Walking

Ducks, Diversions and Derwent Edge

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My pal and experienced hiker Andy surprised me on a recent walk  by saying that he’d never done much walking in The Peak District – never done Kinder Scout, the Hope Valley or the Derwent Valley.

So today was the day when I would be taking him for a yomp around my usual playground.

I’d chosen the Upper Derwent Valley and Derwent Edge for this trip, promising to drag him up and around Kinder at a later stage. The main reason for avoiding Kinder is that I would actually, properly, be The Walking Dad on this trip as my eldest, Christian (I mean Chris!),  would be joining us and he had only done a Kinder trek the weekend before.

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Snowdon in the Snow – 2016

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A 6pm start from home, on March 5th, saw The Walking Dan and I set off for Wales. Somehow I’d copped for driving, even though I’d driven the last time we went to Wales and on a recent trip to Whitby (to walk the last part of the Cleveland Way). His car is waaaay better than mine too, though that’s not saying much.

Dan had stayed at ours the previous night, taking advantage of Debbie’s attempt to create a mini-boutique hotel in the spare bedroom. This allowed us to nip for a quick sherbet down the Sphinx Nest pub. A bit of poor timing from me saw us clash with a girl’s night in. A house full of drunk/cackling women didn’t make dropping off to sleep easy, but gate-crashing their Indian takeaway was a bonus.

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