This weekend of walking with Mountains and Moorlands IVC was officially due to begin on the Saturday. However as Grindleford rail station is some 4 miles away from Bretton youth hostel, and there are no other public transport links installed, early Friday evening found me lugging my full kit some 3 miles up the not so gently undulating Sir Willam Hill Road (my thanks to the friendly local who at least gave me a lift for the first mile). Overall as good an aerobic test as I have had for several years now.
The Saturday walk began from the YHA (pictured) on a fine morning, which turned into a lovely Spring day. As is usual on these things there was the usual round of conversation interspersed with stopping for pictures. Early on our travels as we traversed one of many peaks, we came across some sort of beacon/transmitter which I am convinced then followed us around for the rest of the day. After an encounter with some small (unsupervised) girls on ponies, we eventually settled for a lunch spot sitting on the broken section of a dry stone wall.
Early afternoon found us passing the Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding club, trying to figure out both: why the gliders above us were merely going round in small circles, and what exactly were they dropping from below small red parachutes. So whilst still pondering all of that, we found our way into Great Hucklow, coming across a monument known as The Great Hucklow Cross (pictured). This was of such infinite fascination to some of our group, that while the rest of us wondered down to the pub for some vital rehydration, they managed to lose touch with us entirely. Some frantic phone calls later, they managed to track us down, but not before adding a mile to their distance for the day.
The Saturday walk began from the YHA (pictured) on a fine morning, which turned into a lovely Spring day. As is usual on these things there was the usual round of conversation interspersed with stopping for pictures. Early on our travels as we traversed one of many peaks, we came across some sort of beacon/transmitter which I am convinced then followed us around for the rest of the day. After an encounter with some small (unsupervised) girls on ponies, we eventually settled for a lunch spot sitting on the broken section of a dry stone wall.
Early afternoon found us passing the Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding club, trying to figure out both: why the gliders above us were merely going round in small circles, and what exactly were they dropping from below small red parachutes. So whilst still pondering all of that, we found our way into Great Hucklow, coming across a monument known as The Great Hucklow Cross (pictured). This was of such infinite fascination to some of our group, that while the rest of us wondered down to the pub for some vital rehydration, they managed to lose touch with us entirely. Some frantic phone calls later, they managed to track us down, but not before adding a mile to their distance for the day.
There was then another stop, this time for ice cream somewhere in Foolow, before heading for Eyam and a very steep climb in site of the same (or maybe perhaps another) transmitter to eventually pick up Edge road. This one joining up with Sir William Hill Road (yes that one), before passing The Barrel Inn, and back to basecamp. Overall a very enjoyable 14 miles.
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