Office day out to the Heights of Abraham - Matlock Bath

With it being the last weekend before the kids went back to school, we took a day off to visit a more local visitor attraction in Derbyshire and visited the Heights of Abraham at Matlock Bath.

Matlock Bath - a pretty promenade of gift shops, restaurants, amusement arcades and chip shops was once a famous spa town with people coming to take the waters.

In more recent times, its also home to a number of other visitor attractions including a alpine style cable car ride to the Heights of Abraham - caverns, restaurant and fossil centre to name but a few of the attractions awaiting you when you reach the top.

Of course if cable cars aren't your thing (they certainly aren't mine) then you can take the extremely invigorating walk to the top via a well travelled broad pathway through the upper streets of Matlock Bath and the lower parts of the estate.

The Heights of Abraham boasts two cavern tours, both lasting about 20 to 30 mins each. Narrow and low at points, visitors are guided along the paths and steps (there's one point at the very end of the uppermost cavern tour where you have to climb a set of metal steps back to the surface (again my issue with heights meant i turned around and walked back the way i'd come, frightening the life out of the next party trooping through the low dim passageways.

Don't forget your camera's as there are some breathtaking views down onto Matlock Bath itself and in the opposite direction towards Matlock.

The kids rode down on the Cable Car finishing off an enjoyable day out for us all. Even the repeating film of when a Blue Peter presenter joined the cable car rescue team for a rescue exercise didn't put them off (all set to the James Bond theme music).

The cable car runs from the bottom of Matlock Bath next to the railway station. It rises steeply to clear the A6 road and the RIver Derwent climbing up to the top visitor lodge.

Tickets are sold separately for the cable car ride (single or double journey) the cavern tours etc and walking in as we did meant we paid only for entrance rather than entrance and cable car. Quite a saving as only two of us were brave enough to take the few minutes ride to the bottom.

As I said some great photo opportunities to be had from the top. There's even a watch tower to climb for an even better view so don't forget to personalise your memories of a very special day out in Derbyshire Peak District from our selection of hand printed personalised photo gifts.