Walk: 8:30am to 12:45pm, 8.5 miles and 2,060ft of ascent
The actual ridge we went walking along today doesn't really have the unfortunate name of Windy Ridge, but was the Great Ridge above Hope Valley (on one side and Edale the other) out in the Peak District. I christened it as such as the weather today lent itself to the name; it was such a wet and windy day that it was really hard to believe that it was actually August!
My timing was a little out today as I didn't realise that Donna wasn't starting work until 8:30am, the result being that I found myself parked up in Castleton at 7:55am, 35 minutes before I had arranged to meet my fellow walkers there. Never mind though, that's what smartphones are for, passing time
Mel wasn't well and Colin was working so as with our last walk it was just myself, Malcolm and Dianne, and whilst the vast majority of our walks in the past have been in fine weather, today was very different. We headed off at around 8:30am, through the village and out of the back via the Secret Valley. Very aptly named as if you don't know where the gap through the houses is, it is very hard to find. And even in this weather it's a lovely little valley. Steep sided with Peveril Castle towering above, very rocky ground, a couple of small cave entrances along the way, and steady climb away from Castleton.
After about a mile we came out into the open from where we took the path to our right and headed over towards Windy Knoll and then up the steep incline to the top of Mam Tor; the western end of the Great Ridge. During the last mile or so we'd made a couple of diversions due to our apprehension in the face of cattle on the paths, but it didn't add too much to our route. The top of Mam Tor was like a force 10 gale, Dianne had to keep hold of the trig point to stop being blown about, and whilst the views are obviously much more impressive when the weather is set fair, the moody skies today gave it an aura that I hadn't see before.
The walk along the ridge is a little like interval training, you go down, then back up again, then down, then back up again; all good for burning off the calories of course. That said, it's a nice feeling when you do get to the trig point on Lose Hill knowing that from thereon it's all downhill. The route I had planned was to continue down into Hope and then follow the path back along the river to Castleton, but due to the weather we hadn't even been able to take a seat and have lunch so we knocked about a mile off the walk and headed down the fields to Spital Bridge where we picked up the main road back into Castleton.
As luck would have it the sun came out as we arrived back near the visitor centre, so we wiped the water off a picnic bench and had a late lunch. Ok, not really the point renewing your energy reserves after the walk, but not really much option today. Oh, and remind me not to wear these boots again, I'd forgotten how many blisters they give me!
The actual ridge we went walking along today doesn't really have the unfortunate name of Windy Ridge, but was the Great Ridge above Hope Valley (on one side and Edale the other) out in the Peak District. I christened it as such as the weather today lent itself to the name; it was such a wet and windy day that it was really hard to believe that it was actually August!
My timing was a little out today as I didn't realise that Donna wasn't starting work until 8:30am, the result being that I found myself parked up in Castleton at 7:55am, 35 minutes before I had arranged to meet my fellow walkers there. Never mind though, that's what smartphones are for, passing time
Mel wasn't well and Colin was working so as with our last walk it was just myself, Malcolm and Dianne, and whilst the vast majority of our walks in the past have been in fine weather, today was very different. We headed off at around 8:30am, through the village and out of the back via the Secret Valley. Very aptly named as if you don't know where the gap through the houses is, it is very hard to find. And even in this weather it's a lovely little valley. Steep sided with Peveril Castle towering above, very rocky ground, a couple of small cave entrances along the way, and steady climb away from Castleton.
After about a mile we came out into the open from where we took the path to our right and headed over towards Windy Knoll and then up the steep incline to the top of Mam Tor; the western end of the Great Ridge. During the last mile or so we'd made a couple of diversions due to our apprehension in the face of cattle on the paths, but it didn't add too much to our route. The top of Mam Tor was like a force 10 gale, Dianne had to keep hold of the trig point to stop being blown about, and whilst the views are obviously much more impressive when the weather is set fair, the moody skies today gave it an aura that I hadn't see before.
The walk along the ridge is a little like interval training, you go down, then back up again, then down, then back up again; all good for burning off the calories of course. That said, it's a nice feeling when you do get to the trig point on Lose Hill knowing that from thereon it's all downhill. The route I had planned was to continue down into Hope and then follow the path back along the river to Castleton, but due to the weather we hadn't even been able to take a seat and have lunch so we knocked about a mile off the walk and headed down the fields to Spital Bridge where we picked up the main road back into Castleton.
As luck would have it the sun came out as we arrived back near the visitor centre, so we wiped the water off a picnic bench and had a late lunch. Ok, not really the point renewing your energy reserves after the walk, but not really much option today. Oh, and remind me not to wear these boots again, I'd forgotten how many blisters they give me!
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