All things bright and beautiful: The Peak District, Derbyshire, U.K. (1) Country walks

We visited the Peak District in Derbyshire for the first time in June, with a two-night stay at Bubnell Cliff Farm in Baslow. Chris and Sue, owners of the farm, were very warm and welcoming, giving us a most enjoyable and pleasant stay.

We had planned on doing a fair amount of walking during our visit. As we arrived in Baslow in late afternoon, there was enough time to do a bit of warm-up before dinner. Chris gave us a couple of suggestions, writing them in details for us. We thought it was early enough to go for the longer and more challenging walk --- going from Baslow to the nearby Calver Village on a public footpath and coming back along the river.

Visitors to the Peak District may quickly notice the bountiful public footpaths in the region, offering short-cuts off the main roads. While there are signs clearly marking the public footpaths as such, one common characteristic of the paths seems to be that there is generally no indication of where each path leads to, or the distance to the destination. So, while enjoying the nice views of the distant fields, there was a feeling of an adventure as we walked along the footpath. We must have left the correct path too early, as we ended up walking back towards Baslow before reaching Calver Village. We did not realise it until we asked someone outside their home, a bit surprised to find that we were almost back in Baslow already!

"Bank Wood South. Peak District. National Park Authority". Though there was no indication of where the path led to, the sign was an reassurance that we had not wandered off the beaten track.

View from the public footpath from Baslow towards Calver Village

We had not done very much planning beforehand for walks in the region, apart from asking at the Chesterfield Tourist Information Centre on the previous day. We were advised that Castleton was the best place to start. So, after a full English breakfast in the morning, we drove to Castleton, which is quite close to Baslow. We first headed for the Tourist Information Centre there. We got a little leaflet listing several walks around Castleton, "varying in length from two hours to a full day". As we intended to do a 4 or 5 hour walk, we combined a few of the suggested trails. Basically, we walked up to Hollins Cross at the top of the Great Ridge and along the ridge to Mam Tor. Then we came back down past Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern. We found Mam Tor to be a popular spot, with absolutely fantastic views.