Refreshed and rejuvenated from our restful night in Castleton and full English breakfast, we head out on our first of two 11-mile walking days.
Day one took us over some hilly terrain, with spectacular views to match. We began by climbing Mam Tor and followed the “Great Ridge” up to Lose Hill, which provided spectacular views of Hope Valley on one side and Edale Valley on the other. We climbed down a relatively easy descent and started another arduous climb up Win Hill. The two peak district hills are supposedly named for a battle between the armies of King Edwin of Northumbria, who camped on Win Hill and King Cuicholm of Wessex, caamped on Lose Hill. The Hill names are a dead giveaway as to the result of the battle. More spectacular views ensued, and the pictures do more justice than my words ever could. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stitch these together at home for a panorama. After a slippery and rocky descent, our last couple miles were spent walking through towns and across fields paralleling the River Derwent to our evening’s stop in Hathersage. It’s worth pointing out, that after a somewhat exhausting day, we arrived in Hathersage to discover that our B&B was another mile across town, and straight up hill. Let’s just say we really earned our evening pints. Thankfully The Millstone Inn was both a pub and B&B so we didn’t have to go too far for our dinner. We both enjoyed a selection of sausages and mash as we went over tomorrow’s directions over, you guessed it, a couple of pints. Day two started with an immediate climb up to the ridgeline, but we were relieved to find that the rest of the day was much more level. We started at Higger Tor, a local rock climbing destination, and continued on to Carl Wark, the site of a fort that’s been around since the Iron Age. We ambled through the Longshaw Estate, 1,500 acres of open woodland containing the former Duke of Rutland’s hunting lodge. The house is not open to visitors but the grounds are peaceful and scenic and a popular spot for hikers and their pooches. We stopped by a local for lunch, The Grouse Pub, where we were the youngest people by at least 40 years. But no matter – lunch was good and filling, and we carried on our way. Up to Froggart, Curbar and Baslow Edges for more magnificent views, and we even found another group to take a photo, so we can both be in it for once! We descended into the small town of Baslow, and hopped across a stream to the even tinier town of Pilsley. Pilsley is so small that the B&B we stayed is connected to the town supply store…and the post office…and they’re all run by the same woman. We walked half a block to the only pub in town, ate some more English pub food, drank some more delicious cask-pulled pints, the notable difference was that we had dessert in the form of a fabulous Bakewell Pudding: the secret recipe is closely guarded by the original bakery but the Peak District specialty is essentially a flakey strawberry tart with egg custard on top, served warm and covered in creme anglaise. I resisted the urge to lick the bowl.