All fungi and games
On a memorable road trip through the Peak District in the Cayenne GTS, our writer forages for mushrooms, chats with a baronet, and enjoys a thrilling off-road adventure that ends with a big splash (literally).
Stretching across five counties, the Peak District is among the most beguiling of Britain’s 15 national parks. In the sunshine, its rolling dales glow an emerald green, but not today. The sky has bruised; the rain is coming down sideways; and a carpet of fog is beginning to roll in. It’s a day for wax jackets and wellies. If you were to cast a vehicle for this rustic scene, it might be an old tractor the colour of sludge. Yet if you wish to stand out in a pea-souper, may I suggest a fire-engine red Porsche?
No shroom for error:
When foraging for mushrooms, mycologist Dr James Marsh helps us distinguish the edible from the perilous.A familiar sight on our roads since it was launched over 20 years ago, the Cayenne has built a wide fan base in the UK. But I was excited to explore the breadth of ability offered by the four-door, four-wheel-drive sports car. The talents of the Porsche SUV enable it not only to thrill on twisty B-roads and flowing passes, but also to climb muddy hills and traverse rivers. Sheep have been farmed in the Peak District for 6,000 years, and while I wouldn’t want to chuck one in the back of a Cayenne, these days a Porsche can deal with country life with aplomb.
I’m here to embrace nature, not terrorise the livestock. Our Cayenne adventure starts at Wildhive on the Callow Hall estate in Ashbourne, where we check into timbered tree houses. We go foraging for mushrooms with a local mycologist (Dr James Marsh, a biologist specialising in fungi) who teaches us what is edible and what isn’t. There’s also a lesson in knife skills – and while the idea of this made me apprehensive at first, I needn’t have worried. Ben Edmonds, heavily tattooed founder of bespoke knife-crafters Blok, gives us a workshop on how to slice and dice and sharpen one’s blade without ending up in hospital. After which, expert chefs take over, and we’re treated to tomahawk steaks cooked under canvas.
Having a field day:
The hugely versatile Cayenne GTS is a fantastic companion for life in the country.
Sharp practice:
Blok Knives founder Ben Edmonds demonstrates how to level up your kitchen cutting skills.The Cayenne GTS is itching to launch itself into a field, and articulates itself over rocks and through bogs confidently.
Breakfast of champignons:
There are around 15,000 species of wild fungi in Britain.Now we are at one with the terroir and how to gorge ourselves upon it, but the Cayenne GTS is itching to launch itself into a field, too. It articulates itself over rocks and through bogs confidently. One feels the urge to put the hammer down at inappropriate times, such as blasting through deep fords with its 4.0 twin-turbo V8 (Cayenne GTS (WLTP)*: Fuel consumption combined: 12.7 – 12.1 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions combined: 289 – 277 g/km; CO₂ class: G) at full song.
Finally, we pop into Tissington Hall, a 17th century Jacobean manor, for a cup of tea and a slab of cake. I leave to find the hall’s custodian, 9th Baronet Sir Richard FitzHerbert, cupping his eyes to get a better look at the Cayenne’s sleek interior through the glass. He’d love to own one, he tells me, but it would be covered in his Labradors’ hair within minutes.
So, if you take your Porsche to the Peak District, remember to pack some waterproofs, and if you give a lift to a landowner’s dog, bring a vacuum.
Further information
For more on the Porsche Cayenne GTS, visit porsche.com/uk and click through Models/Cayenne
