The Peak District

The Peak District is the oldest national park in the UK, and was named after the tribe who inhabited the area hundreds of years ago, not because of the landscape. It does however have the occasional peak, and is great place if you feel like getting away from it all.

Get away from what you may ask. Well, in short, Jacks and I left London at about 15:45 on friday afternoon. We finally got out of London at around 19:15, after spending a couple of hours on the longest parking lot in the world (the M25). Our goal for the weekend was to go somewhere we couldn't see or hear another person, train, plane or car, and the start of our journey cemented those feelings.

We arrived at Longnor at around 22:15, and parked outside our B&B, Spring Cottage. I knocked on the door, and after about 5 minutes an elderly gentleman answered. I told him that I was Brad Schouten, and his reply was 'so'. Thankfully, the owners of the establishment arrived on the scene, and the confused guest returned to his room.

Longnor is a village in the southern part of the Peak District, also known as the white peak. It has 400 residents, a fish and chip shop, and 4 pubs. I chose it because it has a great rural setting, and is a good base for many walks in the vicinity. On saturday morning, after a great breakfast with our confused friend from the night before, we ventured off into the countryside. Our 4 hour hike took us through some fantastic scenery, and seemed to be a bit tougher than we expected. Part of the walk took us up a sharp ridge to the summit of Chrome Hill, with great views of the valley below. The peak district was a massive coral reef a few hundred million years ago, and the next part of our route took us through a valley that was once a long channel through this reef. After arriving back into Longnor, slightly tired and fairly peckish, we made our way straight to the fish-n-chip shop.

On saturday afternoon we drove towards Castleton, a famous, and very touristy village in the heart of the national park. We came across Blue John Cave, and decided to explore. Blue John is a semi-precious stone only found in the peak district (named Blue John because of it's colours - blue/yellow). We took a half hour tour through the cave, and were amazed to find fossils and evidence of what was once the sea bed (now 900ft above sea level).

On sunday morning we ventured forth on another walk, this time from the town of Castleton. Beautifully rugged scenery, and weather to match, we made our way up onto a ridge surrounding the town, and then back through a valley. Another great walk, and mission accomplished - we succeeded in getting away from it all.