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I woke at the normal time looking for another early start. I had plotted my route in my tent the evening before which promised easy walking for the first 10 miles,  including breakfast at Bakewell. The second half of the day would take me through the heart of the Peak District with lots of climbing, probably in the rain. I was looking forward to reaching the sanctuary of Edale with its excellent campsite and pubs at the start of the Pennine Way.

I made good progress up and down dales, rivers and pastures and arrived at Bakewell at 8:30. The Cornish bakery was open and I feasted on a breakfast of croissant, orange juice, a Chai latte and a sausage roll. It was a long walk over moorland to Edale and few if any places to stop. 

My fairly randomly plotted route took me through a lovely wood and then along a grassy path by a riverbank with waterfalls, sheep and geese. I then arrived in the little village of Ashford. I had walked 6 1/2 miles before 10 o’clock, really good progress. The rest of the walk would likely be quite tough though. Mam Tor loomed.

I walked up a hill and a long quite busy road for a while to arrive at Monsal’s Head, a rocky outcrop towering over a green valley, with a river running through it. All was good, except that the first drops of rain then appeared, on time, as forecast.

So I walked down to the dale over the viaduct and along a track well used by cyclists and walkers. After a mile, I came to a large tunnel, Cressbrook Tunnel, which took me underneath a steep hill emerging  a quarter of a mile or so later by a second tunnel, Litton tunnel. I do love tunnels . I then walked past  Litton mill with a beautiful river flowing next to it. In no time at all, I was at Tideswell for some lunch, only held up briefly by a farmer’s shenanigans over a right of way which he blocked.

It was only 1:45 and I only had 7 to 8 miles to go to Edale. Rain was falling and forecast all afternoon so I thought I may as well push on. I stopped to talk to a farmer on the way out onto the fells. He told me about the prodigious powers of the six footpath inspectors in Derbyshire. He was a lovely man and had a nephew living in China who often went on exceptionally long walks to the Great Wall and into Mongolia. He was happy there had been some rain but now wanted warm weather again. “We are very difficult to please us farmers” he admitted.

It was wet, but I was dry except for my feet as I’d had to walk through fields with very long grass. Perhaps I need to get gaiters. I’ll maybe find some in Hebden Bridge. I enjoyed the walk even though I couldn’t see very much, particularly the last hour past the Iron Age fort at Mam Tor. 

I arrived at Edale at 5:45, my earliest finish for quite some time. I pitched my tent, had a very welcome shower and a very enjoyable meal at the Nags Head. The only thing that surprised me was the absence of walkers. There were lots of people, mainly families on half term holiday, wandering around miserably regretting the rain. I’ve no idea what they made of me.

Day Summary

Tunnels, friendly (and not so,friendly) farmers, quite a lot of rain. It’s the Pennine Way.