Our Adventures in the Peak District

This was our first camping trip of the year, we decided to go back to Castleton in the peak district when we visited in February. We had notice a sign for a campsite which seemed to be not too far from Castleton with lots of pubs and amazing walks we thought we'd try it out. The name of the campsite is Rowter Farm Campsite, a working farm with horses, cows, chickens and lots and lots of sheep in the surrounding fields.Its facilities were basic, the toilets where in a brick outhouse which were not heated at all unlike previous places we had been where it would usually be warmer to get changed in the toilets, saying that it was clean and what more do you expect for £10 a night for 2 people and a dog. 

As it turned out the campsite was not as close to castleton as we had first thought, it was a short drive but about 30 minutes walk downhill and longer uphill coming back, its a good job we enjoy a good walk especially when there is a promise of a nice drink in a pub beer garden when we got to there.The walk was lovely, we crossed fields of sheep and lambs unfortunately Max's inner sheepdog made it so that he was constantly pulling on his lead and barking, one day I'd love to let him off his lead and see what he does because he's a softy really he probably wouldn't know what to do! The weather was nice and sunny and the views across to Mam Tor and the great ridge where great we had a wander around the village then went to the pub for a nice cold cider. If you've ever been to Castleton you will know that to get there you pass through a place called Winnats Pass its a windy road with steep hills at each side winding down to Castleton, it didn't seem to bad driving down it so we decided to walk that way back to the campsite, it was so hard but finally we made it and settled down for the night having a barbeque and a fruit beer. Once the sun goes down it gets cold and it was quite windy so once the barbeque was done we closed the tent up and wearing baselayer top pyjamas, gloves and a hat I went to bed. I was awoken a few times through the night with the fear the tent would be picked up and blown away wizard of oz style, add to that the bed half deflating and it wasn't a great nights sleep.
We woke to drizzle on the tent we got up had a lovely breakfast of bacon butties and set off for Castleton to meet Matt our friend who would be accompanying us on our 15 mile (!!!!!) walk. The thing about this walk that worried me was not how far we were going but that Matthew had the map on his GPS and I didn't really have a clue where we were going or if we were going in the right way.

This cute little bridge near Edale reminded me of Hobbits for some reason!

The walk was actually great fun we walked up from Castleton over the great ridge at Hollins cross through fields down to Edale a really charming little village where we stopped for a beverage at the pub, we then headed up towards Kinder Scout and eventually got to a bit were there was a stream coming down the mountain or hill (it felt like a mountain!) and lots of boulders and stepping stones to traverse to get further along the path, i looked upward and there were people higher up still clambering over rocks to get to the top and I thought we mustn't be going that way but to my surprise we were, I would have never gone if I'd had known but I actually really enjoyed it. When we got to the top we had our picnic and then we continued on our walk we only really walked around the edge of Kinder Scout there are some really odd shaped rocks up there and I would have really like to explore more but we where on a very tight schedule it was 3 o clock already the time that the guys who had done the walk had got back having set off at the same time as us and we were only just over half way around, i was beginning to think we had over faced ourselves my feet were beginning to hurt and the next bit was walking over peat bogs which made you feel like you were walking on a bouncy castle. The last 4 miles were the hardest mainly because I couldn't work out how much further there was to go. When we got back to Castleton it was about 6.30 and the only antidote for our weary feet was a pub dinner and a nice drink. I was tired and sore but had a really good sense of achievement that was our highest and longest walk so far. If we were going to go to Kinder Scout again we would set off from Edale and do a shorter walk so we could take it in more.
That night I slept a bit better in the tent probably because I was shattered, we had planned spending some more time in Castleton before going home, but the weather, surprisingly for a bank holiday, was glorious so we leisurely got ready had a lovely breakfast of sausage butties and sat in the sun all morning reading my book...Bliss! We also got back home by 1.30pm so we had plenty of time to enjoy the sun in the garden too.
All in all I enjoyed our weekend, although cold at times, I will go back to this campsite its great value for money but only if the weather forecast is nice and hot!

Another weekend, another walk.

This was our longest yet, it started from Hope in Derbyshire and then across fields up a hill then walk along the ridge from Lose hill onto Back Tor, then Hollins Cross then up to the summit of Mam Tor and down into Castleton and finally back to Hope. The walk was about 9 miles.
I have been to Castleton many times when I was younger, the last time I went there was when me and Matthew first started dating almost 11 years ago, it's a beautiful little village, there is a castle, Peveril Castle, which sits nestled on the side of the hill in the middle of the town, there is a picturesque little stream that runs through the town, plenty of pubs and very lovely shops and cafes, there are also about 5 different caves/mines that you can go on tours around. I have always loved it there but despite the stunning scenery I have never ever thought of going for a walk around there and up onto the hills but I am so glad we did it was amazing and so nice to see another part of this area I never knew existed.
The weather was beautiful but we thought we had better layer up because it would be much colder and windier at the top of the hill, by the time we got up to the first hill, lose hill I had taken my coat and fleece off I was boiling, the sun felt so nice on my face but I had my thermal leggings on under my trousers because they were only thin, I felt quite hot! At the top we recovered from the strenuous walk uphill and had our picnic, what a lovely place it was to eat, you could see for miles. Sitting still had meant that I cooled quite quickly so I put my coat back on. From here you could see the walk along the ridge to Mam Tor and we excitedly carried on our walk, next it was a slight descent then up to Back Tor, this is amazing when you get to the top, there is a sheer drop but you don't appreciate it until you start to go back down then look back, the walk along from Back Tor to Hollins cross and up to Mam Tor is along a very uneven path with steps and despite the warm weather there was still quite deep snow in some areas so we had to be careful. The trek up to Mam Tor was hard work the sun was shining in our eyes and it was quite slippery but it was worth it for the view. We made this our second stop, having the rest of the coffee in the flask and a homemade Nutella cookie, you could see people hang gliding over us from another hill. We then walked down to Castleton and had a drink outside 'the George' pub beneath Peveril castle before walking around back to the car park at Hope.
It was a perfect day out especially for a day in February, it really felt like spring was on its way.
We hope to come back to the Peak District soon for more walks and maybe camping in the summer!