The Peak District

Swap out your usual holiday destination and choose somewhere a little closer to home, just like Emily Smith.

When thinking of summer holiday destinations, the mind often wonders to lands far away. Places like the Greek islands, Spain and the Canary Islands are often high on the list, but myself and my partner recently realised that travelling to England from Jersey on a long weekend can also be just as pleasing.

As someone originally from the foothills of Dartmoor, I’m always eager to show my partner (a Jersey bean) what England has to offer. We decided on the Peak District – somewhere I had not previously visited but a place I knew wouldn’t disappoint.

After arriving in Portsmouth on a Saturday morning after travelling on the Commodore Clipper overnight we arrived fresh faced and ready for our long weekend, which started with a 4 ½ hour drive up to the Peak District.

Stay

We stayed for three nights in a quaint Airbnb situated above the Three Roofs Cafe. Our little apartment was the perfect location to arrive back to after long walks. Equipped with a full kitchen, two TVs, a double bed (plus sofa bed) and a warm shower. We were walking distance to all the village pubs and start points to the many interconnecting hikes over the hills – which meant we didn’t need to use our car the three nights we were there.

And, if you didn’t fancy cooking your own breakfast, the café below offered homemade cakes, cooked breakfasts with local ingredients and healthier options to start your day.

Eat

Pubs! Castleton does not disappoint when it comes to pubs. We treated ourselves to a very northern sausage and mash, served in a Yorkshire pub and topped with onion rings in The George. I also enjoyed a delicious pork roast in the Nags Head and on our final night I went full northern and had pie and mash in The Cheshire Cheese. As well as being spoilt for choice in every pub, we also managed to find room for the most delicious pork pies (topped with apple sauce and stuffing and Branston pickle and cheese) freshly baked every morning from Peveril Store. Although I may have put on about a stone in weight it was worth it for the delicious pub grub.

See

You can’t go to the Peak District and not walk, so that’s exactly what we did. Whether you want a gentle stroll to the castle, situated just above the village, or to visit one of the many caves, or even go further and walk to a nearby village – Castelton is the starting point to them all.

We soon discovered that the little village was the connecting point for a number of paths and bridleways creating a web of walks across moorland, rolling green hills, pine forest and quintessentially English hamlets.

We laced up on our first day, equipped with pork pies and cake, and headed over the top of Lose Hill and down into the nearby village of Edale. This was a popular ridge for walkers heading over the top of Mam Tor. Although fairly busy on the route there were places to stop for a quiet coffee.

The following day we headed out towards the village of Hope, searching for the Ladybower reservoir which we found after walking over heather laden moorland and a lush pine forest. This trek was a lot quieter and more diverse than the previous day. We passed stiles and kissing gates and after following the river we were back on the route towards Edale, before heading back over the hill and down in to Castleton.

The best thing about covering so many miles by foot is knowing you can walk back for a local ale at a nearby pub! 