Today Sybil and I visited our beloved Peak District. We got the early train and landed in Edale around 9am. The plan was to head up Mam Tor then drop down into Castleton, so we started towards Hardenclough Farm. I have done this route before and was just going by what I remembered rather than following any written directions, but it's pretty hard to lose your way; you just head towards the big lumpy-looking hill right in front of you.
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| Onward and upwards |
Sybil enjoyed a bit of sneaky off-lead time before we hit the sheep-infested slopes. The wind was already picking up, so I knew it was going to be pretty bad once we reached the summit; I just didn't realise exactly HOW bad.
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| Let me through! |
The next section was pretty easy-going alongside the road, then we turned left and hit the stone steps to the summit. About halfway up these, I was already being blown sideways. Sybil, however, was just tearing round like a mad thing with a huge smile on her face.
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| The summit |
I now tell no lies: the only way I reached the top was on my hands and knees, as the wind was that strong. The picture above was taken on full zoom; I could not for the life of me reach any closer to the trig point nor could the four people coming up behind me, all leaning full-tilt into the wind in order to stay on their feet. They followed my lead and sat down slightly down from the trig point so we were a little sheltered. I thought Pen-y-ghent was windy; it was nothing compared to this.
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| The Hope Valley |
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| Looking along the ridge |
Sybil decided she wanted to leave with her four new friends (and their Labrador) while I lagged behind, whooping and laughing into the wind. I've never had so much fun. Have you seen that scene from the movie
Brother Bear where Kenai and the bear cub are leaning into the wind off a clifftop?
Well that was me, minus the clifftop. I spread my arms and let the wind hold me up, just enjoying the moment.
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| Hollins Cross |
All good things come to an end though and we carried on towards Hollins Cross. The four in front had paired up and were holding each others' hands so they didn't blow away. I had no-one to hold my hand though (I asked, Sybil said no) so I leaned diagonally into the wind as it tried its best to keep me off the path. Eventually the wind died a little as we reached Hollins Cross, so after a moment to catch my breath we left down the side of the ridge towards Castleton.
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| Are we going the right way? |
I've never been to Castleton, so we spent a little time exploring the streets and eating our sandwiches. We soon came upon Castleton Visitor Centre, which had a notice on the door saying dogs were allowed inside. I poked my head in and checked with a member of staff that this was indeed OK, and with their permission we headed inside and milled around the museum and gift shop for twenty minutes or so.
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| Castleton Visitor Centre |
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| Picturesque street |
Why can't all buildings allow dogs inside? It would make my life so much easier. We headed up Cave Dale for a little way and sat and demolished our remaining sandwiches while admiring the limestone scenery. The dale was a little too crowded for my liking though so we soon retreated back down into Castleton before making our way back over the fields towards Hollins Cross.
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| Peveril Castle from Cave Dale |
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| The old collapsed road |
We were soon up and over and back down into Edale; I was sorely tempted to head back up to Mam Tor for another fun-filled wind session, but the ridge was rather busy now with other hikers. Another day, maybe. With half-an-hour to fill before our train was due, we stopped by the Penny Pot cafe for a nice warm hot chocolate.
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| One tired dog: check |
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