Hope, Edale, and Castleton

On my way to the railway station at Doncaster at half past seven this morning I was accosted and asked for money by four spice zombies at different times. That's unusual so early in the day; maybe they had been up all night celebrating England's victory in the World Cup. I'm always wary of people who might approach me and so I was on the lookout and spotted several more zombies, obviously in no state to ask for money though; they were just lurching, shuffling, swaying, staggering, staring into empty space, and grunting and moaning to themselves, totally unaware of their surroundings.

Just over two hours later I arrived at Hope and immediately left the village, heading north and then west on the route to Edale along the bottom of the valley, mainly grassy footpaths, but a couple of short sections on the  road.

The views of the Great Ridge and Kinder Scout were amazing.

I found a comfortable spot with a nice view to eat my sandwiches but then had an unpleasant surprise - the bread had gone mouldy. Fortunately I'd also packed a flapjack and some biscuits, and still had another flapjack in reserve. I took my sandwiches out of the fridge last night and packed them in my rucksack so that I wouldn't forget them...maybe I need to reconsider this course of action in the future...fortunately flapjacks and biscuits don't go mouldy overnight.

I arrived at Edale right outside the Nags Head pub and was able to enjoy a nice cold Coke Zero Sugar in the beer garden at the back.

I didn't walk all the way down the village high street; I took the footpath just south of the church which I would follow all the way up to Hollins Cross, the lowest point on the Great Ridge...still a climb of nearly eight hundred foot though.

The climb up was made a lot easier because the sky had clouded over and it was now a lot cooler. It was still an achievement on one of the hottest days of the summer to be able to complete the ascent without stopping to catch my breath though.

At the bottom of the ridge, on the way down to Castleton, I stopped at Millie's for tea and cake - she had made quite an effort to get her mobile cafe up here and lay it out so that it's so pleasant and comfortable.