Walk #14 Edale Horseshoe, Derbyshire

Edale Rocks

Walk 5 out of 100

Walk #14 - Edale Horseshoe
Derbyshire 

Overall Rating - ✪✪✪✪

Suggested Difficulty - Challenging

My Difficulty Rating - ✪✪✪✪

Suggested Time - 7 hours

Actual Time Taken - 6h 20m

Distance in book - 20.6km

Map my walk Distance - 22.4km

Coopers Campsite, Edale

Start of the walk at Edale Station

So here's day two of our mini Peak District adventure, a much longer and tougher walk around Edale Horseshoe. After our short walk in the beautiful Dove Dale we made camp at Coopers Campsite in Edale. It is situated in a pleasant location and basic facilities were provided for £14 a night. The farm very nearly had one cow turned into a juicy steak earlier than they probably wanted as it wouldn't stop mooing! The walk started from the station car park which was £2.50 for the day. 

What lies ahead: on top of Mam Tor

So this one has been given a four star rating, I was hoping this might be the first five star walk but it wasn't to be. It had some great views and the challenge was a welcomed one BUT the main thing that let it down was the two boggy sections in the walk. The first was about two kilometres in length along a flat ridge line where there wasn't a great deal to see, and the bog slowing you down just made it a little irritating in the end! I was the first to sink further than I would have wanted, and poor Twister sank knee deep nearly losing his wellies in the process (LOL!). The second annoyed us, and I will reveal why later!

Looking back across the first of two boggy sections

The difficulty rating was challenging and I can't disagree with that, it wasn't too bad for navigating, although we did take one decent sized detour thanks to one fairly vague instruction. This is probably what accounted for the two extra kilometres we did compared to the guide. The climbs were manageable, but the big distance covered and the two sections of boggy terrain made it very tiring. Despite all this we still managed to shave over half an hour off the recommended time of seven hours.

Jiminy on top of the Edale Rocks

'That' trig point...

Now, this is what nearly turned this walk from a four star to a one star. There is a trig point at Edale Moor which the guide recommends you visit, this requires straying from the main track and across another boggy area. Just don't do it! If you have a hovercraft handy, or a jet pack, then go for it, but trudging through more bog to get to a pretty average view of more boggy terrain is very underwhelming. That is putting it lightly, especially as it is towards the end of the walk. The only thing that made this area slightly entertaining was Twister nearly soiling himself after a startled Grouse flew off right next to him (LOL again!)  

Edale Church, near the end of the walk

I would recommend walking this particular route to the more avid rambler but it's not for everyone. I think there would be a number of shorter walks that would be more appealing to the masses, around Edale Rocks and the top of Mam Tor in particular are quite picturesque.

Thanks again to Twister for the company, and to everyone else, I promise I will get outside the Midlands soon!

Thanks for reading,

Stef.

Here's the link to the walk on 'Map My Walk'

And follow me on Twitter @stefanvilla1991  

Walk #17 Dove Dale, Staffordshire

Walk 4 out of 100

Walk #17 - Dove Dale
Staffordshire 

Overall Rating - ✪✪✪✪

Suggested Difficulty - Moderate

My Difficulty Rating - ✪✪

Suggested Time - 3h 30m

Actual Time Taken - 2h 47m

Distance in book - 8.3km

Map my walk Distance - 8.19km

Start of walk, just past car park

In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, Mr Twister and I crossed off two of the multiple walks in and around the Peak District over a couple of days. Dove Dale was the choice for the first of the two, Twister already knew the area fairly well and we expected a fairly straight forward walk from the map. The car park for Dove Dale was easy to find, it cost £2.50, and there were good facilities there too.

BUSY BUSY BUSY The Stepping Stones

The first piece of advice I can give for this place, if you don't like kids, don't go in the school holidays on a sunny day! The weather was gorgeous and being the Easter holidays it was heaving with people. Thankfully, once we got away from the stepping stones and Thorpe Cloud the paths got quieter the further we walked. 

View from Thorpe Cloud

I've given this one a four popcorn rating, the five star weather probably helped! It had a couple of climbs, nice views, and a bit of variety. I'd agree with moderate difficulty, the optional climb up Thorpe cloud is quite steep but definitely worth it for the view at the top. The other climb through woodland had a pretty vague path with the odd tree scattered over the track, but other than that, the route was very easy to follow. 

Jiminy on top of Thorpe Cloud

Ilam Rock

Woodland track, uphill and vague

I have already realised that the guide times the book sets for each walk allows you plenty of time. This is now the fourth walk out of four to have been done significantly quicker (45m for this walk). However, the distance we covered on this one was almost the same as the guide. 

The most pointless gate ever?

Crossing fields nearing the end of the walk

1,2,3... AWWWWWWW!

 Again, a nice short route that I would recommend to almost anybody. Dove Dale is great to visit even if you just wanted a picnic by the river Dove, just don't go in the holidays if you want some peace and quiet! 

Thanks for reading,

Stef.

Here's the link to the walk on 'Map My Walk'

And follow me on Twitter @stefanvilla1991