Adventures in The Peak District!
You stayed in a pretty village called Hathersage.
You slept in a 19th century inn called Little John!
You had a picnic overlooking the breathtaking Stanage Edge, and walked along its dramatic edge, crags and wild places.
You walked on the path less trodden and created your own pathways (aka as getting lost!).
You had dinner at The Scotsman Pack Country Inn and enjoyed the local pastimes of the pub quiz and bingo, chased up with a few whiskeys!
You were evacuated at breakfast!
You climbed up a hill called Mam Tor and walked the Roman Road in the village of Castleton.
You had prosecco and croissants sat on top of the hill!
You stood in front of the Devil’s Arse!
You had bangers, mash and Yorkshire pudding washed down with some Moonshine at the Ye Old Nags Head.
You walked around the walls of Peveril Castle.
We walked. We explored. We talked. We laughed.
All whilst visiting the White Peak of The Peak District National Park.
It’s Grim Up North, no it isn’t you daft git!!!
(Yorkshire translation: “daft git” – silly person!)
I recently spent two fun filled days in the Peak District. This is how it went.
About the Peak District
The Peak District National Park is on my doorstep, on the outskirts of Sheffield in the county of Derbyshire. It is filled with quintessentially English villages, breathtaking views, wild places and crags for you to rock climb, hike, cycle or walk.
There are two peaks to the The Peak District National Park (the Dark Peak and the White Peak). We visited the White Peak (lower part of the National Park in the popular Hope Valley).
Day 1 – Hathersage
Caught the #271 bus from Sheffield to Castleton on the Thursday morning. There are a few bus companies that make the trip, catch this bus (or #272) as its a double decker, sit upstairsfor amazing views! First stop for us, Hathersage, it takes around 50 minutes to reach it, stopping at various villages along the way.
A little early for midday check in at the Inn, so a quick coffee at Cintra’s Tea Rooms (sit in the pretty gardens).
Accommodation
Check in at the Little John Hotel a 19th Century Inn – in the “Friar Tuck” room, lovely cosy room with a view (note – lots of mirrors, so you can admire yourself from every angle)!
A hike to Stanage Edge
So we set off midday for our walk to Stanage Edge. As well as printing this route, I also printed a Google map for directions. Google maps is great for urban routes perhaps not so much for rural areas! Put it another way between the two of us, we didn’t have the best sense of direction or the ability to read a map or 2! Which turned out to be half the fun! However in our defence, we got to Church Lane and there was a sign saying “Private Road” which threw us. Walk past that sign, you’re still on Church Lane!
Although our misdirection did take us to the church and the grave of Little John (Robin Hood’s 2nd in command of the Merry Men, for our non-English friends). Little John was born in Hathersage and here he is buried.
Well back to the walking, gave up on map reading, asked a man with a dog (yes, seriously!) “carry on walking up the hill, you’ll come to a road” (which hill, which road?!). Not to worry, carrying on walking – don’t think we’re heading in the right direction, no hill?! So ask a woman with a dog “don’t walk through the woodlands like we did, follow the lampposts with the yellow markings”, which we did.
Screw the maps, get lost and have fun telling each “I don’t think it’s that path, I think it’s this one”. According to Google maps the walk there should take 54 minutes. Not for us, arrived over the hill at 2.30ish! Sat down and had a tasty picnic (I cooked!) looking across to Stanage Edge.
Walked across the heather covered moors to Stanage Edge, walked the Edge, overlooking the crags and the rock climbers, rock hopped over to Burbage Rocks, walked down the road, through the field and back onto Church Lane! We got back to the Inn just before 6pm! I was thinking, picnic on the rocks 1.30pm, a couple of leisurely hours of walking, head back for a 3pm power nap and get ready for dinner! Don’t you just love it when things don’t go according to plan!
An evening in Hathersage
A fun day with fabulous walking. The hot power shower back at the Inn was just what you needed for those achy joints. Dinner was at The Scotsman Pack Country Inn. The food was delicious, washed down with wine and a few Jack Daniels & Coke! (Note – the desserts are huge, share, unless you’re feeling greedy!) Don’t you think pub food has come a long way?
Thursday nights may actually be the big night out in Hathersage, pub quiz and bingo night, as it appeared all the locals were out! Great atmosphere, “The Girls” won, in fact they won 3 prizes! “The Girls” were actually the wives of another team of husbands, Girls Rule! I thought it was a tough quiz (pleased we didn’t enter) would’ve have come last, 13 out of 30 and I think I could only answer 3 correctly! This was a serious pub quiz, great entertainment to end a perfect day!
Excitement at breakfast!
Next morning at breakfast, we were evacuated due to an electrical fire in the kitchen! Quite comical, the fire engine arrived quite some time after the alarm had been raised, making jokes the cook had burnt the sausages. I’m sure one of the fireman was in the pub quiz last night! Felt a bit like Dad’s Army (English sitcom from the 1970’s), these are the reserve fireman, not the real fireman kinda thing. It’s probably the most excitement the village has seen in a while! But all well and safe! Great people, great spirit! Love Hathersage!
Day 2 – Castleton
Leaving the excitement behind, we caught the #271 to Castleton, some 20 minutes away.
Hiking up Mam Tor – 517m
And started walking towards Mam Tor, an hour from the bus station/centre. Again a little confusion of which direction and which path to take, it became a running joke! You can do the route in the link above, which we didn’t, due to timings.
It takes another 20 minutes to summit, 517m (1,696 ft). There are other ways to approach it, we saw people drive up, park and walk their dogs up the hill. However we took the scenic route (aka not a local, don’t know any shortcuts!). The 360° views were amazing, you can see the whole of the Valley with Stanage Edge in the distance.
Having not had breakfast (due to the evacuation), I just happened to bring croissants and prosecco with me (the prosecco was for the previous night, which didn’t get drunk, the croissants were for breakfast on the go, not knowing our plans). So they came in quite handy after all! First to find a spot to sit where there was no sheep poo! We sat on the summit eating croissants and drinking prosecco at 10.30 in the morning admiring the view.
After breakfast, walked along the Roman road, you can carry on walking into the village of Edale. We dropped down, walked back through the woodlands and back into the centre. There are quite a few caverns in Castleton, one is called the Devil’s Arse!
Lunch, Peveril Castle and a sleepy return home…
Lunch was at Ye Olde Nags Head. Friday fish and chips; bangers, mash and Yorkshire pudding washed down with craft ale, phew ready for a nap! Head out and have a walk around Peveril Castle to walk off lunch! Great views of Mam Tor from here. Fell asleep on the 3 pm bus back to Sheffield zzzz…
Insider tips:
Directions to Stanage Edge (from Little John Inn, Hathersage)
- From Little John Inn, do a right, walk up the main road, past the chemist on the left and the hairdressers on the right, come to Church Lane. Walk straight past the “Private Road” sign, it’s still Church Lane! If you come across a vineyard (yes, wine making in Derbyshire!) you’ve gone too far, never mind just keep walking up the hill you’ll see lampposts with yellow markings just follow them, over the hill, you will see Stanage Edge across in the distance. On the way back follow the road all the way down. Simple when you know how!
- Get #271 or (#272) double decker buses, sit upstairs for the views.
- Visit during the week. Weekend too many tourists and other people. It loses the wild edge feeling.
- Take a waterproof jacket and wear good walking shoes. The weather can change and walking across the heather fields isn’t steady footing.
- Don’t miss the last bus back, check the times!
Further info:
- http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/home
- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
- http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
How to get there:
Enjoy the Peak District!
Travel Beyond The Ordinary
Koser ♡
What an amazing trip Koser! Thanks for sharing it with me 🙂
My pleasure Jonny. It was so much fun!
Travel Beyond The Ordinary
Koser ♡