This post is in collaboration with Mitsubishi who were kind enough to lend us their Outlander PHEV, a car I first fell in love with a couple of months ago. All the pretty pics are by the amazing Caylee Hankins. You can find her website here and find her on Instagram.

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As we headed into Autumn this year, Fiann and I decided it was getting less and less feasible to go and find sunshine somewhere that was less than 5h away, and so resigned ourselves a little to spending the rest of winter stuck firmly within the confines of Bristol, Dorset and London. However, following a trip to the Cotswolds with Mitsubishi (to trial their new Outlander PHEV), I was suddenly inspired. Just two days away had left me feeling totally revitalised, and heading to the Cotswolds allowed me to visit a new part of the world and fulfil another one of my passions: hiking. 

So, I spent a few weeks researching place I wanted to go (within the confines of a long weekend) and came up with the idea of a road trip up to the Peak District. I’d never been but had heard tales of its stark beauty and glorious walks (whatever the weather). So, with some help from Visit England for planning where to go, we picked up our new (super fancy) Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and set off for the Peaks! 

The first hotel we headed to (around a 4h drive from London with traffic), was Moddershall Oaks, a boutique spa retreat with a brand spanking new wellness centre called Made. We were promptly upgraded to the Bridal Suite due to a water spillage in our other room (although secretly I think it was all planned by Fiann) and I was super impressed with the incredibly friendly service and staff! I enjoyed a quick shellac manicure before we headed to dinner. I was blown away by the quality of the food at the restaurant – as someone who follows a plant based diet the option is usually singular and involves just removing something from a vegetarian dish and replacing it with nothing. Click here for a full review (and more pics!) of the lovely Moddershall Oaks.

The next morning started with a quick spa session before heading into the Lakes – an easy hour-and-a-bit drive north. We did about half of our driving in electric mode, meaning the petrol lasted so much longer! We especially chose to drive in EV (electric vehicle) mode in the towns – no need for extra fumes out there. 

 

 

Our first hike of the trip began from Hathersage, a cute village about 10 miles south-west of Sheffield, and took us about 10km up and along Stanage Edge and back down to the village. I cannot recommend ‘The Edge’ more – it was beautiful, bleak, windy and spectacular all at once. Not for you if you don’t like wind or hills, but very feasible for anyone as there’s a car park right at the base! 

At dusk we headed via Chatsworth House to our next stop, The Peacock at Rowsley, where we settled in and promptly headed for a nice warming dinner. People clearly come from miles around for dinner here, as it was totally packed! The food was more expensive than I’ve expected (£50 for two courses), but the dishes that I had were truly delicious. Again, there was a decent vegan menu and no expenses spared with the dishes – Fiann and I both got the cep israeli couscous with truffle oil and were both very pleased with it. The £50 also got us an amuse bouche and delicious homemade bread too. Thoroughly well fed, we collapsed in bed for a long night’s sleep before another day of walking on Saturday!

Saturday’s walk took us to Castleton, another cute town slightly further north in the Peaks. Here we headed out on a hike up Mam Tor, along the ridge to Rosehill Pike and round. The route was a muddy, rainy and cloudy 15km or so, but well worth every second! See below for the beautiful views XD

Following our walk we drove the 20 or so minutes to Bakewell, a beautiful little town. Slightly starving from our walk, we went to ‘Because I Like It’, recommended by Visit Peak District as the best gluten free/vegan cafe in the Peaks. The vegan toasties we had did not disappoint – perfect for a wet and windy day! It wasn’t cheap (over £20 for two toasties and 2 vegan bakewell tarts), but I would definitely recommend if you’re in the area. The vegan (and gluten free) bakewell tasted just like the original too – perfect fodder to fuel our journey back down south. We headed back to the car to embark on the 112 mile journey to near reading, in preparation for Sunday’s 10km race. The car was ridiculously easy and comfy to drive back down south, and en route we stopped for our first tank fill up. As there had been nowhere to charge our car, the fuel economy was slightly worse than expected by this point, but the next few places had charging ports, so we made up for the lost fuel economy with purely electric driving later in the trip. 

Our race on Sunday was an absolute treat – despite the grey weather and intermittent rain, spirits in the Beverley family were high, and everyone enjoyed the race! It was hilly and seriously muddy (both of which I’ve avoided since cross-country races at university), so Fiann and I were very pleasantly surprised to come in at 17th and 18th out of over 200 runners – I even came 3rd female! See below for the pained faces of an exhausted Fiann and Flora at kilometre 9 of our race.

Exhausted and elated, after chowing down an excellent pub lunch, Fiann and I headed to our last stop together, Dormy House. 

Dormy House is another breed of hotel. Modern but rustic, with beautiful decor and everything you could possibly need – it was just what we wanted after a strenuous day! After plugging our car in at the charging ports in the Dormy House car park, Fiann and I dumped our bags in our room and headed straight for the spa. We spent a good hour in between the outdoor hot tub and the amazing pool and by the time we got round to dinner we were wonderfully relaxed. Dinner at The Potting Shed was great – again, there was a specialist vegan menu, and although it had fewer options than some of the other places, everything we ate was of top quality. I especially enjoyed the dessert! 

Monday morning was spent shooting at Dormy House before travelling down to Bristol to drop off Fiann. En route we stopped off at Gloucester Services – a favourite that if you ever go past you must visit! It is very ‘Daylesford Farm’ style, with freshly baked goods and coffee AND, we discovered, charging ports outside! So, we stopped off for vegan cupcake and coffee before heading on our way to our final stop of the day, a spot I discovered by spending too much time looking for inspiration on Instagram, Coaley Peak. If you’re in the area this is a stunning view point out over much of the Forest of Dean, Severn Vale and the village of Coaley. There’s some old farmland that’s now a wild flower meadow, and the whole area is spectacularly beautiful.

Check out these photos from our stunning courtyard suite at Dormy House – taken by Caylee Hankins of ‘@alittlepickmeup’ Instagram. To see more photos and an in-depth review of Dormy House, click here. 

Tuesday, our 5th and final day of the road trip took Cayee and me to a personal favourite location, Cheddar Gorge, just south of Bristol and an easy 20 minute drive from Cadbury House, where we had stayed the night previously. The hotel was spectacular – such a cool mix of castle and hotel (see below) with such friendly staff. Refreshed from a great night’s sleep and a good breakfast, we started early and were able to catch these beautiful shots. Unfortunately it meant that we were unable to make the most of the spa at Cadbury House, which several people told me was amazing – I will be returning to make full use of it another time though, as the hotel was lovely!

We were lucky with the weather in Cheddar – the morning was bright, clear and freezing, and the light so beautiful that we captured everything we wanted by lunch time! So at that point we went into the town for a delicious vegan buddha bowl at one of the many tea rooms before starting the journey back to London.

Our journey was amazing, and took me to places I’ve never been before, as well as revisiting old favourites. It was a pleasure to drive the whole way in the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and despite having driven it before, this was my first real chance to know what it would be like to own the car! I thought I’d write a list of my favourite bits of the car, as well as some considerations to take into account:

Pros

• The car is insanely smooth to drive. Without a doubt the nicest car I’ve ever driven, with plenty of space inside, loads of controls and everything you could possibly need (and a whole load of stuff you didn’t realise you wanted but now won’t be able to live without!)
• When driving around the city, it feel great to do it all on electric vehicle mode. If you know where your charging point is, there’s no reason you’d have to top up the petrol unless doing much longer journeys. Since electric is much cheaper than petrol, there’s a huge potential saving cost there! Nt to mention you’re doing wonders for the environment (and congestion charge is not a thing). 
• Some service stations have fast charging ports, which are great, if you are happy to wait while it charges. Thankfully it’s pretty speedy – we got to 80% charge in about 25 minutes. Perfect timing for a wee, coffee break and a stretch. 
• You can plug the Outlander PHEV to mains supply, so as long as you can park near a building with a plug, you can charge up your car anywhere. 

Cons

• If you don’t use the EV mode, the car becomes much less efficient. The miles per gallon drops right down.
• Unfortunately there just aren’t enough places with charging ports around the UK. Dormy House was great and had charging. Cadbury House did too, but they weren’t compatible with the Mitsubishi – it appeared that they were for Teslas only, which was a real shame! Other places had a mains supply but parking near it was sometimes tough. However, I can imagine this wouldn’t be an issue if you were mostly driving to and from home, or another place you knew had charging ports!
• The mains lead (to charge your car on mains power) is quite short, meaning that an extension lead might be need to be used if you’re unable to park right next to your mains supply.