Accessible Peak District - our accommodation

We've just celebrated our silver wedding anniversary and after much deliberation and a near miss with a cruise, we decided to return to the Peak District, where we enjoyed our honeymoon 25 years ago. The only difference is, of course, that this time accessibility was a thing, whereas 25 years ago, we could pretty much do anything and go anywhere.

So let's start with our accommodation - a beautiful farm retreat in a village called Flash, the highest village in the UK.

I have to confess, the journey there in the dark on a Friday night, was interesting! I have never been so grateful to Google Maps in my entire life. We took both cars, so that we could take both wheelchairs and some luggage, which meant we were both driving alone. Well, I took the lead... and the satnav and Neil followed me. I am not entirely sure that some of those roads were even real roads but we did eventually end up on a very steep, windy lane, from whence I spotted the lights of the farmhouse, and realised we had found it.

Axe Edge Green Farm is a working farm, with pigs, sheep, poultry and a variety of cats and dogs. The owner has made every effort to ensure that it is a safe environment for dogs who are visiting. Her own dogs are very friendly and Liggy was keen to spend as much time as possible running around the farm with them. We were assured that Liggy was fine to chase the hens, as there was no chance of her catching them. I'm not sure whether she just didn't want to chase them or whether she gave up trying, but she seemed more interested in exploring and sniffing out the environment.

The path from the gate to the farm is long and steep. I couldn't do it in either chair without Neil's help. I did manage it twice on crutches (different days) but I'm still paying the price! The views are stunning though and we must have had every kind of weather (except snow) at some point during the week. The early morning mist was very eerie but soon cleared to show views over the hills.

We stayed in the Hayloft, which as the name suggests, is upstairs. There is a lift (a wheelchair lift) but it was too narrow for my chair, so I just used it with my crutches. The apartment itself is wheelchair friendly, though I managed without mine. There is a super wetroom, which satisfied my showering needs perfectly. The only thing it lacked is grab rails around the toilet, but we'd spotted that on the photos on their website, and took my portable stand. 

The kitchen is small but well equipped and the sink and some of the worktops are lowered. The living and dining area are open plan and have huge windows to show off the views. There is a lovely wood burner too, which made our evenings nice and cosy.

If any other Canine Partners are looking for a spot in the Peaks, this place has one big plus - right next to the front door, is a large pebbled area which is a perfect spot for 'better go nows' and there is a bin there too to put poo bags in. Liggy soon adjusted to that being her place to go and we had no problems getting her to perform. 

One final thing about the owners, Agnieszka and Ian... they were so friendly and nothing was too much trouble. They are very hardworking and aimed to make our holiday as special as possible. They left us some nice things in the fridge, including some freshly laid eggs and even brought a card and present round for our anniversary.