Banchory Veterans' Hill-walkers

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 Manc...

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 bu...

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 pr...

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....