel-en-le-Frith, at the small roundabout, take the left to A623, you reach a 90 degree angle in the road at a Pub called the Wanted Inn. Turn left onto the A6187 and continue up the road behind the pub. Follow the road for a few miles, the entrance to the campsite is on the right a few yards before a fork in the road (Winnats Pass and Castleton). The entrance is a discrete metal gate. Beside the gate there is a green sign post/pole (unfortunately with the sign missing), this leads to a thin single-lane road and the farm is about 500m up on the left. The gate is opposite a wooden 'public footpath' sign directing walkers to Mam Tor. Trent Barton Transpeak buses (01773 712265; www.trentbarton.co.uk) run to Bakewell from Nottingham, Derby and Manchester (there’s also a 6.1 from Derby) and First South Yorkshire buses (0871 200 2233; www.fi rstgroup. com) operate between Sheffield and Bakewell. The 177 bus runs between Bakewell and Monyash 5 times a day.