Easter Rally 2026

Ashbourne Touring And Camping Park,

Hulland Ward,

Derbyshire,

DE6 3HF

Thursday 2nd April to Monday 6th April 2026
Add right hand sides Pictures here

Rally Site

The rally will be based at Ashbourme Park Campsite to the east of Ashbourne. This popular site is normally fully booked over the Easter period but the club have been granted exclusive access to bookings until mid November 2025. If all the 70 pitches are taken then the site will be full of tandems. The campsite is flat except for 2 tent pitches that slope slightly, there are 36 hard standing with electric, 26 grass with electric, 6 grass without electric and 2 grass pitches with electric that are slightly sloping for tents. There are showers, toilets and a wash up area. There is WIFI but visitors report this as slow, but you'll be on your tandem during the day and in the marquee in the evening. Karen who manages the site rides a tandem and is looking forward to the clubs visit.

Rides

A choice of 7 rides will be available, ranging from 30 to 50 miles. These explore the southern Peak District and surrounding villages to the south of Ashbourne. The cycling is excellent with multiple trails and quiet lanes, such as the High Peak, Tissington and the Great Northern Greenway, all of which will be used. Two rides a day will be offered in the region of 30 or 50 miles. These will head out the same way each day, allowing you to mix with everyone and to choose on the day if you’d like to extend or shorten a ride. A couple of communal coffee stops will be organised, where a single place will be chosen after about 10-15 miles where coffee/tea and cake will be provided to bring us all together in one place. Rides are offered in a GPX format but also as route sheets which will be checked before the event giving turn by turn instructions and also pointing out the places of interest and places to eat along the way.

What to expect on a ride

For those that have not yet attended a Tandem Club rally, we do not go out as a large group.  Instead we tend to set off in small groups, so that we do not swamp the local roads.  Each rally attendee is expected to bring their own printed copy of the route instructions and to have downloaded the gpx track files to their device.  These will be published to those booked on the rally about 1 month before the start of the rally. The GPX routes, description and detailed information for each ride are available at Rides for the 2026 Easter rally

Surfaces and dangers

The Ashbourne area has lots of well used cycleways based on old railway lines. The Tissington Trail and High Peak Trail are very hard packed gravel that can be ridden by almost any bicycle and are utilised by many different types of cyclists. Some of the other trails may have looser surfaces and although these will be used, an alternative will be described in the route sheets. All of these trails are used by pedestrians as well as young children cycling as part of family groups, they aren't crowded like an inner city cycleway but care should be taken. Derbyshire has some steep ascents and descents with gravel on corners, as well as a few quarries so you may encounter the odd lorry, so please be aware of this.

Communal Tea Stops

These are arranged to bring everyone together as after all this is the point of a rally. Coffee/Tea and a piece of cake will be offered that is paid in advance as part of the rally fee. Both the short and medium rides will be taken through the same point. You are welcome to pass through within a window of 2-3 hours. I have done these in the past and they are very popular, they have the advantage of getting to chat to others, have a dedicated indoor space to be served and also remove the pressure on local cafes and will work out cheaper than a cafe. There are anticipated to be two stops provided during the event.

Organiser

Neil Wheadon will be the principal organiser. Having organised three nationals, an International, two previous Easter events in the past, I am very experienced in running these events. I oversee the rides database on the Tandem Club website and in my spare time organise cycling holidays all over the world from Japan to Mongolia.

Marquee

A marquee will be available, not only to host the AGM but also as a central area for participants of the rally to meet and socialise.

Annual General Meeting

This will be held in the marquee on Saturday 4th April 2026 at 4.00 p.m

Evening Activities

These will be centred in the marquee and are intended to bring people together. On the Saturday night an excellent 6 piece band has be arranged for your entertainment, see https://www.wildeyedwickedandoblivious.co.uk/ 2 additional evening activities will be organised, to be announced.

Booking Fee

As this is Easter, the campsite is not in a position to offer a discount as this is one of their busiest times and they will fill regardless. They have though given us exclusive booking rights until mid November, so if everyone books by then we will have exclusive access. The campsite charge is their standard charge. Everything else, all the additions will be paid out of the booking fee including the marquee, the two cafe stops and an excellent band. The campsite have very kindly made a substantial contribution to the cost of the band which is a wonderful gesture.
For anyone under the age of 18 at the time of the event a booking fee does not apply.

Booking and dates

Please fill in the booking form via the link below. This is a very popular time for camping, the campsite would normally be full, as a result, bookings for all 4 nights of the rally can only be accepted. It is crucial that to achieve exclusive access to the site bookings must be made before Sunday November 16th 2025. After that date, the campsite will release sites to the general public. It would be a huge bonus if we can achieve exclusive use in this beautiful area.

You need to be members of the Tandem Club or certain overseas organisations to book. See the Terms and Conditions below.

Please use the button below to book for this event. Preferred payment for UK residents is by on-line credit/debit card payment but the form will present you with other options. If you have a website login account, then please login before using this form as most fields will be filled in for you automatically.

PLEASE NOTE EXTRA NIGHTS STAY BEFORE OR AFTER THE RALLY MUST BE BOOKED WITH THE CAMPSITE

Need further information?

 

Map

Below is a screen print from Rides. The orange icons are places to eat, the pink icons are things to see and yes there is even a green BCQ (British Cycle Quest) in the area, should you wish to pick one up for your collection. The red lines are sustrans routes and/or cyclepaths.

For a google map see Google Map

What to do if you want to take a break from Cycling?

Click on the link below for Event information. There is a huge amount of information on rides, the Tandem Club's in house database. This includes historic places to visit, cafes, gardens and museums.

Event Information

Attendees Event information

Terms and Conditions.
Booking confirmation:
Your booking is not confirmed until payment has been received in full and cleared which should be before the closing date for bookings. Dishonoured cheques will result in the cancellation of your booking.
Members Only:
This event is open to UK or overseas Tandem Club Members or, in the case of overseas people, members of the following organisations: "Tandem Club of America", "Tandem Club de France", "Tandem Club NL (Netherlands)", "Tandem ClubVlaanderen (Belgium)" and "Tandem-fahren.de (Germany)". You can join the Tandem Club using the forms on the TC website. Joining the TC (About 10 UKP per year).

Disclaimer:
If you participate in any ride or event organised by the Tandem Club you do so entirely at your own risk. The Club, its officers and ride organisers accept no responsibility for loss, damage to property, accident, injury or death, that may occur, however caused, whether by negligence, deliberate act or otherwise.

Cancellations and refunds.
The rally fee will not be refunded after the closing date. Refund of other components will depend on what the Club can recover from the campsite and/or other suppliers. Members may wish to consider taking out Holiday Insurance to cover losses the Club cannot refund.

Photographs taken at the event may be published on the Tandem Club Website, The Tandem Club Facebook pages and The Tandem Club Journal