This wasn’t meant to be a proper tour. Just a casual ride into the Peak District with a few vague destinations in mind. But, as often happens on a good motorcycle road trip, things didn’t go quite to plan.
From unexpected detours and quiet national speed limit roads to curious landmarks and questionable oatcake loyalties, the day took a few turns — some literal, some not. What started as a ride quickly became an accidental deep dive into the quirks of the Peak District National Park.
Whether you’re looking for hidden Peak District motorcycle roads, scenic ride ideas, or just enjoy dry motovlog commentary with the occasional philosophical diversion, this one might be for you.
🎥 This is part of my Peak District motorcycle series — a laid-back, slightly irreverent take on exploring the best roads in Derbyshire by bike.
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## 📍 Chapters:
00:00 – Setting off with no plan
01:16 – Searching for lunch, sort of
01:55 – Forest roads & open lanes
03:17 – Making it up as I go
04:08 – A popular lunch and oatcake war
05:35 – Back on the bike
07:53 – An deathly place for a school trip
10:57 – A question about cyclists
12:49 – A view worth the entire ride
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the Peak District is full of surprises some of those are scenic some of those are historic and some of those frankly include a bit of Hammond Stilton who knew one of the great things though about the Peak District is just the huge amount of stunning roads that you can just stumble upon by accident if only you don’t go looking and to an extent that is what today’s video is going to be all about because I’m heading out there intentionally with no set route in mind just a few key destinations that I want to try and call at along the way so let’s get out on the bike and see what we can find out coming up in today’s video I inadvertently upset the people of Stafitcher by having an oak apparently there is some kind of big Stafer versus Darbager Oakake war that I never knew about i reminisce about a school trip in a cemetery maybe I didn’t pay sufficient attention in class because I can’t actually remember what it was all about and I discover one of the very best views in the whole of the Peak District this is what I’ve come to see it’s already looking pretty spectacular from here [Music] so hello everybody you join me as I am just setting off from Leak so Leak is just on the outskirts of the Peak District in Staffordshire and right now I am making my way actually for a spot of lunch so I haven’t got the day entirely mapped out i’ve got some places in mind and we’ll see how far along we get to and this is one of the things that I love when you suddenly come out of like the vast wilderness almost and then you come into a section with trees and you just get the sunlight coming through the trees and you can smell the trees as well well I mean obviously I can you guys can’t again [Music] it’s just one of those places that um just really like packed in the middle of nowhere and you can just kind of see the typical architecture with the stone properties stonewall properties and then yeah you you arrive in this little bit here where you put a crossroads and this is it’s just a really really picturesque quaint little town [Music] yeah so then that’s it then you’re back out into the nationals again but then you’re rewarded with this magnificent view over the side you know you’ve got a a drop the side of that wall but then just beyond it wow look look at that everything was going well until I encountered the one thing that happens all too often an unexpected road closure leaving me with a decision to make all right so which way left right uh maybe right we’ll see what happens if we go right to be fair I probably could have tried just going through that so we’ll see if I actually get rooted i’m getting rerooed which way am I going to get rooted damn to be fair this this is what the P district is all about just exploring these random roads and now we are entering into the beautiful and incredibly popular village of Manash and Mina contains the uh third most popular biker cafe in England and wow actually you can just see us here i thought oh you know what maybe I’m going to stop here let’s stop here yeah change of plan feels a little bit rude to ignore all these bikers so let’s stop i will see you in a little while well I have just had an absolutely fantastic lunch i have just tried for the very first time a Darbisher oak cake as opposed to a stafer oak cake apparently there is some kind of big stafer versus darbisher oak war that I never knew about so I can highly recommend that if you come to the Old Smithy and many of you do by the way because it’s one of the most popular biker cafes in the uh the whole of the country very very good location and very glad that I stopped here and um I think I’m going to get back on the bike shortly and see what else we can find today so after a divine if not controversial lunch I was back out on the bike and it wasn’t long before something unusual caught my eye i feel like I’m in some kind of um Roman Empire period like set of ruins i don’t know they’ve done a very good job of compartmentalizing these um these fields very efficient and I do I do value efficiency okay so frankly I have no idea where this is now taking us let’s just go and find out [Music] of course one of the features of the Peak District the majority of the A- roads the main trunk roads are 50 mph yet even despite the 50 mph speed limits a lot of the trunk roads through the Peak District are actually quite nice but turn off them in almost any direction and you’ll find yourself back on national speed limit roads every now and again being forced to slow for a village that appears like time stops still in the 1970s like this one oh that looks like a nice place red line over there just another one of the very quaint little villages it’s like stepping back in time and I don’t mean that in a bad way just everything is very relaxed very chilled the whole place and the roads feel like you should take your time to enjoy them [Music] wow and then you come out there and then it just opens up this magnificent view so now we really are stepping back in time we are now just entering into the village of Em now before I say it who’s going to know what EMA is all about if you know drop a comment below oh should I have gone that way maybe I should have gone that way oh no no we’ll take a left here this is fine i’m going to pull over here right i’m going to get off the bike and let’s have a little wander around hello again i’m off the bike now and I am out believe it or not I am in a cemetery and you might be wondering what on earth I am doing here that’d be a very valid question you might also be wondering what on earth this has got to do with bikes that would also be a very valid question truth be told nothing at all to do with bikes not a damn thing um why I’m here well frankly I just thought it would be an interesting place to call in at i actually came here many many years ago on a school trip and learned all about the plague because this is a plague village um I think there’s probably a little bit more to it than that but uh maybe I didn’t pay sufficient attention in class because I can’t actually remember what it was all about but what I do know is that if you wander around here and have a look at some of the cottages you’ll see that many of them have got these plaques on the outside which explain um the who lived there and who died and who survived and that kind of thing so that’s very very nice uh if you ever sing the nursery rhyme ring a ring of roses to your kids then you might be interested to know that that was also about the plague i don’t know if that changes anything for you or not but uh it’s an interesting fact all the same anyway that’s it there’s quite a bit that you can have a wander around and look at here there’s a a little museum and as I said there’s a little cottages that you can even buy some merch if uh plague related merch is the kind of thing that you’re into um that’s about all I want to take a look at here right now so I’m going to get back on the bike and continue my exploration of the Peak District so I’ll see you back on there shortly right I am back on the bike and it is time to get moving so we’re still in the little picturesque village of EM if you can see this looks like some kind of prehistoric or maybe not prehistoric but some kind of medieval barbecue system so from here I thought it would be a nice little trip to go and see what are the most spectacular views that you might find in the Peak District at least that’s what I’m hoping it’s going to be i haven’t actually been there before i’ve been past it before this is the first time I’m going to go and check it out so let’s go there and see if it is as nice as Google Maps and my research would make it out to be okay now I do have a question for you actually relating to cyclists now I know many people dislike cyclists i know they get in the way i know they slow us all down but there are some people that go past cyclists cycling their legs as though they were on a bicycle rather than a motorcycle this is done in derisory fashion to mock them for their lack of propulsion and what do you think about that do you think that’s okay do you think that’s just harmless fun do you think that is crossing a line i have to be honest I feel that’s a little bit unnecessary i would borderline say it’s a little bit disrespectful now you only have to look at me to tell that I’m not an avid cyclist but you know each to their own so for me it’s not necessary but what do you think maybe you think I’m wrong with that um I’m sure there are plenty of people that will have a charged opinion one way or another and whilst pondering the moral implications of mocking cyclists I continue to explore interesting looking random roads that were vaguely headed in the direction I was aiming towards with varying degrees of success okay I think I’ve actually just taken a more interesting shortcut yes I have cuz now we’re on the road to our destination and here we are we are coming in to the Montal Head vioaduct this is what I’ve come to see it’s already looking pretty spectacular from here that’ll do and so after a day of exploration filled with interesting oak cakes deadly diseases and random roads the best was definitely saved for last the view of the Monsole head vioaduct is simply breathtaking and an absolute must visit if you’re planning a trip to the Peak District and to help savor the moment even more you can do what I did and treat yourself to a delightful San Pelgrino Lemonata while admiring the view that’s all for this video and if you found any of this useful or entertaining then hit the like button below and consider subscribing for more interesting nonsense as I share with you the very best from my travels in the UK and beyond but for now thank you so much for watching and see you next time [Music]
2 Comments
Of course it's OK. I do it all the time 🤣🤣🤣
Good video matt😀