Redbridge Ramblers Holiday in Peak DistrictSeptember 2009
September 2009
Blood, sweat and tears - backpacking in the Peak District with Roger.
Only for the fit and fast! As we arrived at Eyam on Saturday 5 September, we were greeted by the haunting strains of bagpipes, played by Scottish pipers in full highland dress. The Carnival Queen waved at us and so did her two princesses. No. the turnout was not in honour of Redbridge Ramblers - we had arrived in the middle of Eyam.s annual celebration of life. For those unfamiliar with the villager's sad history:-
"London's Great Plague rode to Eyam in the summer of 1665, hitching a lift on a bolt of cloth sent to the village tailor. The vicar responded to the disease by placing the village in quarantine from the rest of the world. He stopped the plague spreading through Derbyshire but condemned over 200 villagers to death. Yet there is still more to Eyam than this story of sacrifice. An ornately carved Anglo-Viking stone cross stands in the churchyard. Eyam Hall dates from the 1600s and is open to the public. The village was an important lead-mining centre until the 1800s. [Peak Experience]
The group begun to congregate in The Minerr's Arms on arrival, which was far different from the peaceful pub some of us remembered from the backpacking trip a few years ago, last time we stayed at Eyam Youth Hostel. Crowded inside and out, at 2.30 in the afternoon, the pub was livelier than any London pub on a Friday night! Beer was served from barrels in the open air to the sound of music and merrymaking from the villagers and the aroma of a complete pig being roasted before our eyes . to the disdain of the vegetarians present! We set off for Hathersage the following morning, after admiring the local well dressing:-
Visit the White Peak villages between May and September and you will come across strikingly decorated wells. The ancient pagan custom of well dressing is unique to this area. It was banned in early Christian times, along with all water worship. But today it is resurrected as a delightful local art.
Villagers use flower petals, seeds, berries, moss and all kinds of natural materials to create large pictures with biblical themes or of national events. They prick out the outline of an overlaid design into a wet clay-covered board. The overlay is removed and then they create the picture details, pressing their natural materials into the clay. The whole process can take up to a week and most villages invite people in to watch the well dressing. [Peak Experience]
Monday's route from Hathersage to Edale, about 14 miles, took us across the beautiful Derwent Valley. We stopped a while mid-afternoon at Ladybower Reservoir. Two villages were destroyed when the Ladybower Dam was constructed.
As we reached our destination, the peace of the hills was broken by the noise and commotion of the young people's activity centre at Edale. A group of 120 young people from Trinity Academy, near Doncaster were taking full advantage of the fresh air and dramatic rocky landscape. It was good to see them enjoying the open air and I have to say they were a credit to their teachers . or maybe their teachers were a credit to them! Tuesday took us back to Eyam, (this year's backpacking trip being a figure-of-eight ), a relatively easy day of about 12.5 hilly miles! By now we were feeling quite at home in the Miners Arms . we found it a quieter place that evening than on the day of our arrival. Youlgreave was our next aim, about 13.5 miles, with the added bonus of lunch in the busy town of Bakewell where we had an unusually large choice of pubs. In the afternoon we stopped to admire the idyllic view of Haddon Hall. A fortified manor house dating from 12th Century, it is currently the home of Lord and Lady Edward Manners, whose family have owned it since 1567. Unfortunately the lovely old converted Co-Op store in Youlgrave, where we.d expected to stay that night had suffered a domestic problem, something to do with the boiler! However Roger had used his powers of persuasion on the YHA and we were chauffer driven to Hartington Hall . and back again to Youlgrave next morning. The walks seemed to get tougher each day as we made our way to Ravenstor about 14 miles on Thursday, via wonderful scenery, including Lathkill Dale:- .
Spectacular Lathkill Dale is part of Natural England.s National Nature Reserve in the White Peak and is one of finest limestone valleys in the country. The dale has a varied landscape, providing homes to a rich diversity of wildlife. It.s hard not to be impressed by the daleside grassland, ash woodland.. [Peak Experience]
We returned to Eyam, about 14 miles, through perhaps the toughest . and most beautiful route of the week including Miller.s Dale and Monks Dale where paths were rough and hilly - the Peak Experience website describes it well:-
The woodland section of Monks Dale can be hard going, as the vegetation becomes dense in mid to late summer and the going underfoot is a mixture of tree roots and rough, uneven stone. You will also encounter wet areas.
The highlight of the final evening was a surprise presentation of a certificate by Roger to David Samuel for completing 10 backpacking holidays with Roger - "being the first person to complete such a feat".
Thank you Roger for designing a beautiful walk.
By Catherine Sizer