Based in Cheshire, at the ultra modern Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa, nestling on the outskirts of Tarporley village, this tour will explore the gentle countryside of Cheshire with its sleepy villages, its canals and its industrial past and the magnificent rugged terrain of Derbyshire – the Peak District.

You will pay a visit to the Anderton Boat Lift – the first of its kind in the world – an industrial heritage marvel that hoisted fully laden salt barges from off the River Weaver over 50 feet onto the Trent & Mersey canal. You will pass through picturesque villages with their black and white timber framed Tudor cottages, catch a glimpse of the Jodrell Bank telescope that dominates its surroundings, cross innumerable canal bridges, even climb the occasional hill.

In Derbyshire it will be all hills, the towering tors and rocky outcrops, grand country houses (such as Chatsworth), and the spa towns of Buxton and Matlock Bath.

The contrast between the two counties is quite dramatic and fitting them together into a tour will be quite a challenge.
Limited to 35 cars the tour commences on Sunday evening, 26th September with dinner. There will be three days of driving on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the tour finishes after breakfast on Thursday 30th
September.

Mike Griffiths and Sylvia Percy are already at work on the detail. It will be up to their usual high standard.

Accommodation

The Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf and Spa is one of the finest luxury hotels in Cheshire. Two 18-hole golf courses and a 9-hole golf course plus the largest indoor golf academy in Europe will keep you entertained. For a relaxing break in the peaceful Cheshire countryside, dine in the award-winning onsite restaurant and indulge in the luxury spa and leisure facilities.The lovely hotel rooms will enhance your stay with their stylish design, plush fabrics and rich soft furnishings. Large comfortable beds, Samsung flat-screen TVs and spacious en-suite bathrooms with separate showers add a touch of opulence.

We have booked Classic rooms for the tour. Watch a movie on the flat screen TV and sink into a deep relaxing bath before climbing under the covers of your big, comfortable bed for a sound night’s sleep. Classic Rooms feature large comfortable beds, luxury en-suite bathrooms with a separate bathtub and shower. There is also broadband internet access.

Itinerary

The two counties of Cheshire (plains) and Derbyshire (peaks) offer contrasting topography, and they are also interlaced with some great driving roads, spectacular countryside, and are steeped in Victorian industrial grandeur.
Over the next few months Mike Griffiths will be devising routes and visits. We are spoilt for choice with lovely Cheshire villages with their black and white timbered, Tudor cottages, the picturesque Shropshire Union and Trent & Mersey canals, the Anderton Boat Lift, salt mines, Jodrell Bank telescope, stately homes and gardens. Then there is Derbyshire and the Peak district with Buxton, the Victorian spa town, the Goyt valley, Castleton, with its caverns and majestic limestone bluffs, Chatsworth House and a host of other grand country mansions.
There will be stops for coffee (comfort) and lunch, and time for a little retail therapy – Cheshire has some of the finest shops. We trust you will like the format.

Details

Duration: 4 days

Dates: 26 – 30 September 2010

Mileage: TBC

Price:
£575 per person – based on two people sharing a twin or double room
£740 per person – single occupancy

What’s included

• All accommodation
• All meals
• Coffee stop each day
• Mechanical back-up provided by Jaguar-specialist, Keith Fell. The first 30 minutes of work is free, and subsequent work will be charged at Keith’s normal rate
  

What’s not included

• Fuel
• Personal travel insurance
• We strongly suggest and recommend you have breakdown cover. Although we have mechanical back-up, there may be cases that cannot be fixed on the tour and your car may need to be taken to a garage or back to your home.
• All drinks are extra to accommodate individual preferences.

Requirements

• This Peaks & Plains Tour is only open to members of the Jaguar XK Club.
• You are also required to carry safety equipment: a warning triangle, first-aid kit, fluorescent jackets, set of replacement bulbs and a national identification sticker (if not a UK registered car).
• The most important requirement is that you take pleasure in motoring through fabulous scenery, relish individual, character hotels and enjoy the company of like-minded travellers.