Friday’s Walk and Dinner
The plan is to meet at midday in or around the Three Roots cafe in Castleton. This cafe is facing the only roundabout and main car park in the village.
We are then going to walk up Cave Dale on the limestone trail with the ramparts of Peveril castle above us and onto the moor above Castleton. We’ll stop for lunch here so you will need a packed lunch.
After lunch we will walk along the moor and then down Winnats Pass to Speedwell Caverns for our trip underground. We will then meander back to Castleton for a drink.
Total distance will be around 5 to 6 miles.
Dinner has been arranged at 7pm in the Cheddar Cheese Inn ( on the main street heading towards Hope) there is a car park opposite the Inn.
Saturday’s Walk and Dinner
We will confirm timings and car sharing at dinner on Friday.
We are planning to start the walk from nearby Edale in the village car park at the bottom of the village, cost per car £5.
We are going to walk up the old Pennine Way path up Grindsbrook and onto Kinder Scout, and then across Kinder Plateau to Kinder Downfall. We will have a lunch stop somewhere around the Downfall, site of the famous mass trespass of ramblers in 1932.
After lunch we will join the wet weather Pennine Way around the edge of Kinder and down Jacobs Ladder, there is a chance for a cuppa or ice cream in Upper Booth farm before we carry on back into Edale and a well deserved pint in the Ramblers Inn.
This is a 10 mile walk, it is reasonably strenuous particularly the stretch across Kinder which is peat moorland and can be very damp underfoot! However we will be going at an easy pace.
Dinner has been arranged at 7pm in the Old Nags Head in Castleton, it’s on the main street on the corner.
Sunday’s Walk and Dinner
We will confirm timings and car sharing at dinner on Saturday.
We are going to walk along the ridge by the side of the Ladybower , Derwent and Howden Dams. We will leave some cars at Fairholme car park in the Derwent valley cost £4.70 for the day before driving to the start of the walk. We will take an easy climb onto the ridge heading to Alport Castles with fabulous views on both sides. We’ll have lunch overlooking Alport which is the biggest natural landslip site in the United Kingdom.
After lunch we will drop down past a series of grouse butts to Howden Dam reservoir. There are then two options, to walk back down the side of Howden and Derwent Dams past the site of a village built for the dam builders( now largely removed), to the cars, or to get the bus back. The bus travels around the upper Derwent valley which is closed to cars; there is a bus every 30 minutes.
In either case there should be a chance to visit the Dambusters museum situated in a tower of the Derwent Dam near to Fairholme car park; the museum contains a wealth of information on 617 squadron who practised with on these dams before the famous bouncing bomb raid on the Mohne and Eider Dams in Germany in May 1943.
This is a 10 mile walk (6.5 miles if you get the bus) it is a reasonably easy walk as the climb onto the ridge is fairly gradual.
We are then going to take the opportunity to visit the dedication service of the Well Dressing at nearby Bamford village at 6pm.
The true origins of Derbyshire Well Dressing are lost in the mists of time. According to many sources, it developed from a pagan custom of making sacrifice to the gods of wells and springs to ensure a continued supply of fresh water. Like many folk traditions, it was later adopted by the Christian Church as a way of giving thanks to God for His gift to us of water. Tradition has it that it took on a special significance in 17th century Derbyshire as various villages, notably Tissington, gave thanks for their deliverance from the Plague which had decimated nearby Eyam. In truth they had been spared by the altruism of the inhabitants of Eyam, who quarantined themselves while the disease, accidentally introduced in a package of clothing from London, ran its deadly course. Of course, this does not mean that the other villages has any less cause to express their grateful thanks.
In the early days, the dressing of wells would have taken the form of simple arrangements of flowers and other natural materials. In this form it takes place today in many parts of the world. The unique Derbyshire tradition of elaborate pictures made for the most part of individual flower petals pressed onto clay covered boards seems to date from Victorian times, when there were many movements afoot to revive and enhance old folk traditions. The earliest recorded examples are in Tissington, but the tradition quickly spread to other villages. Sometimes, as in Youlgrave, the Dressings appeared at the village taps (pumps or fountains) to celebrate the arrival of piped water; hence the reason why they are sometimes known as Tap Dressings.
After this we will have dinner in the Old Nags Head in Castleton at 7.30pm, it’s on the main street on the corner.
Monday’s Walk and Lunch
We will confirm timings and car sharing at dinner on Sunday
Meet at Monsal Head for easy 6(ish) miles following the course of the river Wye, through Upperdale, Water-cum-Jolly Dale and Millers Dale as far as Litton Mill. Then return along the Monsal Trail via one or two of the recently opened tunnels. These were officially opened on the day following our recce. (This could be a troglodytes heaven!). There are one or two diversions that could extend the walk on a particularly nice day for anyone still feeling energetic after the weekend and several places in Monsal Dale where you can paddle in the river before or after lunch in the Monsal Head Hotel. Meals, light meals and snacks are available in the Stables Bar.