Walking Weekend 2022 - Peak District - day 4 - Sunday 2nd October

Sunday morning and Ken promised us a little treat for our final day walking. We were going to do a ridge walk. We would catch a bus that would take us to the top of the ridge so most of the walk would then be downhill.

Alighting from the bus, we took a look at the ridge we would be heading towards:

Of course, it wasn't all downhill but the landscape/geography of the area was fascinating - unlike anything we've seen on previous trips or at home in Scotland. It just felt different. There were odd rock shapes and lots of people out rock climbing etc.:

There was a good trail round to the point where we crossed a stream, then the road to head towards the ridge itself:

When we got to the trig point, it was time for a snack - and, of course, drams:

We walked along the ridge - it was pretty busy in places - and then found the trail that would eventually take us down to Haversage:

As we got a bit nearer to civilisation again, it was time for a full team photo:

It was the day of the Manchester derby so we assumed there would be a pub in Haversage that would have ale, food and Sky TV. We were successful with the first two but, amazingly, none of the pubs were showing the match. Most of us then made the decision to jump on a bus back to Castleton and watch the match there. The stats and route for those of us that did this were:

Dinner on Sunday night was at what Ken thinks is the only proper restaurant in Castleton - 1530 - an Italian trattoria. We all had post-dinner digestifs but Steve's was the stand out:

There was a very brief discussion about where to go next year. Ken tentatively floated the idea of Wales whilst Jeb made a strong push for Oban. Nothing was decided.

Monday morning and time to go home. Ken's original proposal of stopping somewhere roughly halfway and doing an afternoon walk then staying there one more night had, in the end, come to nothing, so Dave and Stewart drove us back north, whilst Gordon headed back to Yarmouth and Jeb wandered off somewhere to meet up with a friend before heading home.

Big thanks again to Ken for all his hard work planning a great trip.

Walking Weekend 2022 - Peak District - day 3 - Saturday 1st October

It was a bright start to the day and we were all up for what would be our only long(ish) walk of the weekend. We were heading over the hill in to the next valley/dale - to Edale for coffee then on to Hope and back to Castleton. First of all, those of us staying in the hotel had to march round to the B&B and pick up the others:

We started in the same direction as Friday's walk but soon stopped for (genuine) photo opportunities:

There was some speculation over whether the green patches in the latter photo were natural or whether it was some sort of hill art. No conclusion was reached.

The climb to the top of the ridge wasn't at all difficult but occasionally you had to watch your footing when bits of the trail were laid out with large, sloping flagstones - that wouldn't have been at all easy if they had been wet. Here we are emerging at the top and with an attempted team photo:

Down the other side in to Edale and we were ready for coffee:

The nearby pub looked tempting but we managed to resist - it was still early:

Onward we marched - up and down a bit and then it was noon - time for drams:

The path got a bit rockier from this point on and it didn't take long before my knee succumbed to the constant twisting and turning. Ken had planned an optional slight detour up and down another hill but there was no way I could have made this - and I think most of the others were grateful to have this excuse too. They could see the village of Hope in the distance and the prospect of some food, beers and a seat was too tempting.

This was our chosen venue for lunch in Hope:

The sign you can see on the wall of the pub read:

After lunch, it was a fairly straight-forward walk back to Castleton, following the river/stream. Here's the route and the stats:

Quick change and shower then back out again for dinner in Ye Olde Nags Head, Castleton.

A fine day, done and dusted.

Walking Weekend 2022 - day 2 - Peak District - Friday 30 September

We got up - had breakfast and checked the updated weather reports. It now appeared that the storm coming in from the west wouldn't hit either the Lake or Peak Districts until afternoon. We decided to stick to Plan A and hotfoot it down to Castleton and start our walk there as soon as we all arrived - we were meeting Gordon and Jeb there. With the benefit of hindsight, that was a tactical error - we should have used the dry weather in the morning and had another walk locally in the Lake District then driven down (in the rain, probably) to Derbyshire.

It was still dry when we got to our hotel in Castleton and it stayed that way for the first 40 minutes or so of our walk towards the caves:

We didn't quite make it to the cave complex before the rain - by the time we got there we were pretty soaked, but we welcomed the opportunity of going underground for a while and staying dry:

This is the cavern we were in:

Here's our shortened route:

The walk back to our accommodation was pretty dreich as well. Dave hadn't joined us in the caves as he'd been there recently anyway, so he was already back at the Air B&B they'd rented for him, Jeb and Gordon (our hotel didn't take dogs). He'd been good enough to organise some beer and nibbles for us at their house but it was still chucking it down and all most of us wanted to do was get in to dry clothes again.

Most of us would have killed for a hot bath at that time, but Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese only had showers. Over at the B&B Jeb rejoiced in sharing with our WhatsApp group this photo from his room:

We knew by now that Castleton (population 642) was something like beer heaven. Amazingly it has as many as 7 pubs and all of them had real ale with anywhere between 5 and 8 handpumps each. We certainly enjoyed the beer in our hotel that night before, during and after dinner. The forecast was looking good for the next couple of days so we were all happy campers again.

Walking Weekend 2022 - Peak & Lake Districts - Day one - Thursday

For several of us, this year was our first time away since 2019's visit to the Borders - although there was a Trossachs trip for some in 2020. The Peak District was suggested as a possibility at the final night of the Borders trip, so it had been a long time coming.

Ken had arranged for us to break the journey down with an overnight stop in the Lake District, which allowed us to have an afternoon walk there - and the bonus was we were able to catch up again with Rob, who was on the last day of a walking week there with his son.

Two cars had travelled down from Banchory - Dave took Ken and Steve - plus Ruby - whilst Stewart drove Nigel and myself. We arrived in lovely little Pooley Bridge and looked in to our hotel:

We knew Dave's car was ahead of Stewart's, but there was no sign of the 3 of them, so the decision Nigel, Stewart and I had to make was light lunch pre-walk or beers? No contest:

The healthy ones joined us soon after this, having been in the cafe across the road. We then met up with Rob and headed to the start of our walk:

 It was a riverside walk up to a waterfall:

Time for a team selfie:

It was a pretty gentle climb up to this point but then we headed away from the water and up a fairly steepish section which necessitated regular "photo opportunities":

There was one member of our party who had no trouble with the climb - Ruby was in her element:

 Finally we reached the top and from there and on the way down we got some lovely views:

All this exercise needed some replenishment at the nearby Royal Hotel:

Here's the route and stats:

Rob joined us again for dinner that evening in our hotel. Forecasts for the following day were pretty dire and we figured we were going to get wet on our first ever trip to the Peak District.