Up hills and down dales

Tuesday 29 May – Miller’s Dale to Edale

While our LEJOG walk is incredibly varied, we have always anticipated that the Pennine Way would be its most challenging section. For weeks it has been somewhere in the distance, but  now we are face to face with it – for tomorrow, here in Edale, it starts.

Fortunately, today’s section was (by our standards) relatively short, a mere 18km. However it did contain a couple of steep hill climbs. Contrary to our expectations, though, it proved to be a lot more straightforward and easier than we had thought.

The morning dawned to a cloudy, misty start, but the mist soon lifted as we slowly ascended out of Miller’s Dale. Our first village – in fact, the only village all day – was Tideswell, nestled in the slopes, a village of real character and charm, but also well-provisioned with at least two pubs, churches and even a couple of cafes. This surprised us at first but then we realised the area is a mecca for walkers. We saw yet another repurposed phone box, but this one really took the biscuit in terms of lateral thinking – the phone and dial actually called up various spoken commentaries on the history of the area. Truly inspired!

We walked out, up a quiet road and out onto a gently rolling landscape, all drystone walls and sheep under great big skies, just what we imagined it would look like. At first we were alone, then first one walker appeared, then another, then small groups. As we headed towards Mam Tor, at 500m the highest hill in the area, walkers were converging from all directions, till there must have been hundreds of people.

Was it a special event? No – it’s school holidays, good weather, and late spring, and the views are outstanding. It’s so popular a walk that the path up and down Mam Tor has been paved with local stone. We could see why it was so popular when we got to the top, with its breath-taking views. To the southeast we could see the village of Castleton down in a valley, to the north the valley of Edale – and behind it, the bulk of Kinder Scout, our first challenge for tomorrow. We fancied we could even pick up the Pennine Way’s track across Kinder Scout’s slopes.

Then it was down to the valley, to the Rambler Inn in Edale, our accommodation for tonight, a wander up to the Nags Head Inn (the traditional starting point of the Way), then back for dinner.

From all our reading, we know the next few days will be challenging, both in terms of the hills and also the navigation in a few places. However we have elected to use a pack transfer service so we will need only daypacks; we are well-equipped with maps, a guidebook and a compass; and five weeks of walking has toughened us up somewhat. Let’s hope for good weather!

Distance today: 18km

Peter and Val atop Mam Tor: